Tag Archives: zucchini

Zucchini and pasta…a match made in heaven!

Posted in Dinner by

Monica says:

When I think of dinner on a Friday, it’s a meatless meal!

Why?

Well, for so many years, growing up Catholic, we weren’t allowed to eat meat EVER on a Friday! So I guess you can say that I’m in a rut…but actually it’s a good rut!

There are so many wonderful meatless meals that you can come up with and being Italian, the Mediterranean diet fits the bill so beautifully.

So now I would like to share a recipe from my oldest friend’s mother, who everyone calls Nana Angie.

Nancy has been my friend since first grade so she really is my oldest friend…I can hear her now….”But you’re older than me!” Yes, chronologically I beat her by one month and two days (but who’s counting?)!

Nana Angie might be the BEST Italian cook in my little world! Everything she makes and has made over the years is just delicious. And she lives to feed everyone and anyone who visits with her! She is just a great lady!

Anyway, when I first tasted this pasta dish at Nancy’s house, I fell in love! And over the years, I think I have perfected it, but being a “throw a little of this, and a little of that” kind of cook, I found it really hard to write this recipe down!

So I hope it turns out great if you try it…and if it doesn’t, I apologize!

Cooking isn’t the fine art that baking is!

So here goes….enjoy!

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Zucchini, cheese, and eggs

Ingredients:

1-2 T Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2-3 slender young zucchini, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, diced

Gluten free pasta of your choice (16 oz)

1 can tomato sauce (16 oz)

1 can crushed tomatoes (32 oz)

Salt and pepper

Pinch of oregano, basil, and parsley (if you have fresh spices, USE them)

1 egg

2-3 T Romano cheese

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Directions:

Chop your onion and zucchini and set aside.

Make the pasta according to package directions.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the onion first. When the onion becomes semi-soft, add the garlic and zucchini, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper, and sauté until zucchini is fork tender.

Now add your sauces….first the tomato sauce. Stir to combine.

Then add your crushed tomatoes. Stir.

Add the spices.

Now let the mixture get incorporated and let simmer for a few minutes.

Right before serving, beat the egg with the Romano cheese and add to the skillet.

Incorporate the egg mixture by continually stirring for 2 minutes (sauce will lighten to a pleasant orange color).

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Rinse your pasta and place into a large bowl. Pour your sauce mixture over and top with additional Romano cheese OR…

you can place pasta in individual bowls and top with sauce.

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Just don’t forget the grated Romano cheese on top!!

© 2015, Monica of glutenfreedoubletalk, inspired and conceived originally by Nana Angie

Did you ever try Scallops Scampi?

Posted in Dinner by

Monica says:

I cook almost every night. I guess you could say it’s just a part of my day.

When our girls were little we always tried to sit down and eat dinner together if our schedules allowed it. It was the best time of the day….and even though our girls are all grown up and on their own, we still love sitting down to dinner.

Most people have eaten shrimp scampi, but how about scallops scampi?

No, I hadn’t ever heard of it either.

Until….

I was helping my sister Maria clean out her house since she and her hubby were moving. Since I am a recipe addict, I spotted some torn out recipes from magazines and voila!

Scallops Scampi!

The original recipe (from Good Housekeeping) called for a bed of couscous and of course, since we can’t have couscous, I substituted quinoa.

It was easy and so delicious! See for yourself!

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Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

1 c quinoa

1 ¼ lbs. sea scallops

1 lemon

I clove garlic, crushed

4 zucchini (8 oz. each)

1 T butter

2 T chopped fresh chives

salt and pepper

Preparation

Prepare quinoa according to package.

Rinse and pat scallops to dry.

Grate 1 tsp of zest from lemon and then squeeze 2 T of juice.

In a bowl, toss scallops with garlic, lemon zest, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper.

Make the zucchini ribbons by taking a vegetable peeler and slicing each zucchini lengthwise into long pieces until you reach the seeds and core. Discard the cores. Set ribbons aside for later.

In a non-stick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Place the scallops into the pan and cook 5-6 minutes on each side. Make sure you only turn them over once! When they are done, remove them and place on a plate.

Add the zucchini to the skillet. Reduce the heat and cook with a lid on for 2 minutes making sure you stir the ribbons at least once. Uncover and cook an additional minute or until tender and crisp. Remove zucchini from heat; stir in lemon zest and juice.

Spoon quinoa onto each plate and then top with zucchini ribbons. Place several scallops on top and sprinkle with fresh chives.

What a great dinner!

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Now all we need is to have our girls at the dinner table with us!

But as Bjarne Reuter said, “Children have the unforgivable habit of growing up.”

© 2014, Monica of glutenfreedoubletalk

I love zucchini!

Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Salads by

Monica says:

I happened to come across a Martha Stewart video featuring quinoa and of course, I had to watch it! So happy I did!

It features not only quinoa, but also zucchini, which is so abundant right now and did I tell you?

I. Love. Zucchini.

So take a quick look and see what  you think!

Zucchini and Quinoa Salad….did I say delicious?

The one thing that I did differently was to base my salad on 2 servings, since I had this little delight in my cupboard!

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 And did you notice something in the upper right-hand corner??

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Cooks in 8 minutes!! Yes, that will help! Thanks, Keen One Quinoa!

So I did everything that the host did except for toasting the pistachios….I just chopped mine after shelling them.

Amazing!

Packed with protein and full of flavor, this salad is definitely going in my “Favorites” file!

Just feast your eyes upon this…

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Thanks, Shira Bocar and Eat Clean videos!

 

© 2014, Monica of glutenfreedoubletalk