Avocado-Zucchini Soup

So now that avocados and zucchini are both in season, I over-zealously bought a-lot. Well, at least a bag of 6 avocados cost me only 3euros, which I thought was a killer deal. Best of all, they were in varying degrees of ripeness, so I was able to use some and save some for a little later without worrying about wasting any. However, after a few busy nights of not cooking, I haven't been using them, and I started to think- hey, better use up those softies!

Did you know that avocados are full of good stuff, like oleic acid to help lower cholesterol, potassium to help regulate blood pressure, folate for your health, and vitamin E which is great for your skin? I bet you didn't also know, that botanically, zucchini is actually a fruit, not a vegetable. Cool huh?

So after a bit of recipe browsing, I adapted this soup::

2 ripe avocados
1 to 2 zucchinis, depending on the size, or whatever you have
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 green chili
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 cube of vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups of water
olive oil
thyme, salt, pepper, to taste
So basically I just chopped the zucchini, onion, garlic, chilli and softened them in the soup pot with a little olive  oil. Once soft and fragrant I poured in the water and the broth cube. After boiling a while, I cut the ripe avocados, threw them in, blended it together, spiced it to taste and...... YUM! I can feel my blood pressure lowering already.

Zucchini Bread

Now that I've been making the transition into a vegan diet, baking is posing a new challenge. Most of my friends will attest to the fact that I do not back down from a challenge. Learn Finnish? Bring it on. Learn German in Finnish? Ok, then. Make an entire buffet spread for my moving out party that is vegan and everyone will love? Done and done.

The menu of this particular party included homemade pita chips, a lentil and carrot curry dip, this zucchini bread adapted from Hell Yeah It's Vegan (I used less sugar but more oil), peanut butter and cocoa squares (I would have taken a picture if these weren't eaten so fast!), amongst other basics (veggies and fruit, etc).

Most people did not realize there was zucchini in this bread. People knew they liked it and kept asking me what it was, but were shocked to hear that there were vegetables inside. Something good for you? Ok, there is a lot of sugar in this recipe, so I won't go calling it 'health food', but it's a nice treat this time of year. Doesn't come close to my mom's zucchini bread (she makes dozens of mini loaves to give away every year and everyone loves it), but at least this version is vegan!

I still had quite a bit leftover, however, and ate the rest for breakfast with a little plain soy yogurt and fruit. But afterwards I got lots of ideas how to reuse leftover zucchini bread.... toasted with agave syrup drizzled ontop....layered in a cake..... with raisins....

Asparagus & Zucchini Crudi

For being so simple, this is one of the best, freshest things I've eaten in a while. I was inspired to make this because asparagus is finally in season (thus affordable) and from some recent discussions I've been having with my friend F about raw food diets. Ok so this isn't technically all raw, of course with a little parmesan and olive oil, but it ups the flavor immensely and is at least a way to get into raw foods gradually. This is something I've meant to get into a bit more, in fact, though I admit I probably wouldn't last long with this, as I love to bake and don't even have a food processor.

Though I was skeptical about raw asparagus, the original recipe is from one of my favorite TV-star chefs, Giada de Laurentiis. I love her show because she's always doing something fresh, simple and healthy.

1 zucchini, washed and cut into strips with a vegetable peeler

4-6 stalks of fresh asparagus, cut thinly on the diagonal
shaved parmesan for garnish
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss these ingredients together and serve immediately. Some reviews from Giada's page said that if you let it sit too long the zucchini gets a bit soggy. Since this is a scaled down recipe, it only serves about 2 as a side (or 1 for my lunch ;-)

Yellow Zucchini-Okra Curry

I guess yellow curry is a bit more Thai than Indian. Anyone give me a heads up if you know the difference. Maybe one day sooner than later my travels will take me to India, where my bestest JoNaners is going to be just weeks from now. I'm sure she can report back to me on this, after she compares a bit. Jealousy sunk in when I realized the absolute freedom she would have. But, ater a bit of frenzied research, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't afford a trip just yet.

Until the day I get to travel to India, I can live vicariously through the stories of my friends and through the food. Which brings me to this curry. I don't normally make curry for first time dinner guests, because I don't want to scare them off with anything too exotic. (Yes, some of my experiments have looked like molten lava or tasted of only keffir lime). But in this case my dinner guest of choice has proclaimed a devoted love for curry. Now hopefully he's not too much of a critic. I can only compare mine to restaurant quality, not to the real thing, but I think it tasted pretty darn good!

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2'' piece of ginger, peeled and grated or crushed with a garlic press
• 3 tbs peanut oil
• 2 tbs yellow curry
• 1 tbs tumeric
• 1 tbs garam masala
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 medium sized zucchini, diced into 1/2'' cubes
• abotu 7 large okra, chopped into quarters
• 1 cup peas
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Alright I know this is a loooong list of ingredients, but it's not as hard as it sounds. Afterall, it's really just like stirfry, only you add a sauce and let it simmer for a while, right?

1. First heat the oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and let brown a bit.
2. Add the onion and bell pepper and stir until soft.
3. Add the zucchini and okra and continue stirring about 5 minutes.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes and cocunut milk.
5. Add the peas last, because they don't need much time to heat.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sometimes, If I'm allowing this to simmer long enough, the liquid evaporates, so I add a few table spoons of water occassionally to keep a saucy consistency. (Saucy, I will now be). This also gives the flavor time to condense. Serve with warm basmati rice.

Italian Dinner for Two

Since I have the last chance to cook for A for a while, I wanted to make something special as a sendoff. I'm sure once he's in Berlin he'll be in donerkebab heaven, but for now I wanted him to enjoy some nice Italian.

My menu was a little off season, since I made a Southern Italian Ratatouille inspired by the Food network, and I really wanted to use a little zucchini. The multitude of different vegetables really hit the spot.

Italian Salad

• Head of lettuce (arugula, or romaine, or a mixture)
• Handful of black or kalamata olives, pits removed
• approx. 1o cherry tomatoes
• 1 roasted red pepper (I used jarred to make my life easier)
• olive vinaigrette (recipe follows)

1. Tear lettuce into forkable bites.
2. Toss in other ingredients.
3. Mix in the vinaigrette.
   

Olive Vinaigrette

• 3 tbs green olives with pimento and juice
• 3 tbs red wine vinegar
• handful of basil leaves
• fresh bunch of parsley leaves
• black pepper
• 4 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs grated Parmesan

1. Mix all ingredients in the blender, adding oil and Parmesan last.

Southern Italian Ratatouille

• 1 zucchini, sliced on the horizontal
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 can of mushrooms or one pound fresh button or cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup spinach, frozen
• handful of basil leaves, torn
• 2 tbs thyme or rosemary (or both)
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 4 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbs Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Heat half of the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add 1 onion and half of the garlic and saute until golden and aromatic. Add zucchini slices and saute on medium low until soft. Remove from the pan to another plate or oven dish.
2. Heat the other half of the olive oil in the same pan as before. Add the other onion and the rest of the garlic and saute. Add the mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, thyme or rosemary and salt and pepper. Saute until softened.
3. Mix the mushroom and zucchini together, add the chopped tomatoes and basil and toss.
4. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
5. Keep warm in oven if necessary, while preparing the rest of the meal.

This makes a lot of ratatouille, or 4 servings. However, the leftover ratatouille is versatile for use in leftovers! I used some the next morning in a delicious egg omelet. I plan to use the rest for an appetizer, on top of say, bruschetta. Or, it can be served over rice, with potatoes, or tossed into some tomato puree and vegetable broth to make a delicious soup!

Shrimp Pasta with Herb Cream Sauce

• pasta for two servings, I used whole wheat rotini, about half pound for two very hungry people
• half pound shrimp
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup cooking cream
• 1 can crushed peeled tomatoes
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1/2 cup torn basil and parsley leaves

1. Set water to boil with a pinch of salt and a splash of oil. When boiling, add pasta and cook to instructions.
2. Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add the diced garlic and and shrimp. Cook until shrimp are just cooked, turning from grey to pink. Remove shrimp from pan. I bought frozen raw shrimp, so I was not able to peel and devein until after this step.
3. Peel and devein shrimp at this time if you have not already.
4. Add the tomatoes, basil and parsley to the pan and simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add oyster sauce, cream and white wine and simmer for another 4-5 minutes.
6. Add basil and parsley leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. (For a little heat, add some crushed red pepper flakes.)
7. Strain pasta and return to pot. Add sauce and shrimp to the pasta and toss thoroughly.

Wahlah! Yummy and easy, but still tastes so gourmet.

Bon Appetito!