Zucchini Ribbons Salad with Arugula, Avocado, Toasted Pine Nuts and Herb Marinated Goat Cheese

This salad is transformed from simple to fancy due to zucchini ribbons. No fancy gadgets needed, just use your veggie peeler to slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin slices. I sliced 2 zucchinis into thin slices using the veggie peeler, then cooked them for a few minutes in a bit of grape oil.  I did not use the middle that had the seeds, will reuse later.

Ingredients:

2 zucchini's thinly slices

one table spoon of grape oil

a few tablespoons of pan toasted nuts (I used pine nuts)

goat cheese or shaved parmesan

**(I used marinated goat cheese (recipe by my talented friend Julia found here Marinated Goat Cheese  

but any cheese would do)

Salt to taste

1/2 an avocado

any other veggies you feel like using

For dressing:

1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil (I used oil from the marinated goat cheese)

Juice of 1 lemon

Slice the zucchini into thin long strips. Rotate when you get to the seeded part.  Disgard the seeded middle for another use.  Heat a bit of grape oil till hot. On a medium flame, cook zucchini strips about 2 minutes per side. Salt to taste. Place on a paper towel to drain. Wait till cool to add to salad.

Wash and dry arugula, add avocado. Toss with salad dressing, reserve a little to drizzle over zucchini.  Top with zucchini, nuts and cheese of choice. Drizzle with a bit more dressing.

Voila. Tasty, filling and healthy!

Adapted from http://www.prouditaliancook.com/2010/04/zucchini-ribbon-salad.html

Stuffed Zucchini/ Zucchini Boats

A few months ago, I made a delicious zucchini lasagna, this has a similar taste but a bit lighter. The original recipe is from www.skinnytaste.com which I modified slightly.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups quick marinara sauce
I used Barilla Marinara Sauce
4 medium zucchini
1 tsp canola oil
1 shallot finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 diced red bell pepper
Approximately 2/3 pounds sweet sausage casting removed
My links were small, I used 4 of them
1/2 cup part skim shredded mozzarella (Polly-O)
8 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil. A wide pot worked well for this.

Wash and pat dry your zucchinis. Cut them in half lengthwise and school out the flesh, I used a teaspoon for this and it worked perfectly. Leave about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the flesh into small pieces and set aside.

Once your water boils, add your zucchini halves and cook for about a minute. Remove from water.

To a 9x12 baking dish, add about 1/2 cup of marinara. Place zucchinis half side up.

Preheat your oven to 400°.

In the meantime, in a large pan, brown your sausage, crumbling into small pieces. Cook till brown. Set aside.

If the pan is dry, add a bit of oil. Add and add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook on a medium-low heat for about 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add chopped zucchini, season with salt and pepper and cook about 2-3 minutes. Combine with sausage and cook a few more minutes.

Using a spoon, fill each hollowed zucchini with 1/3 cup cooked sausage, pressing firmly. Top each with 2 tablespoons each of sauce, 1 tablespoon each of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 teaspoon each of parmesan cheese. I personally had some of the mixture left, maybe my zucchinis were too small. I reserved the mixture and ate it over quinoa for lunch the next day.

Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.

Remove the foil and bake another 5-7 minutes to brown the cheese a bit.

Carb Free Zucchini Lasagna with Turkey (Trust me, the Cheese makes up for lack of Pasta)

• 

  
  

  So the noodle free lasagna kick continues. A few months ago I made a carb free Eggplant Spinach Lasagna recipe here:

  http://www.saladgirlnat.com/2013/01/eggplant-spinach-lasagna-noodle-free.html . It was such a major hit with most of my

  family that I decided to try another version of this beauty—Zucchini Lasagna. Still carb free but this one with meat.

  I should note that this recipe is adapted from http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/zucchini-lasagna.html but I made a bunch

  of tweaks to make it my own.

  
  

  INGREDIENTS:

  
  

  3 zucchinis sliced thin the long way

  One 15 ounce container of part skim ricotta

  ½ cup of fresh chopped basil plus more for garnish if you like

  2 12 ounce jars of tomato paste (more or less, depending on how much sauce you like)

  2 cups of shredded part skim mozzarella

  1 egg

  Salt and pepper to taste

  1 diced shallot or medium onion

  3 chopped garlic cloves

  1 pound ground turkey

  1-2 tablespoons of oil (I use grape)

  Cooking spray

  
  

  
  

  1) Wash and dry zucchinis. Do not peel. Slice the long way into thin long slices. This is best done using a mandolin. Watch your fingers when you are doing this. Seriously, because if you don’t you may get hurt (trust me, I speak from experience).

  
  

  2) Sprinkle with salt and leave for a few minutes. This will make zucchinis release water. That’s good; you don’t want the water in there. Do not rinse but dab with paper towels.

  
  

  3) In the meantime, spray a medium sauce pan with cooking spray and heat.   Brown your ground meat till cooked through.  Remove from pan. Add a bit of oil, add garlic and onions and cook about 3 minutes. Add the meat back, add tomato paste, 2/3 of the basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

  
  

  4) Preheat oven to 375. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray, add zucchini slices. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and PAT DRY one more time.

  
  

  5) In a large bowl, combine ricotta with egg. Mix well. Add remaining chopped basil. Mix in.

  
  

  6) Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray, add meat mixture to cover bottom. Add baked and dried zucchini to cover sauce. Ok to overlap slices of zucchini.  Place ricotta mixture on top. Repeat one more time (or more if you have enough ingredients). I had just the right amount for 2 layers.

  
  

  7) Top with shredded mozzarella and basil leaves, cover in foil. Baked covered for 40 minutes and uncovered for another 15. Allow to rest about 10 minutes before serving.

Seared Scallops w Roasted Farm Fresh Zucchini and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound of Large Wild Scallops
• Grape Oil 
• 1-2 Zucchinis sliced into circles
• 2-3 Sweet Potatoes
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Nutmeg (optional)
• Aged Balsamic (optional)

Zucchini: Preheat oven to 400. Wash and dry zucchini. Slice into circles. Toss with oil in a bowl. Roast for about half hour, turn every 15 minutes. I like for the zucchini to be nice and brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can add a bit of aged balsamic if you wish ( I did not).

Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Wash sweet potatoes, peel with peeler. Cover in water, cook till can easily pierce with knife. Reserve some of the water the potatoes cooked in. Mash with potato masher. Add butter, can also add a bit of milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Can also add nutmeg if you wish.

Scallops: Wash scallops. Dry them REALLY well. Heat oil on a skillet for about 2 minutes till nice and hot. Add your scallops, cook about 2 minutes till the side is nice and brown, turn over and cook about another 2 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size of the scallops. Do not overcook or they will get rubbery.

Plate and serve. This is so yummy!