This.  This is magical.  Trust me.

Apple, Leek and Butternut Squash Gratin

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium leeks, white part only, trimmed of roots and tough outer leaves, thinly sliced crosswise, well washed and dried
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, plus leaves for garnish
• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced 1/8-inch thick
• 1 pound apples, such as Gala, Cortland, Baldwin, or Macoun, peeled, halved, cored, and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a 10-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add leeks and 2 tablespoons water; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add sherry and sage and cook until liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes; set aside.

In a 2-quart shallow baking dish, arrange squash in overlapping layers; season with salt and pepper. Spread leeks evenly over the squash.

Arrange apples in an overlapping layer over the leeks. Brush apples with remaining tablespoon oil. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 45 minutes.

Uncover and sprinkle cheese over the top. Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees and bake 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is golden brown. The tip of a paring knife should easily pierce the gratin. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

From Whole Living.

This is loosely based on a recipe from the South Beach Diet book, but I changed some things, as I usually do.  The flavors in this dish are great, with the saltiness of the feta playing off the sweet tomato.

Vegetable Frittata

1/2 C. onion, chopped
1 C. summer squash and/or zucchini, chopped
2 t. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato or 6-7 cherry tomatoes, diced
2 eggs
3 egg whites
1/2 C.  and 1/8 C. feta cheese
1 C. beans (I used pinto, but pretty much any bean would work)
Spices to taste (I used Mrs. Dash Table Blend)

Preheat broiler.

Melt butter in a 10-inch, oven-safe skillet.  Saute onions and zucchini/squash in the butter until onions are clear (about 5 minutes).  Add garlic, tomato and beans and saute together until the entire mixture is heated through (about another 5 minutes).

Meanwhile, beat the eggs and egg whites with the spices.  Add 1/2 cup feta to the eggs.

Distribute the veggie mix evenly over the bottom of the pan and pour over the egg mixture so that the egg covers all of the vegetables.  Place pan in broiler and cook until the top is mostly set.  Sprinkle the 1/8 cup feta on top and continue broiling until the top of the frittata is set and starting to brown.

2-3 servings.

I took this to a potluck tonight and they were a hit so I promised to post the recipe here.

Friday morning I was listening to an NPR interview with Nigella Lawson and she had cooked up some eggplant feta rolls, which I thought sounded pretty divine.  I couldn’t find her exact recipe online, but I found something that sounded similar.  Then I changed it.  So here are my eggplant and feta rolls, possibly based loosely on Nigella Lawson’s recipe.  Possibly.

These are very rich so they are the perfect party food, where you know there will be a lot of people to help finish them.

Eggplant and Feta Rolls

2 large eggplant, cut thinly, lengthwise, into about 10 slices (I didn’t use the end pieces.  Too much peel)
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Basil, probably about 30-40 leaves, chopped fine (I used cinnamon basil, which has a nice spicy flavor to it)
1/4 C. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 T. olive oil
About 2 t. black pepper

Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant slices with salt and lay slices on paper towels for 15-20 minutes to pull out some of the moisture.  I HATE spongey eggplant and have found that this is a good way to cut down on the potential sponginess.  Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil and cook for 4 minutes on each side, until golden and tender.  I roasted them in the oven, but you can also do this on the grill.

Crumble the feta into a bowl and stir in the basil, lemon juice and garlic, and grind in some fresh black pepper.  Spread some of the cheese mixture on the end third of each eggplant slice and roll up the eggplant.  Place seam-side down in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

I found this recipe at a site called Mark’s Daily Apple, which preaches a “primal” lifestyle, arguing that our ancestors only began farming grains a short time ago, evolutionarily speaking, so we should eat the way the early homo sapiens did – meat, fat, vegetables and, to a lesser extent, fruits.  Though I don’t eat this way, I find that the site has a lot of good vegetable recipes, though I tend to modify them a bit.  For example, this recipe called for the fritters to be cooked in coconut oil, whereas I used olive oil.

These are very yummy.

Garlicky Squash Fritters

1 lb. squash (I used 1 pattypan and 1 summer squash)
1 t. salt
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh chives, chopped fine
1/2 C. almond flour (I didn’t have any, so I used whole what flour.  And I only used 1/3 C.)
dash black pepper
1/4 C. olive oil (or vegetable oil or coconut oil)

Grate the squash through the large holes of a cheese grater and combine with the sale.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes to allow the salt to draw the moisture from the squash.  By the handful, squeeze out as much of the water from the squash and spread on a paper towel.  Use another paper towel to squeeze out as much remaining liquid as possible.  Transfer the squash back to the bowl and combine with the egg, garlic, chives, flour and pepper.  Heat the oil in a large pan until hot.  Drop 3 to 4 large spoonfuls of the squash mixture into the oil and press down gently to flatten.  Let cook for 2-3 minutes.  Flip and cook 2-3 minutes.  The fritters should be browned on each side.  Transfer to a paper towel and repeat with the remaining squash, adding more oil and adjusting the heat as needed.

Makes 8-10 fritters.

There is a plethora of zucchini at the farm share lately.  We grilled tonight so I decided to look for a good grilled zucchini recipe.  I made a couple of modifications to a recipe I found online.  It was a winner.

Stuffed Grilled Zucchini

• 4 medium zucchini
• 5 t. olive oil, divided
• 1/4 C. finely chopped onion (red will work, but I used vidalia.  Yum!)
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 1/2 C. dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 C. + 3 T. shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 T. minced fresh basil (I used cinnamon basil)
• 1/2 t. salt

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shells. Brush with 2 teaspoons oil; set aside. Chop pulp. In a large skillet, saute pulp and onion in remaining oil. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add bread crumbs; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the 1/4 C. parmesan cheese, basil and salt. Spoon into zucchini shells. Sprinkle with 3 T. parmesan cheese. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

So, I know I already posted a similar recipe earlier this month, but I tried this one, and I thinks it’s a five star. The other’s a 4 1/2. It doesn’t have mayo, which I prefer, and the sauce is incredible.

Mexican Street Corn with Crema

1 c. cream
1 c. sour cream (light sour cream works fine, too)
1 t. salt
6 ears of corn
2-3 limes, cut into wedges
1 t. cayenne pepper or chili powder (optional)

Combine the sour cream, cream and salt in a small bowl, whisk together, and then cover with plastic. Let sit at room temperature for 3 hours (it will thicken).

To cook the corn, you have two options. The first is to cook the corn according to the other recipe. The second is to heat an oven to 400 degrees/ Remove the silks from the corn (peel the husks back halfway, remove the silks, then cover the corn again), and soak the corn for 20 minutes in water. Place the corn on a baking sheet with the husks intact, and bake for 20 minutes, turning them over after 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove the husks, or pull the husks away from the corn to serve as handles (if you do this, make sure to cover only the husks with aluminum foil on the cookie sheet before the next step). Just before serving, heat the broiler, and broil the corn directly under the flame for 4 minutes (some of the kernels will blacken). You can also grill the corn, in the same manner, over med.-high flames (20 minutes with husks on, 5 minutes with husks removed).

Serve by pouring the 1-2 T. crema on top of the corn, and squeezing lime juice on top (dip the lime in the cayenne pepper before squeezing it on top for some mild heat).

We’re getting the majority of our vegetables lately from the farm share I signed us up for.  Since the first Thursday in June, every week I go pick up a bunch of veggies that a local farmer brings to a church hall.  With most farm shares, the farmer puts together a box of produce and you take whatever the farmer feels like giving you.  I like my farmer’s system because he displays all of his food like you would at a market and we get a certain amount of “money” to spend.  Like last week, I had $10 to spend.  He sets up a chalkboard with all of the per pound prices of the vegetables.  In addition, everyone got a pound of peas, a pound of zucchini and a pound of patty pan squash.  Since all of his zucchini were HUGE, he told us to just take one.  Mine wound up weighing almost 2 pounds.

So I have a bunch of zucchini and a bunch of baby bok choy from the farm share and I want to do something with an Asian flavor to compliment the Miso-Glazed Salmon.  I found a recipe for stir fried asparagus and tweaked it to make the following.

I’m actually contemplating chopping up some more veggies and making some more – that’s how good it was.

Stir Fried Zucchini and Baby Bok Choy

This is definitely my favorite side dish. I like to have 2-3 sweet potatoes on hand just to make these, if the occasion arises. It’s also incredibly simple and can cook while you prepare the rest of dinner.

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges
Serves 3-4 people

2-3 sweet potatoes, skins on (if you like them, of course)
3-4 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Cut each potato in half lengthwise and in half width-wise. Then, turn them with the flat surface touching the board, and cut them into wedges by slicing them lengthwise. Toss them in a large bowl, and drizzle with 3 T. olive oil (the oil should coat all slices of the sweet potato well, and there should be a little excess in the bottom of the bowl. Add more, if needed). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to completely coat. Spread in a single layer over the baking sheet, and roast for 30-35 minutes, stirring and flipping the fries once or twice during baking. The fries are done when the are tender to a fork’s prick.