What We Eat

I used to hate to cook. Mostly because I didn't know how and didn't know where to start. When we decided to go vegetarian I realized I had to step it up and figure out a whole new way of eating. I was so used to planning a meal around whatever meat we were eating and I didn't know what my other options were. We bought the cook book veganomicon and the rest is history. I love to cook now and am actually pretty decent. After the baby was born I took a cooking hiatus. Mostly because sleep deprivation and a hot stove aren't a good combo. We lived on carry out, which you can only do for so long before you realize nothing sounds good anymore and you are broke. So now that I'm back to work its time to get back into a cooking routine that is easy/healthy. When I find a recipe that is worthy and meets the criteria (easy/fast/delicious) I will post it in a segment called "What We Eat". I tried to come up with something more catchy but I'm not as creative as you might think....

First up: Baked Zucchini. Brent and I buy a CSA (community supported agriculture) every year for our vegetables from Field 51. (http://www.field51produce.com) I highly recommend this for anyone, especially people with kids. We pay $450 for 24 weeks of seasonal veggies. Every Thursday we go out and pick up our bushel. It's great because I can plan our meals around the vegetables we get and once Will is a little older we can take him out to the farm and he will gain an understanding of where food comes from. It's a win win.

Anyway, back to my zucchini. This week we got a ton in our CSA. Honestly I am not a huge fan of zucchini but this dish is awesome, fast, and ridiculously easy.

2 zucchini
Olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, diced
2-3 tablespoons of a fresh herb (any will do, basil, parsley, thyme, etc)
Blue cheese (or your fav cheese, I'm not a huge fan of soft cheese so I used provolone)
Breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese

Cut the zucchini in half long ways. Scoop out the seeds to create a well. Put the zucchini in a glass baking dish so that they fit snuggly. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle the diced garlic evenly on the halves. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle your herb evenly.

Put your cheese on top, then sprinkle with breadcrumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes at 450.

Then boom! It's done and you have a yummy, healthy dinner. Since we still have a bazillion zucchini left I am going to cook this again tonight and add onions and mushrooms. This dish is great because you can really get creative with it.

Hope you enjoy!