Guaranteed to please meat lovers, Italians, and veggie-heads alike!
Lasagna-style zucchini noodles with fire roasted tomato sauce, meaty eggplant, fresh ricotta, and crispy mushrooms Guaranteed to please meat lovers, Italians, and veggie-heads alike! If you're a gardener or you know a gardener, you've probably found yourself with an abundance of overgrown zucchinis. I do a little harvest from the garden every couple of days and even though I swear I've picked all the zucchini there are to be picked, somehow there's always a gigantic one hiding out that I missed last time around. These massive zucchinis start to pile up in the fridge as I silently protest baking them into something. Don't get me wrong, I love baked goods, but I don't need to make dozen muffins each week for a household of two. And a dozen muffins doesn't even make a dent in the rapidly mounding pile of zucchini giants. Because, don't forget, I still have plenty of young zucchini, lovely and soft, ripe for the eating! So the giants sit and wait to be loved while I think desperately about ways to love them that don't involve sugar and flour. Such problems I have, huh? Well, fear not dear readers, for I have found a solution. A few weeks ago I made a pasta dish with zucchini noodles (a delicious little work in progress that I intend to post soon), and it got me thinking about the great potential these subtle little veggies have. I like the zucchini noodle concept, but I have a few qualms with the common zucchini noodle, the foremost of which is moisture. Pasta noodles, not watery. Zucchini noodles, way too watery. But not these zucchini noodles. No, no. These zucchini noodle are salted, squeezed, and baked until they retain just the right amount of moisture. And magnificent as they are, there is A LOT more to love of this lasagna. This is one of the best lasagnas I've ever eaten, and I say this as someone who grew up eating lasagna every other week from skilled Italian mamas and aunties and nanas.
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Eggplant fries, sauteed zucchini, and charred baby bell peppers Another Sunday afternoon trapped inside on a 98 degree day, looking longingly out the window. Yesterday I stayed out in the back yard until past noon pulling up weeds and raking up the dozens of plant litter piles that have accumulated around the yard. I was glad to get that all done but I was seriously overheated and worn out by the time I came in. I haven't sweat that much since El Centro... I was hoping to get some more digging done today, but when I woke up this morning the knots in my back indicated that that was not a good idea. I did collect a few barrels of compost and acquire a dragon fruit cutting as well as a pretty well-established hops plant, so at least the morning was put to good use. I know my back is grateful for the break, but I'm itching to get back out there nonetheless. This season's garden fever has begun. I've got nearly 200 little seedlings going, one of three new deep sunken beds dug out, all of the weeds and any spent summer crops pulled out of the old garden, a clean yard, and a plan. It's going to be a good fall, when it finally comes. Embarking on this new garden expansion is particularly exciting because I feel like I've finally got a good hold on things. I've gotten to know my yard, soil, pests, and predators well, and I feel armed and ready to transform this new area. There's not a time that I could go out in the garden and think, "no, there's nothing that really needs to be done around here". There's always more to do, and the more invested I get in working on this new project, the more I think of other things I want to do next.
A rich, spicy and satisfying Indian curry with fresh, buttery naan That rain we never got has been sitting in the sky, getting heavier and heavier. Southern California is not a humid place by any means- even the most humid of days in Riverside is less humid than an ordinary day on the east coast. But when it's over 100 degrees, that 20% humidity is surprisingly palpable- and it is seriously unpleasant. The hours of 9 am to 8 pm are all but resigned to being indoor hours, which always makes this time of year difficult for me. I'm an outdoor person. There are few afternoon plans that I find more appealing than spending a good six hours out in the garden or going for a nice long hike. Of course, most of the year here is very conducive to outdoor living. All winter long I can camp, hike, and garden to my heart's content- but from roughly June to September I feel stuck. I feel cooped up in the house, frantically trying to squish all outdoor activities into the couple of light hours in the morning and evening that are bearable to leave the house in. With or without the humidity, the summer here is mostly a wash for outdoor things unless we hitch a ride to the coast or the mountains, but at least the dry heat is slightly more comfortable to contend with. So today, with grey clouds once again filling the sky, all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that maybe, just maybe, it will finally rain. The humidity will dissipate, the parched soil will be quenched, and I will sit by the window with a cup of tea, dreamy and nostalgic about rain. Although, it's been so very long since it last rained here that I may just have to go out and stand in it, letting it soak me through.
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AuthorHi there! I'm Cara- plant ecologist, gardening addict, and whole foods enthusiast. My whole life revolves around plants, including my kitchen. Join me here at LWM each week as I post local, seasonal, plant-based recipes and write about my never ending quest to find balance and tranquility in this crazy little world. Archives
June 2015
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