Category: Vegetable
Zucchini boats w Italian Chicken Sausage
What a simple lowfat option for those large zucchini’s coming from the garden this time of year. Trying to keep my eating more lowfat and clean Im forced to avoid my favorite fried zucs.this was so easy and delicious! Its also lowfat!
- Large zucchini
- Italian chicken sausage 98 percent ff
- Chopped 1/4 cup each onion, red bell, green bell, cored center of zuc, two. Garlic cloved
- Tsp garlic powder
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- Two springs fresh basil stemmed and chopped
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Jared marinara sauce
- Parm and or mozzarella shreaded
Cut ends and then lenghtwise zucchini
Pending size half to fit baking dish
Carefully core out soft centers fine chopping half for meatloaf mixture.
Mis meat, chopped veggies, seasonings , egg breadcrumbs together and form into loafs on sectioned squash. The sausage already is heavy seasoned and simply delicious!
Arrange over 1 cup sauce in cooking dish.
Sprinkle w parmasean optional
Bake 400 degrees 40 minutes
Cover with mozzarella and bake 5 more minutes to melt.
Served over whole wheat basil pasta
Angel hair wholewheat pasta is so delicious and a bit lighter than the white flour version . I cook according to the box and then toss w olive oil, crushed chopped fresh basil and salt and pepper
Simple delicious!!
Canning Time- Garlic
Im always asking for request for ideas or open to questions, that if I don’t know the answer I sure and going to find out. Then I test the theory or should I say the recipe. I love to can- I can’t say Im the expert due to me sticking to the items I really like and seem to stick with the same recipes. I find I make a lot of jam and fruit and of course salsa! I really love to can bread and butter pickles as well as my all time favorite ChowChow, just like they do it back home in the Appalachia Hills. But this request for pickled garlic made me ponder and I had to do some research. Here is my final product. Cant taste it for 30 days…its curing and absorbing the flavors. But it came out pretty… so here are the steps I followed.
I started with a mess of fresh garlic heads. Elephant garlic is really large cloves but I found standard with good sized cloves for less shucking. I call it shucking some call it peeling or cleaning the cloves From all skins, roots or blemishes. this takes time… I have seen devises that peel garlic or heard or using two Bowls. Fresh garlic peels easily and I like the busy work, so I did mine by hand. this recipe I used 8 regular heads of garlic and it jared 2 – 1/2 pint jars. Im going to up the recipe for 4 jars but always have an extra on hand just in case…
After cleaning all the cloves and removing all blemishes you want to blanch in rolling boiling water 1 minutes and then strain and drop into an ice bath. Set aside and prepare your jars. Be sure to use distilled water- certain water can cause the garlic to turn blue. Its still safe and tastes good but a bit strange in color,
I used Pickling spices already mixed. Its easy, pretty and did I say easy.
- Pickling spices McCormick sells a nice blend.
- Bay leaves small
- 1 Tablespoon Pickling salt
- 6 cups white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
Bring vinegar, sugar, salt to an almost boil in a NON-REACTIVE POT and make sure the salt and sugar are Dissolved. Set aside to prepare jars.
Use five clean 1/2 pint jars. I like to heat mine in the oven at 250 degrees. carefully line up jars on a heat safe towel and place 1 tsp spice in each jar with a small bay leaf. The smell is instant holiday spice with the cloves on the hot jar. this also releases the aromatics.
Drain Garlic from Ice bath and arrange in each jar leaving 1/2 Inch from top of jar.
Then pour the hot vinegar sugar mixture into each jar- just to 1/2 Inch of rim covering all garlic. take a chop stick or wooden spoon to release any air tbubbles caught. Seal with clean lid and ring. Water bath jars covered low boil for 15 minutes. These will take up to 24 hours to seal. That wonderful “plink -plink” as they cool.
Don’t eat for 30 days to allow the garlic to fully absorb the flavors. Fantastic with a zesty Bloody Mary or straight out of the jar for a snack. When consumed the brine is fabulous for dressings and cooking. Once jar is opened refrigerate. Shelf life 1 year sealed unsealed refrigerated 2 months.
Enjoy!
Salad – Garden fresh
This is the time of the year to really start enjoying the harvest of your garden beds or porch gardens. I make an effort to offer a raw salad of some sort daily at dinner. Make it colorful and fresh. Watch the kids gobble it up every time.
pictured fresh greens with rainbow carrots, pickled beets, sweet vedalia onion and cherry tomatoes. More color the healthier in rich vitamins and anti oxidants.