Zucchini, Onion and Red Pepper Stew

When scanning a site for a recipe I almost always notice the sweet treats first. I think it’s natural for most people to be drawn to them. After I’ve had my eye candy I take another look at recipes that incorporate healthy ingredients. This month, while scanning my assignment site for The Secret Recipe Club, The Haggis and the Herring, my eyes perused lots of tasty recipes until I came upon this stew. I knew I did not need to look any further.

With cooler weather almost here I am eagerly anticipating the onset of lots of soups, sauces and stews. I was eager to make this to kick off the start of the next season. I hit up a local farmers’ market and set out to make it. You will notice that it is vegetarian. I still have problems letting go of the idea of not having meat in my meals but this dish makes it easy to go meatless.

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Zucchini, Onion and Red Pepper Stew

Ingredients

2+2 tbsp olive oil

4 bell peppers, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8″ thick

1 sofrito recipe (see below)

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp cumin

salt

Instructions

1. In a dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add the peppers, onion and salt. Cook over medium heat until peppers are soft and set aside.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp oil and add the zucchini. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is soft.

3. Add the pepper and onions back to the mixture along with the sofrito. Let mixture come to a gentle simmer.

4. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic, cumin and a dash of salt into a paste and stir it into the pan.

5. Cook an additional 10 minutes before serving.

Sofrito

1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, bruised and minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar

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Grilled Peach Salad with Feta and Honey Balsamic Glaze

Every time I hear the word peaches I immediately start singing the song “Peaches” by The Presidents of the USA. Sing it with me people:

Movin’ to the country gonna eat a lot of peaches
I’m movin’ to the country I’m gonna eat me a lot of peaches

May that song now be stuck in your head all day long. You are welcome.

My mom was kind enough to stop by Mood’s, a local farmers’ market, and pick up a couple pounds of peaches for me. Last year I used my bulk supply to make peach jam. This year I wanted to change it up a bit.

After unsuccessfully searching for ideas in my massive stack of cookbooks and bookmarked recipes I put the peaches aside and began to make dinner. The ribs that I had been slow cooking all day were almost ready. Approximately 2.2 seconds before we were ready to eat I decided to incorporate the peaches into our meal. I did another search and found this recipe. The peaches were phenomenal. We devoured them. The ribs? I won’t be making them again. The marinade was bland. I was thoroughly amused that the highlight of our meal was something that was last minute and took almost no time to make. Ahhh life, you are a stinker sometimes.

After successfully serving the peaches as a side dish for our entree I decided to experiment with them as a salad. This time I added some chopped cashews to give the dish a little crunch. I do not have any pictures of the salad with the glaze. It gets messy in a “I need to devour this right away” kind of way that is not too photogenic.

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Grilled Peach Salad with Feta and Honey Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

4 peaches

1/2 cup honey

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup cashews, chopped

5 ounces baby arugula

Directions:

Mix honey and balsamic together and blend well. Set aside.

Halve peaches and remove pit. Slice into quarter pieces.

Place quarter pieces with one side down onto a heated grill. (I used a grill pan.)

Grill until peaches are tender and grill marks appear. Flip and repeat on opposite side.

Remove from grill and brush with glaze.

Arrange the glazed peaches on a bed of arugula. Top with chopped pecans and crumbled feta. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

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Caprese Salad Revisited

Photo by Jessie Kaufman of Jessie Kaufman Photography

When I see a tweet like this it makes my heart go all aflutter: JessieKPhoto (Jessie Kaufman): I want to do a guest photo for a food blog this week. Any takers? Your recipe.

You can find the original Caprese Salad post here or check out the recipe below:

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Caprese Salad

Ingredients

• 15 medium size cherry tomatoes (cut in quarters)
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese (cut in blocks to be the same size as tomatoes)
• 2 tbs. fresh basil OR 1 tbs. dried basil
• 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 3 tbs. olive oil
• 2 1/2 tbs. apple cider vinegar

Directions

Mix tomatoes and cheese in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil.

Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and cheese mixture.

Fold ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

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