I like to pretend that I'm not a picky eater and that I enjoy all foods. Truth be told, while I'm not picky, there are some foods that I dislike. Growing up, I basically didn't like eating at all. I thought eat was something you just had to do so you could keep moving and dancing and playing. {I know, it's crazy, I don't know what I was thinking}

When I was about 16, I started realizing that food wasn't just something that your body converts into energy. Food was amazing and rich and complex, and I fell in love. I began everything I could get my hands on. I also developed a new rule for myself for anything that I "didn't like": I had to try at least 2 more times, prepared in different ways, before I drew any conclusions.

For example, I didn't like mushrooms as a kid. The idea of eating a fungus was too much for me. But 4th of July, 2010, my parents grilled giant portobello caps and, please believe me when I tell you this, it was one of the greatest things I've eaten in my life. It was so delicious and I wondered: why had I been missing out my whole life?! Today, mushrooms are one of my favorite things to eat.

And eggplant. I still don't love eggplant. It's a texture thing - the inside get soft and the skin stays taught and waxy. So I tried egg plant again: eggplant lasagna - not bad. Then again: eggplant parmesan - again, not bad. Then a third time: caponata of eggplant - THE BEST THING EVER.

Before you go thinking that I'm special...or strange, you should know there are certain foods I still don't like. For example, I don't like ground meat. I will occasionally dabble with ground turkey, but never ground beef. I also dislike tomato sauce. Fresh tomatoes, bruschetta, ketchup - all good in my book. But warm, oozy tomato sauce - ick. Oh and I can't eat spicy things. Like not even too much ground black pepper. Negative 18 on the spiciness scale. Now you know my Achilles heels.


So what does this mean - I was a strange kid. Instead of eating pizza or hamburgers, I had salads or fresh sandwiches. In fact, cooked spinach was one of my favorite things to eat as a kid. Today, I'll eat pizza with sauce but I much prefer white pizzas. And my least favorite foods of all time? Meat loaf (ground beef + tomato sauce) and chili (ground beef + tomato sauce + spice). But vegetarian chili is an entirely different story.

First of all, instead of ground beef, the soup's "meat" is a variety of delicious vegetables, black beans and brown rice. Second, the broth is about half tomato sauce and half vegetable broth giving it a good balance of flavors. Third, I added no spiciness to this chili. You, of course, can add chili powder and hot peppers until your eyeballs sweat, but I liked mine just the way it was! (adapted from this recipe)

I know spring is here and the cold is behind us {fingers crossed}, but this vegetarian chili is so good. I'm actually quite sad I didn't make a larger batch and freeze some for later. However, this isn't difficult or time consuming, so I'll just have to make another batch again soon.

Vegetarian Chili

Yield: 4 servings | Prep time: 15 minutes | Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper

• 1 Tbsp. garlic

• 1 cup diced zucchini

• 1 cup corn kernels

• 8 oz. portobello mushrooms cubed

• 2 tsp. cumin

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper

• 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced

• 1 cup black beans

• 2/3 cup tomato sauce

• 1 cup vegetable stock

• 1 cup cooked brown rice

• 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese - optional

Directions:

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a small amount of oil (enough to coat the pan). Add the onion, bell peppers and garlic and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, corn and mushrooms. Cook and stir vegetables until soft and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add cumin, salt and pepper, and stir to evenly coat vegetables. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce and vegetable stock. Stir well and allow mixture to come to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. In a bowl, add 1/2 cup cooked brown rice and top with 2 cups of chili. Sprinkle 1/2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro and 1 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese. 

On Friday, I ate lunch with a new friend at a Mediterranean restaurant. While we talked and learned about each others' lives, I gobbled down a delicious falafel wrap and more hummus than I feel comfortable admitting.


Then on Saturday, I ate an amazing falafel and portobello mushroom burger at a great whiskey and burger restaurant in Pittsburgh - yum (I had the burger "lettuce wrapped" to make it a little healthier/so I could eat more french fries instead).


The point of telling you this is to tell you that I ate a lot of falafel. So last night, while still craving more Mediterranean food, I decided to do a spin of a falafel wrap, using little turkey burgers in place of falafel patties (adapted from this recipe).


These turkey burgers are great - they stay so moist because of the zucchini (which you can't even taste, for those non-zucchini lovers out there). And the turkey zucchini burgers + homemade tahini sauce + a tomato and cucumber Mediterranean salsa = a delicious, colorful, Mediterranean-esque meal! Oh yeah, and it's only 350 calories per serving!

Mediterranean Turkey Zucchini Burgers

Yield: 4 servings | Prep time: 40 minutes | Total time: 50 minutes (plus resting time)

Ingredients:

• 4 whole grain pita pockets

Turkey Zucchini Burgers:

• 1 pound lean ground turkey

• 1 cup (packed) grated zucchini, squeezed dry

• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

• Salt and pepper to taste

Tahini Sauce:

• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 2 Tbsp. tahini

• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 2-3 Tbsp. water

Tomato & Cucumber Mediterranean Salsa

• 2 plum tomatoes, diced

• 1 cup diced cucumber

• 1/4 cup diced red onion

• 2 Tbsp. cilantro

• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Turkey Zucchini Burgers:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients to make turkey zucchini burgers. Mix and form into 8 patties. Press patties to be about 1/2-inch thick and place on a plate or baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
2. When ready to cook, heat a grill pan on medium high heat. Grill patties for about 5 minutes on each side. Cook until patties are golden brown and no pink remains inside.

Tahini Sauce:

1. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, cumin and garlic clove until smooth. Add 2-3 Tbsp. of water to reach the consistency of a dressing.
2. Cover and refrigerate.

Tomato & Cucumber Mediterranean Salsa

1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients to make Tomato & Cucumber Mediterranean Salsa. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover and refrigerate.

Assembly:

1. Slice a small potion off the top of each pita pocket. Add 2 Turkey Zucchini Burgers, 1/4 of the Tahini Sauce and 1/4 of the Tomato & Cucumber Mediterranean Salsa.

Nutritional information per serving (2 Turkey Zucchini Burgers, 1/4 Tahini Sauce, 1/4 Tomato & Cucumber Mediterranean Salsa):
Calories: 350
Total fat: 7 grams
Carbohydrates: 32 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Protein: 36 grams
Weight Watchers points: 8



Enjoy and thanks for reading!

As indulgent as this may sound, this recipe is actually very healthy. By replacing some of the eggs with egg whites, using mostly whole wheat flour in place of white flour and relying on pumpkin to moisten the cake instead of oil, you end up with a healthy but still incredibly tasty dessert! Thanks for the recipe mum!

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

After my county fair experience, I was craving some more fried veggies...but I was not craving the calories to go along. So, I decided to make a baked version of fried zucchini, which was far less calories and still very tasty (adapted from this recipe)!

As I said in my previous post, zucchini is a very versatile vegetable. A great use of zucchini is shredded and cooked into fritters.

Zucchini Fritters

(Yields 4 servings - 2 fritters per serving)

Ingredients: 

• 1 large zucchini, shredded
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup flour
• Bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper - to taste

Directions:

1. Shred zucchini (I used a food processor)
2. Mix together zucchini, onion, parmesan cheese, flour, parsley and oregano
3. Stir eggs into zucchini mixture
4. Heat pan over medium heat. Once hot, add small amount of olive oil (enough to coat pan)
5. Scoop mound of mixture into pan, then flatten slightly. Cook until golden brown - about 2 or 3 minutes on each side
6. Transfer fritters to paper-towel lined plate and serve 

I paired this with sweet potato chips, steamed green peas (from the CSA!) and steak. 

Sweet Potato Chips

(Yields 2-3 servings)


Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet potatoes
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder (or whichever seasonings you like!)
• Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Thoroughly wash and dry sweet potatoes
3. After peeling potatoes, CAREFULLY slice into thin slices on a mandolin
4. Coat sweet potato slices with olive oil, garlic powder and salt
5. Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet 
6. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until potato chips are golden brown and crispy

 
Here is a picture of the sweet potato chips before they went into the oven:


 And here is the meal in its entirety:


Enjoy and thanks for reading! 

Yesterday, I decided to make chocolate zucchini bread. If you're referring back to my previous blog post - no, I did not receive zucchini in my CSA this week. However, zucchini is delicious and I had some extra in the refrigerator. 

Zucchini is a great summer vegetable that is very versatile; zucchini can be sliced or shredded, cooked or even used in baking.



I usually grill zucchini, but I decided to try something new. Here's a recipe I found on my CSA's blog.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

(Yields 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
• 2 cups sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups to make the bread a little less sweet)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 cups zucchini, shredded (I used 1 medium zucchini)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (this is optional, but I love chocolate, so extra chocolate is not optional for me!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Spray 2 bread pans with non-sticking spray (the original recipe suggests using 2 8x4 inch pans. Since I am planning on sharing the finished product with friends and family, I'm baking 4 mini loaves)
3. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder; set aside
4. Shred zucchini (I used a food processor); set aside
5. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla
6. Gradually add dry ingredients
7. By hand, stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips
8. Pour into two greased loaf pans (you could also bake these into muffins instead of bread loaves)
9. Bake for 1 hour or until bread is springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the bread comes out clean (my mini loaves baked in 40 minutes)

Here is the chocolate zucchini bread in the mini loaf pan before baking...




...and after baking.



And here is the finished product!

 


Enjoy and thanks for reading!