Vegetarian Sandwich with Portabello Mushroom, Squash and Avocado

So delicious and good for you! 

Wouldn't you know some of the best ideas come when I get my crazy ass OUT of the kitchen. A few nights ago I asked healthy boyfriend to make dinner, because as much as I love to cook for him, sometimes I just want to sit down, read some YA fiction and drink a beer after work.

This particular evening I went running, which I'm very half-assedily trying to get back into, and I knew after my first run in months I would have cranky sore britches when I was done. So healthy boyfriend offered to prepare dinner, and I happily agreed.

Often when he makes dinner it's very simple and vegetable heavy. Which can be refreshing, but I do complain about the blandness of flavor. Of course when all I want is food, I try to keep my mouth shut about the particulars because someone making me food is always appreciated.
This time healthy boyfriend knocked my apron right off! Not literally, that was later. Me. Ooow.  Fa reals though; The ingredients and preparation was easy. The taste: SO. FREAKIN. YUMMY!

Sandwiches are one of my big weakness when trying to eat vegetarian. When I see club sandwich on a menu, my mouth begins to water. Turkey, ham, salami, OH the meats that make me forget the environment, animal cruelty, all my morals just for a delicious smoked turkey and havarti with a homemade aioli. Hopefully I can use this creation and others to curb the insatiable appetite I have for meat sandwiches. Huh huh....meat sandwiches.....dirty.... AND focus.

I tried not to add much additional flavor/spices to the vegetables, wanting to let their innate flavor shine. A little garlic for the zucchini and just a splash of balsamic to the mushrooms. I don't like when balsamic vinaigrette overpowers the flavor of a vegetable which is why I did not marinate the mushrooms, just splashed a little on to add a brightness to the already delicious taste of portobello mushrooms.

In the pictures, I cut the squash all wrong. Mind farts happen in the kitchen, so I just cooked them anyway. Cut the squash in thin strips because they lay better on the sandwich that way. Also be creative with your vegetables, these are suggestions, but use what you have. I do think the combo is dyNAmite, so if you can try this way first before tinkering with other ingredients. Obviously this doesn't really keep, so serve immediately.

Vegetarian Sandwich with Portobello Mushroom, Squash and Avocado

The Goods: Makes 2 sandwiches
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter or Earth balance
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2-3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 ripe haas avocado, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 small yellow squash, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 portobello mushroom, cut into half inch slices
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Mayonnaise or Vegennaise
4 slices whole wheat bread
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)

The Deal: 
1. Caramelize ya onions. Place butter in a medium saute pan on medium high heat. Once butter is melted, add onions and stir to evenly coat. Saute stirring frequently until the onions begin to lightly brown 8-10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and saute, stirring occasionally, reducing heat if they begin to burn.

2. Once your onions are close to being done, begin cooking the rest of the ingredients. On medium heat place 1 tablespoon of olive oil and garlic in a medium saute pan. Cook until garlic starts to smell delicious, about one minute, then add your squash, green and yellow. Saute on each side, stirring frequently, until browed about 6-8 minutes.

wrong cut, right colors :)

3. At the same time heat the remaining olive oil on medium heat in a small saute pan and add the mushrooms. Coat in oil then add a splash of balsamic vinaigrette and stir to coat. Saute, stirring frequently until a fork is easily inserted, about 6-8 minutes.

4. While your vegetables are cooking, toast your bread and spread mayo on the hot bread. If using sesame seeds sprinkle on squash a minute before you remove from heat.

5. Once all your vegetables are cooked, assemble your sandwich in this order: squash, avocados, portabello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and feta. Top it off with the second slice of bread and enjoy a healthy vegetarian sandwich that even meat eaters would love.

Roasted Vegetables with Goat Cheese and Strawberries

Your mouth will thank you

Spring is a magical time for so many reasons. Waking up to birds chirping, having several hours after work to enjoy the sweet sun, and fresh food growing right outside your door. Well technically not my door, as I have no space for a garden, but Farmers Markets are in full swing, and I am like a kid in an appropiately healthy candy store.

Local Strawberries, NOTHING better

Asheville is full of wonderful farmers markets, there is one almost every day during the summer. During the week Im working, but Saturdays from 9-1 there is a farmers market downtown that is worth getting up early for.

Vertically Challenged bread was $2 bucks off!

Now, I cannot take full credit for this dish. The farmers market was having a cooking Demo, and the head Chef from "Knife and Fork" was grilling vegetables and placing them on bread with a dollop of goat cheese and grilled strawberries. Being the great local chef he is, I asked where he got his idea, and he replied, "This morning! I looked around, saw what the farmer's had and just threw this together." Once you know about food, you can look at ingredients and make something delicious every time. Every day I learn more about flavors, and what flavors compliment each other.
I do not have a grill, sigh, but I had wanted to try baking vegetables in this local greek dressing I bought last week at the same market. A little bit of good dressing goes a LONG way. I also did not heat my strawberries, so they were room temperature, which I enjoyed more than the grilled ones. I like playing with hot and cold, especially in the summer when hot food can often just be too hot to eat. During July and August if I haven't cooked by noon, I aint gonna cook. Being in a hot kitchen in July is just miserable

Goat cheese 4 LIFE!

This dish will BLOW. YOUR. MIND. The more I learn about cooking, the more I understand the concept of "developing flavors". I've watched the Bravo show, "Top Chef" for years, and they always talk about the success of a dish as too how well the flavors develop in your mouth when you are eating it. Ingredients can be simple, or complicated, cheap or expensive, but in the end what matters is if they work well together. When you bite into something special, you taste one flavor, then another, then another, and the flavors develop in your mouth, you know someone thought about how the ingredients would work TOGETHER.

Healthy boyfriend was skeptical when I told him what we would be eating for dinner. After his first bite, he was silent; he couldn't eat it fast enough. Its so fun when someone is skeptical about a dish, makes the enjoyment that much sweeter. Food surprises are the best!

What's incredible about this recipe is each ingredient tastes fresh and unique, but also as a whole each flavor adds to the dish.
The ingredients may sound odd, but this is one of the best dishes Ive ever eaten. Not only does it play with sweet and savory, it plays with temperature and texture. This dish is a playground of flavor, the fun just never stops!

I could drink this stuff

Best of all I used about 75% local ingredients which is so exciting! Local organic strawberries, Farm and Sparrow seeded bread, Spinning Spider Creamery Goat Cheese, and Papou's Greek Dressing from a woman who makes local greek food. If you are in the Asheville area, this is about as good as it gets. Though I encourage any of you to find your local farmers market and make it your beeswax to go. Not only is it the most environmentally friendly food you can eat, it also taste the best! Fresh picked food does not even compare to grocery store food. Fresh strawberries taste nothing like the ones you buy in the grocery store; the first time I had a local strawberry I was in shock. It was like I'd never had a real strawberry before. You should have a rough plan of how to make the food you buy at the farmer's market, fresh food goes bad quickly because its not filled with chemicals. Talk to the farmers you buy the food from, often they have simple delicious recipes and are happy to share them with you. As you see, I got all my ideas from the farmers, by the end of the summer who knows how much Ill learn!

This dish is as flexible as a olympic gymnast, use a different kind of goat cheese, a different type of fruit, depending on where you live, your local farmers will have different ingredients. Also I just asked healthy boyfriend to pick up some type of squash and onion. Yellow squash, acorn squash, eggplant, purple onion, any and all would be great roasted vegetables. Play with your food people!

Roasted Vegetables with Goat Cheese and Strawberries

AAAANNNDDDDD YUMMY!!!

The Goods: Serves 4-6 as a meal, 10-12 as an appetizer

1 loaf hard top bakery whole wheat bread, sliced into 2 inch rectangles(see picture below)
1 quart strawberries, sliced
8 ounces rosemary and fig goat cheese
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 medium zucchinis, sliced into 1/2 inch coins
2-3 tablespoons Greek Vinegrette dressing

The Deal: 
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine onions, zucchini and greek dressing. Make sure to evenly coat all the vegetables, add more dressing if needed. Place vegetables on large baking sheet and cook for 10-15 minutes, turning twice during cooking time to ensure even browning. Remove once onions and zucchinis are lightly browned and fork slides in easily.

Get good hard top bread from a local Bakery

Onions, you gonna bake up goooood

2. While your vegetables are cooking, place a decent layer of goat cheese on each bread rectangle. Once your vegetables are ready, promptly place a heaping tablespoon of vegetables on each piece of bread. Finish each bread piece with a few slices of strawberries, and serve immediately.

THATS a good Saturday night

Get ready, your mouth will never be the same.

Zucchini and Corn Quesadillas

Simple ingredients, beautiful colors

Ah the quesadilla. One of the most versatile, simple and down right delicious dishes out there. Cheap to make, and easy to stuff full of any vegetable you like. 

This week I have been riding the sick train to feeling yucky-ville, so have mostly been eating soup and toast, which sustains me but makes for a boring blog entry. I am feeling a bit better, and am ready to get my appetite and blog back on track. I missed a few days in a row of my spirulina smoothie and I suppose that was enough to let those sneaky germs in. So sneaky they are! 

My plan was to make a few varieties of quesadillas this week, but since I was interrupted by the sick train, I got a little of schedule. Not to fear, lots of yummy dishes to come. I must start with the zucchini because I bought it on Sunday and its starting to look like its headed for the Mr. Trashcan, but not if I can help it!

A simple trick to making your quesadillas healthier, is making sure you have more vegetables than cheese. The cheese is there to hold the dish together, but it should not be the main ingredient. I know in a perfect world cheese would be the main ingredient in every dish, but alas our world is far from perfect. So we must struggle through and use our cheese sparingly, as to not have the oh so unattrative cheese on our ass. I for one am looking a bit "cheesy" in some unattractive places and need to work really hard to eat healthier and exercise more.

The ingredients that I used worked wonderfully together, but you can use almost any vegetable you have around. I try to make sure I use vegetables with different textures, the crunch of the corn and the softness of the zucchini and onion balance each other beautifully. Whatever you use, just make sure you cook them first, because the vegetables will not cook in the oven.

For the zucchini, it does not matter how you cut them, you just need to make sure they are all the same size and that they are bite sized. Usually I cut them in semi-circles and they are fine, but I bought ridiculously huge zucchini so had to cut them into half moons and then half those.

A side of steamed broccoli or green beans goes great with this dish, or even a simple green salad. Just make sure you get your greens in!

Zucchini and Corn Quesadillas

The Goods: Serves 4, increase as needed

4 whole wheat tortillas

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 medium zucchini, halved and then thinly sliced crosswise

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro(optional)

2 tablespoon grape seed oil or canola oil

The Deal:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the grapeseed oil on medium heat in a medium saute pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add onions and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add zucchini and corn to onion mixture and cook until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro if using.

3. Grease a cookie sheet and brush 2 tortillas with spray or oil and place them oil side down on a large baking sheet. Place a half of the zucchini filling on each tortilla, then half of the cheese, then the top with remaining two tortillas.

4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, flipping once to ensure even browning. Remove when tortilla is lightly golden and cheese is bubbling. Cut into wedges. Serve with salsa or your favorite hot sauce. Tapatio Yo!

Zucchini with Parmesan

I love Zucchini. Love. it. Its goes with so much, looks adorable, and is squashtastic. I am also making up for lost time. It wasn't until three years ago I started eating it so I feel the need eat my body's weight in it, apparently.

I found this recipe in Barefoot Contessa's "Family Style" which has a plethora great recipes. Many are meat oriented but she had tons of vegetables and neat ideas in general. Her books are very much worth checking out.

This is a simple yet incredibly satisfying recipe. This is a side dish that could easily overshadow a lesser main dish. It would go with pasta, pizza, or an Eggplant gratin: Eggplant Gratin!

I was really surprised how much I enjoyed the simple flavors of this dish, I wish I had better pictures because this dish was delightful.

As I mentioned above, this recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa, who I love so very much. She is so clever and has great recipes, they are just often not super healthy. I am learning that I can tweak her recipes and still get great dishes. Like last weeks ranch dressing, using low fat mayo and 0% fat greek yogurt still made an awesome dressing. The Barefoot, as I loving refer to her, is someone who I feel teaches me about cooking with her recipes. I like to read her for bed time just for fun, its oddly additive.

I used shallots in this recipe even though it called for yellow onions. I am on a shallot kick, but you can use either. What is wonderful about this dish is the onions lightly carmelize adding a lovely sweetness to the overall flavor. Onions and zucchini are like bread and cheese, they just always work. I also added the garlic, because why wouldn't you when eating zucchini and garlic? Plus garlic is great for your body, so use it if you have it, but no worries if you don't.

Please enjoy!

Zucchini with Parmesan

The Goods: Serves 2-3 as side dish

3 medium zucchini
1 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 shallots(or 2 large yellow onions), diced
1/4 freshly grated parmesan cheese
Good Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground pepper

The Deal: 
1. Remove the ends of the zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. Then slice diagonally into 1/2 inch slices.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat in a large saute pan and add garlic. Cook until garlic is fragrant about 1 minute. Add onions and cook on medium low heat, until they start to brown, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the zucchini a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, tossing occasionally for 10-15 minutes. They should be lightly browned and just cooked through.

4. Sprinkle with Parmesan and cook 30 seconds more and then remove from heat. Serve immediately.

Frittata with Broccoli, Zucchini, Chives and Goat Cheese

love the rich colors of this dish

If you have never made a Frittata walk into the kitchen and start cracking those eggs. What is egg-tastic about frittatas is they can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner and are delicious hot or cold. I think they are best for brunch, but also I have a serious love of brunch. I would marry brunch, but I foresee some difficulties with that.

Frittatas are so flexible and versetile, once you figure out how to make them, they will be your new favorite way to cook for guests. They also sound fancy but are simple to make, which is great for a beginner cook like myself.

Traditional Spanish frittatas are made with potatoes and onions. When I was traveling I met a few people from Spain who first tickled my interest about the deliciousness of the frittata. Once I got home, I noticed all the different frittatas out there. Recently I realized how good vegetables frittatas can be, and for those of us who have little time to cook, they only take about 30 minutes. Yippee!

Some recipes say 1 cup vegetables to 5-6 eggs. I prefer having it be vegetable heavy, instead of egg heavy. Not only do the vegetables make it healthier, they also add texture and I think balance out the flavor. So I used about 2 cups of vegetables to 6 eggs and found I still got plenty of egg flavor, but the eggs werent the predominate flavor.

Looking into recipes, some added as much as a stick of butter and others only used 1/3 cup of milk. I add a splash of half and half to my scrambled eggs, I find it makes them fluffy. So I added a few splashes of half and half and I think it was plenty. You could use milk or a tablespoon of butter, I think a little fat helps make it a bit moister, but you certainly don't need heavy cream(I love Barefoot Contessa but she really does add a stick of butter or a cup of cream to everything).

Herbs of some kind are often used in Frittatas. Similar to pizzas, Frittatas are fun because you can combine ingredients endlessly. Next time I might use some thyme, or perhaps rosemary. Im cautious in using herbs because too much can overpower the dish, and I love tasting the vegetables. Perhaps next thyme I suppose.....(I was raised by a pun crazy father, you will have to get used to it)

The method of cooking a frittata varies depending on who you read. I have tried cooking it on the stove and found it ended up being dry and overcooked. An egg dish can go from moist and light to dry and overcooked within a matter of minutes. So I start cooking my frittata on the stove top and then move it to the oven to finish it off. Its cooked throughout, while still staying moist and eggy.  A cast iron is really the best to use, but any oven safe saute pan will work.

This dish is enough for a meal, though I would recommend some type of vegetable on the side to round it off. On this night, I made roasted brussels sprouts, but steamed green beans would have been just as delicious. If serving for brunch serve with a good fruit salad.

I looked at few different methods of cooking a frittata, but the ingredients I added were my own idea.
Try not to eat it all yourself...*cough* I ate half myself *cough*

Frittata with Broccoli, Zucchini, Chives and Goat Cheese

a little slice of vegi heaven

The Goods: Serves 4

6 large eggs
1/2 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped into quarters
1/3 cup scallions, chopped
1/3-1/2 cup herb goat cheese(plain is fine)
2-3 medium garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 tablespoons half and half
2 tablespoons olive oil
a couple good pinches of sea salt and pepper

The Deal: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat in a medium saute pan(one that is oven safe). Once the oil is hot, add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add your broccoli and zucchini and cook until tender about 3-5 minutes.

cookin up greens, oh yeah!

2. Once your vegetables are cooked remove from heat and let cool for about 3 minutes(You dont want to put hot vegetables in eggs and risk cooking the eggs.)

3. While waiting for your vegetables to cool, whisk your eggs, half-and-half, scallions, goat cheese, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

4. When the vegetables have cooled, add them to the egg mixture. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in the saute pan. Pour the egg mixture in the pan and turn heat to medium low. Add dollops of goat cheese, if you desire more than what you already added. Cook undisturbed until the bottom of the eggs are firm about 8-10 minutes.

Cooking the frittata on the stove

5. Then place the pan in the oven. Cook your frittata until the egg on the top are set about 15-20 minutes. Check your frittata about every 5 minutes, this dish is easy to ruin if it over cooks. To check if its ready, use the handle to jiggle the pan, if there is still liquid its not ready, once the jiggle stops, take it out.

6. Once the top is set, remove from heat. Serve hot or room temperature, slice into eights.

Frittata Fives all around!

Vegetable Stir Fry with Marinated Tofu

Ah Stir frys. Nothing better than a recipe that has mostly vegetables and simple cooking.  Stir frys are great because you can use almost any kind of vegetable you want, add a few spices and/or sauces and it will be delicious. I find almost everyone likes stir fry and why wouldn't they? Plus you get to use your wok which is not only fun to say, but looks pretty.

I use normal pasta for my noodles, you can use whatever you have on hand. If you like/buy chinese noodles, then use them in your dish, but I find standard spaghetti noodles work great and I always have some around. Also if you put a dash or sesame oil or braggs in the noodles once they are cooked, they get more of an asian flavor.

Tofu. BAH! I used to really hate this stuff, it reminded me of eating a sponge. Over the years I've grown to appreciate it and even love it. The annoying things about tofu is drying it out and trying to get it flavorful. What I have found is marinades are your best friend and the longer you marinate them the happier your taste buds will be with you.

Everyone has different methods for drying tofu out. I place paper towels or dish towels on a plate, cut the tofu into strips and lay them on the towels. Then place more paper towels over the tofu and place another plate or heavy pan on top. I rotate the towels once they are soaked through, and do this for 30 minutes or up to a few hours if I have the time. Basically you need your tofu dry, so use my method or find one that works for you.

Healthy boyfriend knew he wanted to have tofu in the next few days, so he found the simple marinade below and let it sit for two days. It can be hard to remember to plan ahead of time, but not impossible. A good rule, is if you know you'll eat tofu within the week, just whip up the marinade on monday and let the tofu soak. It will keep in the fridge for a few days and one day you'll come home and have nice flavorful tofu! The marinade could also be baked, or sautéed in a regular pan.

Neat trick: When cooking pasta, put the strainer over the pasta bowl in the sink. When you drain your pasta the hot water goes into the bowl, heating it, which helps keep your pasta warm until its ready to be served. Great trick I learned from my parents.

Bummer Note: This tofu was not as crispy as I wanted it. Tofu is something I still struggle with, I think next time I will bake the tofu. The rest of the dish is great and the tofu was good, just not as cripsy as I desired. If you have a great way of cooking tofu that always works for you, then just cook it that way and stir fry your vegetables as directed below.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Marinated Tofu

The Goods: Serves 2-3

Marinated Tofu, cut into small cubes(recipe below)
1/2 package whole wheat spaghetti noodles
1 ear of corn, kernels chopped off
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1 large zuchhici, sliced into discs
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil(or olive oil)
4 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

The Deal: 
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook spaghetti as instructed on the package.

2. Heat oil in a wok or large saute pan on medium high heat. Heat until hot, about 1 minute, and then add garlic. Saute until aromatic, about 1-2 minutes.

3. Increase the heat to high and add tofu and marinade. Saute until crispy about 5 minutes.

4. Add the broccoli and zucchini and cook until tender about 3-5 minutes. About 3 minutes after you added your broccoli and zucchini, add corn.

5. Once your vegetables are tender, remove from heat and serve over pasta.

Marinated Tofu

The Goods: enough for one package of tofu
1 package extra firm tofu, as dry as possible

1/3 cup soy sauce or braggs

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/3 cup oil

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons ketchup

The Deal: 

1. Combine all ingredients besides tofu in a shallow bowl. Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch strips or cubes.

Toss tofu in marinade and let soak for at least one hour or up to 3 days.

Cheesy Zucchini and Couscous Cake

This is a neat and different way to cook couscous. I am trying to explore all the grains out there, and couscous is one of the easiest and fastest to cook. I enjoy couscous, though its not my favorite. The benefits are the quick cooking time, and the taste is very mild, so it can be used with a lot of different recipes.

You can use a variety of vegetables in this dish. I used zucchini because thats what I had on hand, but you could use leeks, caramelized onions, butternut squash, the varieties are endless. I love when I find recipes that are easy to tweak.
This time around I wasn't thrilled with the outcome. It was good, but not great and thats what Im looking for. I want to crave a dish, and I think with a few tweaks it could be much better. I am posting what I made, but I want to make this dish again to see it I can improve it. Next time I will try using a little bit of vegetable broth to give the couscous some flavor. Also I want to cook the vegetables in garlic to give them a bit more flavor as well. Feel free to try this dish and let me know what you would change! Fun Times!

What the couscous cake looks like before you flip it:

After you flip it, slightly overcooked, but not by much. You want it a bit crispy:

Cheesy Zucchini and Couscous Cake

The Goods: Serves 4

11 oz/1 1/3 cups of couscous

3-4 small zucchinis, sliced lengthwise and then thinly sliced

1 cup good cheddar cheese grated

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

3 tbsp olive oil

2 teaspoons sea salt, more to taste

1 teaspoon pepper, more to taste

The Deal:

1. Place couscous in large heatproof bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in 9 inch frying pan. Add zucchini and cook over medium heat until soft and lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes.

3. Remove zucchini with a slotted spoon and stir them into couscous. Add the grated cheddar cheese and salt and pepper and stir well. Heat the remaining oil in the pan and pour couscous mixure. Pat down firmly to form a cake and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, or until bottom is crisp and golden brown.

4. Remove pan from heat and slide out the cake onto a place, then invert it back into the pan and cook on other side. Cook for a further 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. Once ready remove from heat, slide onto cutting board and cut into wedges. Top with parmesan cheese, and additional salt and pepper if desired.

This recipe is based off a recipe I found in the Three Ingredient Cookbook by Jenny White.

Zucchini, Tomato and Cheddar Pie

Zucchini, Tomato and Cheddar Pie:
This is a easy, delicious pie, that will satisfy your need for pie, but is still mostly vegetables. Serves 3-4, and can be served as a meal, but a salad or side dish would round out the meal nicely.  

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup bread crumbs (I prefer Panko, b/c they are generally healthier)

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium tomatoes diced and seeded

3 medium zucchini quartered lengthwise then thinly sliced

3 large eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer Cabot, its cheap, made in Vermont, and a great company)

3-4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

salt/pepper

1/2 tsp fennel seed(optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter pie plate then sprinkle bread crumbs covering sides and bottom of pie pan. This will be your simple crust. 

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, onions should cook down slightly. Stir in diced tomatoes and saute for five minutes. Raise heat to high. Mix in the zucchini, salt, pepper, and fennel seed(if using). Cook until the zucchini is barely tender, about 5 minutes. The mix will begin to stick to the pan. Remove pan from heat and cool for 5 minutes(this recipe can be prepared in advance at this point, and chilled for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

3. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in milk then stir in zucchini mixure. Pour half into prepared pie plate, top with cheddar cheese, then pour on remaining vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese covering the top and dot with remaining butter. 

4. Bake 30 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. 

Total prep/cooking time about an hour. Cutting vegetables ahead of time will save you 20 minutes.

ENJOY!

Based on recipe from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.