A Veggie Venture: July 2010

Sautéed Cucumbers ♥

July 29, 2010

Today's easy cucumber recipe: For all of us, including me, who stop at 'salad' when thinking what to make with a surplus of cucumbers, here's a new take, a quick sauté.

We're eating like rabbits this year. Wait, that's not quite right, let me say it differently.

The truth is, we are not eating like rabbits because the neighborhood bunnies are. They munch-and-crunch on the garden's baby zucchini and nascent tomatillos while the resident humans chew on cucumbers the size of bats, all the rabbits deign to leave behind. The resident Mr. McGregor has declared war, preparing for battle with the big guns: bottles of hot sauce and jars of cayenne pepper.

Back to the cucumbers. I've cooked cucumbers twice this week and both times was pleased how the gentle cucumber flavor emerges while much of the crunch, albeit softer, remains.

The first time, I sautéed the cucumbers with onion and crispy bits of leftover homemade corn tortillas, then stirred in some fresh tarragon. Would you think to put an egg over top and call it breakfast? I did and applause ensued. The second time, I cooked the cucumbers with bits of commercial corn tortillas which might have gotten crispy if I'd allowed more time or more oil, then stirred in strips of fresh basil. This made for a succulent side dish, tasting way more rich and fresh than imagined.

Cucumbers: they're not just for salad anymore. Even the rabbits are thinking about trying them cooked.

SAUTÉED CUCUMBERS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes active plus occasional attention throughout
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, cut in large pieces
Corn tortillas, optional (primarily for texture contrast)
1 pound cucumbers, peeled if the skins are tough, seeds scooped out if large, cut into large chunks
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh herbs - tarragon or basil, for example

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on MEDIUM HIGH until shimmery. Add the onion and tortillas (if using) as they're prepped, stirring to coat with fat. Add the cucumbers as they're prepped, stirring to coat with fat. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is cooked and the cucumbers are warmed through and mostly cooked but still retain a bit of crunch. Season to taste, stir in the fresh herbs, serve and savor.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving Without/With Tortillas (How many calories in Sautéed Cucumbers? How many Weight Watchers points in Sautéed Cucumbers?): 62/74 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 3mg Sodium; 7/10g Carb; 2g Fiber; 3g Sugar; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers 1/1.5 points

A Veggie Venture - Printer Friendly Recipe Graphic

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long in 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column, and now again in 2010. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

MORE FAVORITE EASY CUCUMBER RECIPES
~ Julia Child's Cucumber Salad ~
~ Old Liz's Old-Fashioned Cucumber Salad ~
~ Tomato Platter with Olives & Feta ~
~ more cucumber recipes ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Fruity Gazpacho ~
~ Cucumber Dip with Feta ~
~ Bloody Mary Salad ~
~ more cucumber recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

Tossed Caprese Salad ♥

July 13, 2010

Today's easy summer salad recipe: A 'tossed' version of the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad that we call 'caprese' that's usually served as a 'composed' salad, all perfect and arranged but here is carefree. Vegetarian and low carb. Weight Watchers 2 (Old Points) and 3 (PointsPlus).

Check the price of fresh mozzarella these days and yikes, odds are, our eyes will get as big as the mozzarella balls themselves, at least if they are the real thing, not the mass-produced, made-some-time-this-year 'fresh' mozzarella balls from Trader Joe's, say. (Don't get me wrong, however, Trader Joe-style quality fresh mozzarella has its place, given the price. But to my taste, this just isn't it.)

Surprise surprise, Whole Foods often has fresh mozzarella on sale during the summer-tomato months, some times half the price of my local groceries.

Keep Reading ->>>

Toad in a Pattypan Hole ♥

July 7, 2010

Vegetables for breakfast? You bet! Just cut a pattypan squash into slices, remove the centers to create a ring and add eggs cupped by leaves of fresh basil. Very pretty, very tasty!

This time of year, UFOs show up at the farmers market. Oh wait, they're not UFOs, they are satellites! Oh wait, they're not satellites, they are pattypan squash! Not sure what I mean with the UFO and satellite references? Here's a photo of pattypan squash.

These little guys (and some times, not-so-little guys) may look daunting but really, pattypan squash belong to the family of summer squash that includes the more familiar zucchini and yellow squash. Pattypan squash are just so cute, I want to grab them all up and let them sit pretty in a basket on the counter, reminding me that, glory be, it's summer.

But glory be, pattypan squash are too good, cooked, to let sit around just looking pretty. This is a great way to cook pattypan squash for breakfast, especially for large pattypans which aren't quite as tender as baby pattypan squash. The recipe is a riff on the famous bread and egg dish with a hundred names, what my family calls Gashouse Eggs but many call Toad in a Hole, thus, here, Toad in a Pattypan Hole.

Vegetables for breakfast? You bet!

SPELLING LESSON Do we spell pattypan squash as one word, pattypan? or two words, patty pan? One word!

TOAD in a PATTYPAN HOLE

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 20 minutes
Serves 1, easily multiplied

A little oil
Slice of pattypan squash, about 3/4 inch thick, a hole cut in the center
Salt & pepper to taste

1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 tablespoon flour
Salt & pepper to taste

1 - 2 large fresh basil leaves
1 egg
Salt & pepper to taste
A sprinkle of cheese

Preheat the oven to 300F. Heat an oven-safe skillet on MEDIUM HIGH, add the oil when hot and let warm until shimmery. Drop the pattypan squash into the skillet (it should sizzle a bit) and season. Let cook, without turning, until the bottom half cooks and the edges begin to brown. Turn over and repeat. Cook just until al dente, it will keep cooking once the egg is added.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg, milk and flour in a small bowl, season to taste. When the pattypan slice is cooked, pour a little of the egg-milk-flour mixture into the center, just enough to form a thin base, and let cook a minute. Place the basil leaves in the center, cupping to hold the egg. Drop the egg onto the basil leaves, season to taste and then sprinkle with the cheese. Move the skillet to the oven and let cook until the egg is cooked as little/much as desired.

Thats it! Serve and savor!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Serving (How many calories in Toad in a Pattypan Hole? How many Weight Watchers points in Toad in a Pattypan Hole?): 150 Calories; 9g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 266mg Cholesterol; 124mg Sodium; 5g Carb; 1g Fiber; 3g Sugar; 10g Protein; Weight Watchers 3 points (or 3.5 points for those who use decimal points, ha!)

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES

There's enough egg-milk-flour mixture for four or five servings.

Don't overdo the cheese, just a tiny sprinkle, maybe a teaspoon per egg. You really want the delicate taste of the pattypan squash to come through, contrasting with the already-creamy egg yolk.