Squash and Zucchini Burritos
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Squash-and-Zucchini-Burritos/Detail.aspx
By: HSICO
“An easy recipe to throw together with your summer squash. Can be tailored to your tastes and fresh vegetables on hand. Great new way to use up summer squash from your garden or farmer’s market. You can add fresh chopped cilantro to mixture before spooning into tortillas for a stronger flavored dish. Serve with sour cream, avocado, or salsa. ”
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 zucchini, shredded
• 1 large yellow squash, shredded
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup green salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) package Mexican style shredded cheese blend, divided
• 6 burrito-size flour tortillas
• 1 (8 ounce) package Mexican style shredded cheese blend
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×12-inch baking dish.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the zucchini, yellow squash, and red bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini and squash are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the black beans, green salsa, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir the filling until it thickens, 5 to 8 more minutes.
3. Divide one of the packages of Mexican-style cheese among the tortillas. Spoon zucchini-squash filling into each tortilla, over the cheese, in a line down the center. Roll up the tortillas, and place them into the prepared baking dish with the seam sides down.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are heated through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the other package of shredded cheese over the tortillas before serving.
Summer Squash Gratin Recipe
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/summer-squash-gratin-recipe.html
Be sure to slice your potatoes as thin as possible. They get all melty and creamy. Slice them too thick and you’ll have trouble cooking them through because the zucchini cooks up more quickly. I use a box grater to shred the cheese here (as opposed to a micro-plane) – you get heartier, less whispy pieces of cheese which is what you want here. I’d also strongly recommend homemade bread crumbs here (see asterisk below).
zest of one lemon
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds summer squash or zucchini, cut into 1/6th-inch slices
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups fresh whole wheat bread crumbs*
1/2 pound waxy potatoes, sliced transparently thin
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese, grated on a box grater (or feta might be good!)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F degrees and place a rack in the middle. Rub a 9×9 gratin pan (or equivalent baking dish) with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with lemon zest, and set aside.
Place the zucchini slices into a colander placed over a sink, toss with the sea salt and set aside for 10-15 minutes (to drain a bit) and go on to prepare the oregano sauce and bread crumbs.
Make the sauce by pureeing the oregano, parsley, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, red pepper flakes, and olive oil in a food processor or using a hand blender. Set aside.
Make the breadcrumbs by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until the butter is wonderfully fragrant, and has turned brown. Wait two minutes, then stir the breadcrumbs into the browned butter.
Transfer the squash to a large mixing bowl. Add the potatoes and two-thirds of the oregano sauce. Toss until everything is well coated. Add the cheese and half of the bread crumbs and toss again. Taste one of the zucchini pieces and add more seasoning (salt or red pepper) if needed.
Transfer the squash to the lemon-zested pan, top with the remaining crumbs, and bake for somewhere between 40 and 50 minutes – it will really depend on how thinly you sliced the squash and potatoes – and how much moisture was still in them. You don’t want the zucchini to go to mush, but you need to be sure the potatoes are fully baked. If the breadcrumbs start to get a little dark, take a fork and rake them just a bit, that will uncover some of the blonder bits. Remove from oven, and drizzle with the remaining oregano sauce.
Serves about 8 as a side.
*To make breadcrumbs cut the crust off 2-3 day old artisan bread. Tear into pieces the size of your thumb, and give a quick whirl in the food processor. I don’t like my breadcrumbs too fine – and tend to leave the pieces on the large size – more like little pebbles than grains of sand.
Chicken and Summer Squash
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chicken-and-summer-squash/Detail.aspx
By: KMSMOKEY
“Great summertime recipe! The contrasting colors of the summer squash make this dish pleasing to the eye and the palate.”
Ingredients
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3/4 pound yellow squash, sliced
• 3/4 pound zucchinis, sliced
• 1 medium tomato – peeled, seeded and chopped
Directions
1. In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter in the oil over medium high heat. Season chicken with half of the salt and half of the pepper, and add it to skillet. Cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to large plate or platter, and cover to keep warm.
2. Pour off fat from skillet, and add squash, zucchini, and tomato. Season with remaining salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until squash is slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat, and return chicken to skillet. Cover partially. Cook until squash is soft, and chicken is white throughout but still juicy, about 5 minutes longer.
3. Transfer chicken to platter, and cover with foil to keep warm. Raise heat to high. Cook vegetable mixture, stirring often, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Arrange vegetables around chicken, and serve.
I know it’s inevitable. At some point in time every little one gets mobile and life changes, but I was secretly hoping for a few more months of “stationary” play! Officially, she began crawling at 5.5 months. This isn’t our earliest. Her sister, Emily, started crawling at the same time 17 years ago and she hasn’t stopped moving since! We will have to see if Joanna walks at the early age of 8.5 months, as her older sister did. Time will tell. Having a little one reach that wonderful age of mobility quickly moves them into a new phase of learning, which means it moves us, as parents, into a new phase of teaching. Now that she is scooting across the floor we need to begin training her to make good choices. Of course, this will be a gradual process, but now she will be discovering toys left out by siblings, the cat food dish, a fireplace, older siblings with quick feet, etc. One of the most comical learning opportunities comes when the little ones begin to learn to negotiate the happily wagging tail of our big (giant to them) black Labs.
