Short & Sweet Sunday - I love pasta water!

I've already posted about this amazing, fresh, delicious roasted vegetable pasta.

But I wanted to strongly encourage you again to try it.  We've been eating it weekly with a variety of garden and market vegetables and it is so tasty every time.

This time we used leftover barbecued chicken with zucchini, onions and multi-coloured cherry tomatoes.

We roasted the veggies while the pasta cooked.

I can't believe the simple secret ingredient in this dish is pasta water!  It makes the dish creamy and moist and it's a simple thing most people would just throw down the drain.

Mixed with hot pasta, vegetables and a bit of parmesan cheese, the pasta water creates a silky sauce that tastes incredible.  I wish I'd known this secret sooner so I'm sharing it in the hopes that everyone uses this magic ingredient to make healthy, delicious pasta!

Berry Crisp

I don't make a lot of desserts at home because the effort and calories rarely seem worth it for just the two of us, but this dessert is so easy and delicious, it's totally worth it. 

I found some beautiful, fresh berries at the farmers market.
Blackberries...

And blueberries.

You can use any kind of berries you like, add raspberries, currants, even peaches or plums.  This is actually my apple crisp recipe slightly adapted. 

Mix about 2 cups of the berries with about 1/2 cup of sugar.  You can increase or decrease this based on how sweet the berries are and how sweet you like your dessert.  

Also add about a tablespoon of cornstarch.  This will thicken the berry mixture so it's not too watery.  Mix it together well and place in a pie plate or baking dish.  


Now the topping. Mix 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar...

1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup flour and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon...

Cut up 3/4 stick (1/4lb) of butter into cubes.

And mix it together with the oat/flour/sugar mixture until a crumbly mixture forms.  I just use my fingers for this.  Sprinkle it on top of the berries.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes until the berries are bubbling and the topping is crisp.

Scoop into bowls while still warm.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

This is so delicious and seasonal.  I often just eat berries plain with ice cream, but this takes it to a whole other level and it is so easy. Try it!

Zucchini Muffins

As I've mentioned, we currently have a lot of yellow zucchini growing in our garden.  I knew about zucchini bread but I'd never made it before. I wasn't sure how much zucchini I could use up in the recipe, so I was happy to find that one huge zucchini makes about 2 cups grated zucchini that the recipe calls for.  

For the recipe, I looked to my trusty Joy of Cooking cookbook, which is a great resource for basic/classic recipes like this.  I adapted the recipe a bit and I'll continue to adapt it each time I make it until it's perfect for me, but the recipe is a great start.

Mix together in a medium bowl:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon (the recipe called for only 1/4 tsp! I'd use 2 tsp at least next time)

1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

In a separate bowl, mix:

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

You'll also need 2 cups grated zucchini squeezed of excess moisture (1 very large or 2-3 medium zucchini). I grated it in the food processor but you can do it by hand with a box grater. Zucchini is very easy to work with. 

When you mix all this together the batter seems really thick at first, but the zucchini will continue to release moisture and make a workable muffin batter.

Now, you can bake this in a 9x5 inch loaf pan for about 40 minutes, or you can make it into muffins.  I made 2 batches - 24 mini muffins that are nut-free...

And 12 regular sized muffins with walnuts.

I had to keep an eye on the baking times to adapt the recipe, but for the mini muffins I baked them for about 15 minutes, testing them with a wooden skewer at 10 minutes.

For the full sized muffins, it was about 25 minutes.  

Once done, cool them in the muffin tins on a rack for about 20 minutes then carefully remove them.  I didn't use muffin cups for these and they didn't stick too badly, but you could use paper muffin cups to make it easier.  

These are really tasty and a great, easy, inexpensive way to use up extra zucchini.  I love the ones with walnuts.

I plan to experiment with the recipe.  I've had a request to add chocolate chips next time, so we'll see how that goes. I may also try dried cranberries or sunflower seeds.  But for now I'll freeze these for snacks and breakfast for the next few weeks.  

Short & Sweet Sunday - Roasted Baby Carrots

You know those bags of "baby" carrots you buy in the grocery store?  Those are just normal carrots cut up into smaller sizes. They're a great convenience food, but real baby carrots that are actually just picked before they're mature and can have a sweeter, more delicate flavour.  

Roasting the carrots brings out the sweetness.  I don't peel them, I just scrub them well and leave a little green on top.

Chop some rosemary...

And a red onion, and toss with the carrots and some olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking tray.

Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Toss them around about half way through the roasting time. 

The carrots and onions will caramelize and taste sweet and delicious, with the savory flavour of the rosemary.

I served these with grilled chicken thighs and fresh steamed asparagus for a delicious orange and green meal!

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

Ever had a fried zucchini blossom?  It is a very interesting, delicious treat!

If you don’t do what we did, it’s also not that difficult.

As you’ve seen, we have a colossal zucchini plant in our garden. I wanted to taste the blossoms.  We considered stuffing them but ended up trying them battered without stuffing.

Here’s a tip that we didn’t know until after we picked the blossoms: Pick them in the morning when they’re open, otherwise they’re full of bees!

When the blossoms are closed they twist up and trap bees and bugs inside.  We had to open them up and set the critters free and take out the stamen before starting the cooking.  

I rinsed them well, then set a whole 750mL bottle of grapeseed oil in a cast iron pot to heat.  It gave me about 2 inches of oil in the pot.  I slowly heated it to 350 degrees while I made the batter.

I've never used grapeseed oil before and I loved it! It is so light and scentless.  It was great. 

The batter is a cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking soda, an egg and ¾ cup of beer with a little salt and pepper.

Add it all to a bowl...

And whisk together to form a batter similar in texture to pancake batter.  Don't worry about a few lumps.

Dredge the zucchini blossoms in a little plain flour.

Then dip the blossom in the batter and shake off the excess.

Gently place the battered blossom in the hot oil. You can add a few at a time but don't crowd them.

They only need a few minutes to cook. Once they start to brown, flip them over and then when they're light brown, remove them carefully from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Sprinkle with a little sea salt and eat while hot!

These are creamy and delicious inside.  You can stuff them with ricotta or mozzarella and anchovy, but they're delicious plain.  

I don't deep fry often and I thought it was a little intimidating but it was easy and totally worth it!