Well, I finally harvested my first bunch of zucchinis the other day - 3 green, 6 yellow, or so. Yeah!! Fruits of our labour and $$ invested in topsoil and pots, etc. :) So worth it!!!!!
So, I made zucchini casserole. I only used one big pot, when I normally would have used 2 or 3, but didn't feel like washing a zillion things - heat wave WEEK here in the midwest. Today it will reach 100 degrees if it hasn't already. I am sitting 6 inches from the A/C. Too hot to blog! but none the less, want to get my about monthly post in. :)
First I sauteed some onion and garlic in the bottom of the pan. I opted out of including ginger which is habit, I usually saute the 3 together. Anyway, when the onions were translucent, I added the garlic. Then I poured in a few pints of my homemade canned salsa yumminess. :) Ingredients: tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalepeno, cilantro and lots of vinegar. Yeah, the canning monsters online scared me into it in case my tomatoes weren't acidic enough. Thus we only use it for cooking now - it's too vinegary to eat as salsa dip. :( But tastes great in stews, soups, casseroles, etc.!
Started chopping up the zucchinis and throwing them in the mix. Added some sea salt and ground pepper, and cumin. Then I added my own chili powder - homemade from grinding up chilis in my coffee grinder. Yeah, we don't drink much coffee anymore - although I'm sure it would just add to yummy flavour. :)
Let that simmer for an hour or so. If I had planned better I would have done it in the morning and thrown it all in the slow cooker! One of these days...
I then chopped up some fresh oregano, marjoram and basil from my garden in pots outside and threw it in there. I wish I hadn't killed my cilantro because that would have gone in there too. Did you know that cilantro is a natural metals detoxifier? I recently read that somewhere. Another reason to pour on the cilantro - stems and all! :) But, not this time. :( Although, I did put cilantro in my salsa when I made it! Marjoram aids in congestion, sinus, etc. Yes, I use all my herbs in medicinal quantities - ie a whole bulb of garlic and way too much onion.
Your body eventually gets used to these quantities and you don't go around smelling like a garlic onion catastrophe. Or so I'm told. :) Life is short, go for it!
It tasted soooooo good!!! My dear husband was all mmmmmm through the whole meal! He ate more of that then the chicken off the bbq. :)
The next nite I sauteed some enoki mushrooms and shrimp in butter. Added a bit more sea salt and ground pepper and threw it in the mix. A whole new meal!!!
Next time, we'll maybe make it with some turkey sausage or something. Or maybe the real deal. Yummy!!!
