Crispy Fried Zucchini Flowers

Crisp and light, and a most typically perfect Italian appetizer. And your zucchini plant is bursting with flowers! But which blossoms do you pick for frying? The male flowers do not produce fruit so they are the one's you want unless you have a great abundance of blossoms then go for some of the female flowers as well. The female stems look swollen like a small zucchini while the male ones have thin stems. Don't pick all the males  because they are needed for pollination of the females.

Ingredients:

8 zucchini flowers

2 tbsps flour

2 tbsps cornstarch

3 - 4 tbsps water

pinch of salt

1/4 cup olive oil for pan frying

Pick your zucchini blossoms just after they have closed in the morning if possible. Carefully open them and pinch out the long narrow protrusion and cut off the stems and thin green, spiky leaves on the side of the flower. A little stowaway bug might be inside too so cleaning out the middle of the flower is important. They may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for one day.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, water and salt making a thin batter similar to pancake batter. Let it rest 30 minutes. Heat oil in a frying pan to medium high. It's ready when a drop of batter in the oil sizzles. Usually you would dip each flower individually in the batter but this is a small batch so they can all go in the bowl at once. Stir gently and fold to coat.

Fry the blossoms a few minutes then flip and fry until the batter is golden on all sides. Remove to a paper towel to absorb any excess oil then serve hot.

Serve on their own or with a marinara sauce for dipping.

You might also like Stuffed Peppers and Pumpkin Flowers:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2016/08/stuffed-peppers-and-pumpkin-flowers.html

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Mint Chive Lamb Chops

Tender, juicy lamb chops right off the grill with a hint of tasty and fragrant mint and chives. Mouthwatering!

Ingredients:

6 lamb chops

12 chive leaves

1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves

1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsps white wine vinegar

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp olive oil

Finely chop the chives and mint. Place in a small bowl and add the sugar. Heat the vinegar and water together (30 seconds in the microwave) and pour into the bowl. Let stand a few minutes, stir and add the olive oil. When cool spread on both sides of the chops and leave to marinate 30 minutes or refrigerate overnight.

If you have marinated them overnight take them out of the fridge for 30 minutes before grilling. Then you'll want to give them a nice sear for about 1 minute per side. After that, grill the lamb chops 1-3 minutes for medium rare or 2-4 minutes for medium.

Serves 2

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Easy Roasted Chickpeas

Roasted chickpeas make a delicious garnish for salad or a simple addictive snack!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canned chickpeas

1 tsp olive oil

salt, pepper and smoked paprika to taste

Preheat oven to 450°F and put the pan in the oven to heat up. Drain the chickpeas and thoroughly dry with paper towels.

When read to roast toss everything together and spread out in the hot pan. Roast about 25 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through. If they aren't quite crispy, give them a few minutes more. Ovens vary so they could take up to 45 minutes to reach their peak crispiness!

This made a small batch for two that we had with our salad. If you decide to double the recipe just make sure to use a pan large enough so the chickpeas have room to roast on all sides and are not squished in together.

Best eaten when first made.

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Grilled Zucchini Ribbons

Here's the first of what probably will be many zucchini recipes to come this summer. This one's a light offering for your dinner plate.

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini 

1 tsp minced garlic 

1 tbsp light olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 1/2 tsps sriracha sauce

1/2 tsp dry oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Slice the zucchini lengthwise in thin ribbons using a mandolin or just use a knife. Trick is to get the thickness right. Too thin and it will tear, too thick and it will crack when threading onto skewers.

Anyways, feed the strips onto skewers, if they crack just keep going. You should be able to fill 2 - 9" skewers. Use the zucchini ends on the end of each stick to keep the ribbons on.

Combine everything else, and when ready to grill, brush all over the zucchini ribbons.

Cook on an oiled grill about 2-3 minutes or more per side depending on if you want them tender-crisp or golden.

Serves 2

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Baked Banana Turnover

Whole banana with cinnamon, baked in pie dough... this was a little experiment that went very well! Usually when I have leftover pie dough from say an apple pie, I'll roll it out and spread chopped nuts, butter and brown sugar or simply nutella and roll it up. But I had this one ripe banana and thought...how bad could it be? Pretty good! And next time I might add the nutella too!

Ingredients:

Leftover pie dough

1 banana

Cinnamon

Roll the pastry dough out large enough to wrap a whole banana.

Lay the banana in the center, sprinkle some cinnamon, dampen the edges, fold the dough over and press to seal. You can brush with a little milk or egg wash if you like but it's not necessary. 

Bake in a 400°F oven for 25-30 minutes.

When slightly cooled, cut in half and drizzle on some chocolate syrup.

Makes 2 servings

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Roasted Radishes and Carrots

Radishes are often overlooked as a cooked vegetable, but they can be roasted like most any root vegetable. Roasted radishes are mellow and with sliced carrots make a vibrant veggie side! 

Ingredients:

3 small carrots

5 or 6 radishes

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dry oregano

salt and pepper to taste

chives to garnish

1/2 a lemon

Quarter or halve the radishes and cut the carrots so that they are about the same thickness as the radishes. Toss with olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper.

Roast at 450°F for 20-25 minutes or until fork tender. Then top with chopped chives and give them a good squeeze of lemon and serve.

Makes 2 servings.

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Slow Cooker Herbed Salmon

Cooking salmon in a slow cooker allows the salmon to retain it's oil giving you a tender, moist filet of fish. And with a serving of spaghetti pasta, the tomatoes, onion, pepper and celery round out this light and delicious meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb (4 filets) salmon

15 oz canned diced tomatoes

1/2 cup diced onion

1 bell pepper, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

2 tsps minced garlic

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp dry oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

fresh parsley and chives to garnish

lemon

Mix the canned tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, celery and minced garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker. Sit the salmon fillets on top and season with celery seed, oregano, salt and pepper. Set slow cooker on High for 1-2 hours or Low for 2-4 hours until the salmon easily flakes.

It goes well with a serving of spaghetti pasta but would be equally good with rice.

Add some chopped parsley and chives and finish off with a good squeeze of lemon.

Adapted from: fitslowcookerqueen.com

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