Food, Food, glorious food

This week we tried a few new eats.  Friday I decided to use up some zucchini's that I had gotten from our bountiful baskets.  You are probably thinking, what did Kim do?  Make bread?  Nope, I made a pizza crust out of grated zucchini, and I will add that it was a hit with the family.  Very filling and a great meal.  The recipe is from my Moosewood Cookbook.  If you are ever looking for a vegetarian cookbook, check it out!

Anyway, here ya go!

Zucchini Pizza Crust
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Crust Ingredients:
olive oil and flour for the pan
2 cups (packed) grated zucchini --about 2 medium zukes (next time I am trying them chopped)
2 eggs, beaten (okay to delete one or both yolks)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Optional: pinches of basil, marjoram, and/or rosemary
2 T. olive oil
Pizza sauce and whatever other toppings you prefer
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Generously oil a 10-inch pie pan and coat lightly with flour (You can also use a jelly roll pan)
2) Combine zucchini, eggs, flour, mozzarella, Parmesan, and herbs, and 1 T olive oil in a bowl and mix well.
3) Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. About halfway through the baking, brush with the remaining tablespoon of oil (optional). Remove from oven. When it has cooled for about 10 minutes, use a spatula to loosen the crust from the pan, so it won’t break later.
4) Top with your favorite pizza items and bake at 400 degrees F until heated through. The crust can be made up to several days in advance.

This is everything all mixed together

My old fashioned Grandma whisk,
but it does a very good job despite being old.

Of course it became an educational experience.  Sarah helped me grate the zuckes in the big old food processor as well as crack and mix eggs and then we mixed the ingredients together, put on a pan and cooked it.  Afterwards we put on regular pizza toppings (a little too much cheese, but still good).

While doing all this on Friday, we decided to try our first batch of bread using the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method.  It tasted great when we made our first loaf today, a couple days later.  I will keep you all updated on the situation.  :-)  Speaking of which, Mrs. Kombucha is doing well, and growing.

Tonight for dinner I used some broccoli we had to use and made Broccoli Chicken Alfredo.  It was a hit as well. I got it from a web site but I changed it just a little bit.

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo
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Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and cut into chunks
2 cups roasted broccoli florets
8 ounces fettuccine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons flour
1 can of fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
In a pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to package directions, and put the broccoli in to cook with the noodles. Drain and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden, 1 to 2 minutes.
Whisk in the flour until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, Greek yogurt, milk, and pepper. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring gently, until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan.
Add cooked chicken and broccoli to sauce mixture, followed by the cooked pasta. Toss to combine and serve with more Parmesan, if desired.

We can't forget our homemade Kimchee.  Before heading to Seattle for our mini vacation I started a batch of Kimchee.  I would say it was a big hit, it was gone by the end of the week, it could have went longer in the fermenting process, but it didn't last that long.  I am planing another batch this week.  It wasn't hard.  You can do it too.  Yes it does smell a little different, but not bad, just different.  Kimchee is a nutritious and delicious probiotic side dish that plays an important role in intestinal digestion and is suitable for vegetarians, vegans and even raw foodies.  For the first batch I used Napa cabbage, crushed red pepper, a little celery, onion, and carrots.  I adapted the recipe from this one (found here):

Kim's Kimchee
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Kim's Kimchee

1 Head of Cabbage- Napa, Green or Purple
1/4 cup sea salt
3 inch piece of ginger
4 to 6 cloves of garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne
1 tablespoon honey
2 to 4 cups other vegetables such as carrot, turnip, cucumber, etc, chopped small
Knife
Cutting Board
Large Ceramic or Glass Bowl
Plastic Wrap
Zip Lock Bag
If you're using Napa cabbage, slice it into 1-inch strips. For green or purple cabbage, chop into chunks about 1-inch wide and 1 to 2-inches long. In a glass or ceramic bowl, completely dissolve 2 tablespoons of the sea salt in about 1 gallon of water. Add the cabbage and allow it to soak for 4 hours, stirring occasionally, and making sure there is enough water to completely cover the cabbage.

Meanwhile, mince the ginger and garlic and place in a small bowl. Add the cayenne and honey, if using, and mix together well (you can use a mini food processor for this if you have one).

When the cabbage is done soaking, drain the brine into another bowl or pot and return the cabbage to the first bowl. Add in the remaining vegetables, if using, and stir in the ginger mixture to completely coat the cabbage and vegetables. Replace enough of the brine to just cover the food.

Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the soaking vegetables.You need to weigh the mixture down and set it aside to ferment for a few days. So take a 1-gallon zip lock seal bag and fill it with water. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sea salt (in case the bag leaks, the water won't ruin your project). Place it on top of the plastic wrap-covered vegetables. Cover the whole thing with a kitchen towel and set aside.
So our time appears to have been spent in pursuit of food!  *grin* We had lots of fun though reading recipes and making dishes. 

This tulip was picked and given to me by Bear.  I kept them in my kitchen until today.  They lasted a long time and watched over all of our kitchen projects for the week.

 We did spend some outside time this weekend as well.  In fact, much of Saturday was spent enjoying a blend of sunshine and clouds.  We rescued a bumblebee from our rain gauge, befriended a snail and named potato bugs.

This week we are also linking up with Home to 4 Kids.



Now a new week is starting......