Tag Archives: squash

special submission: cheesy summer squash bake

Recipes,

So, let’s start with the fact that it snowed yesterday. I’m just going to leave that there.

Ryan and I are knee-deep in boxes and not even finished moving yet. Our stuff is occupying three separate apartments, and the new place doesn’t have internet yet (tomorrow!). We decided to take a break this week, as we’re both physically and mentally exhausted, and we’ll pick up the moving festivities again this weekend. Hopefully after a trip to Ikea, we’ll be ready to really unpack.

I’m really loving the new neighborhood and the apartment is gorgeous and sunny. I just can’t wait to be settled.

We’re living off of take-out right now, so I don’t have any of my own recipes to share. But my grandma, while reading my blog, saw I had a little squash obsession and asked if she could submit her own recipe. Imagine my surprise when she sent along a recipe with photos and everything! Since she’s the reason for my blog’s namesake, how could I say no?

So here it is, my grandmother’s cheesy squash bake. It looks delicious. I can’t wait to give it a try.

Cheesy Summer Squash Bake

cheesy squash bake
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This cheesy squash bake can be frozen and reheated later.
Author:
Recipe type: dinner
Yields: 6
Ingredients
  • 3 med yellow squash, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese (sharp or mild)
  • 1½ cups Saltine cracker crumbs
  • ½ cup onion, diced
  • 1 egg, well beaten
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Slice the squash, and place it in a 2-quart pot with just enough water to cover the squash.
  3. Add salt to the pot and bring to full boil.
  4. Once you've reached a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 min.
  5. Drain water and set aside to cool.
  6. Gently stir the cracker crumbs, 1 cup of grated cheese, minced onion into the cooked squashed until blended.
  7. Add beaten egg, stirring as you pour egg into mixture.
  8. Pour the mixture into a 9x9 glass baking dish coated with cooking spray.
  9. Spread gently to fill pan. Do not press down.
  10. Bake the dish for 25 min or until the edges are golden-brown.
  11. Remove from oven, and sprinkle ¼ cup of shredded cheese on the top.
  12. Cool slightly before serving.

 

Cheesy Summer Squash Bake

She says you can easily double this recipe and easily freeze it, then you can re-heat it for a quick meal throughout the week. She also says she enjoys eating this with a side of cottage cheese. Thanks to my grandma for submitting this recipe!

Wish us luck with the rest of our move!

All photos courtesy of Grandma.

cheesy squash quinoa bites

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For dinner tonight, I initially set out to make oh-my-god-so-good quinoa patties, but I thought, maybe, just maybe, I could sneak in that squash that is going bad in my fridge. You still have to trick me into eating my vegetables. So, I stuck the squash in my food processor until it was about the size of a grain of quinoa. Sauteed it with the rest of my seasonings, and made this dinner in my muffin tins. Yes, instead of  frying the quinoa patties (the preferred choice), I tried to bake them in my muffin tins. For health reasons. And because I feel sorry for them. It’s been months since I last made a cupcake or muffin.

cheesy squash quinoa bite

cheesy squash quinoa bites
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Yields: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 6-8 large basil leaves
  • 1 medium yellow squash
  • 1 small shallot
  • 1 tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Cook your quinoa. Bring 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups of water to a boil, then turn the heat on low for 15 minutes.
  2. Preheat your oven to 350.
  3. In your food processor, process your basil leaves, shallots, and squash. Or, you could chop all of this by hand.
  4. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Sautee the garlic until light brown. Then add everything in the food processor and sautee until the squash looks soft.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the quinoa and contents of the skillet with the green onion, eggs, and parmesan cheese.
  6. Scoop the mixture into a muffin tin. I sprayed mine with Pam, which was a good idea, because they tend to stick. You can fill the tin to the top with the mixture, it won't rise.
  7. Bake in oven for 25 minutes.

cheesy squash quinoa bite

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. And by that I mean ranch. Because I’m from the south ya’ll.

cheesy zucchini and squash pizza

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There’s no denying it. Pizza is my favorite thing to eat and to make. It’s easy and, best of all, forgiving. So when I set out to make Smitten Kitchen’s Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza, and the boyfriend sort of freaked out (“There’s no sauce?” “You’re using goat cheese? What about Mozzarella?”), I was able to adapt it, and the pizza gods gave me their blessing.

Cheesy Zucchini and Squash Pizza
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza)

(sorry for the awful pictures, we ate 1/2 the pizza before I thought to snap a few photos)

Stuff you’ll need:

-Pizza Dough. I used Smitten Kitchen’s, which is fantastic, or you can buy some at the store.
-4 oz. goat cheese
– 2 Tbs pesto. I bought some at the store
-1 lg. zucchini
-1 lg. yellow squash
-1 Tbs. olive oil
-Salt & Pepper
-6 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Do it:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Roll out the pizza dough. If you’re using the SK recipe above, I’d double it. The crust was small (appx. 10 inches), so keep that in mind if you’re feeding a lot of people.
– Place dough on pizza stone, or in our case an aluminum lined baking sheet. (square pizza!) Instead of putting flour underneath the crust, I used cornmeal, which worked excellent.
-Combine goat cheese and pesto to create a flavorful base, spread on crust.
-Slice the squash and zucchini into very thin pieces (appx. 1/8th an inch) and layer on the pizza.
-Drizzle it with olive oil. I didn’t measure this, but it was probably about a tablespoon.
-Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
-Cover with fresh grated mozzarella cheese.
-Pop it in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until cheese is bubbly and crust is slightly browned.

Notes:

The goat cheese/pesto combination makes a great “sauce.”

Make your own crust, it’s perfect. I tried to spread a tiny bit of pesto on the crust to give it some flavor, but it really didn’t need any tweaking.

And next time, I’d like to forget the mozzarella and add a stinky cheese. Are there rules to mixing cheeses? Mixing sharp and stinky cheeses? Is that like stripes and plaids? I have no class.

Either way, this thing was delicious.

Happy cooking!

p.s. I’ve linked this up here, here, here, and here.

Recipe: Zucchini & Squash on French Bread

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Here’s the deal. I’m sick of eating zucchini and yellow squash. It seems like it’s always in season at the farmer’s market. It’s also cheap. So lately, I’ve had to get creative with this mixture. Today this one popped in my head:

it may not look pretty, but it was delicious.

Zucchini & Squash on French Bread
Yields 4
Prep time 10 min.
Total time 20 min.

Ingredients:
– 1 small French loaf (or large cut in half) cut in half and sliced lengthwise
– 1 large zucchini, sliced
– 2 small yellow squash, sliced
– 2 Tbsp of pesto (I made my own, it works best if it’s a thick pesto)
– 1 tomato, sliced
– 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:
– Preheat oven to 350 degrees
– Sauté the sliced zucchini and yellow squash until tender
– Remove from heat and stir in pesto
– Place sautéed mixture on flat surface of French bread
– Top with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella
– Place bread on baking sheet and bake for ten minutes.

mmm…

I’d also like to welcome the newest member of my family, I think her name is going to be Riley. I’m really not in love with the name, so if you have a suggestion, I’d love to hear it.

I already have a cat, Watson, and he’s the love of my life. Unfortunately, he’s destructive and aggressive. After putting up with it for a year, I finally decided to take my vet’s advice and get him a companion. It’s been two days and I’ve been bite and scratch free. The cats are getting along nicely, as well.

Hey, did you notice the pictures I took with my new camera? I’m satisfied with it.

spaghetti squash toss

Recipes, , , ,

There are some things you cook, and after your first bite you realize that they’re probably going to be a kitchen staple food. That happened tonight. After our first bite, we realized that we were in love with this colorful and tasty bit.

Spaghetti Squash Toss
The biggest thing to fear with spaghetti squash is a bland taste. You will not find that here.

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes (fresh would be perfect, unfortunately, I was out. If you use fresh tomatoes, probably two would do. You also might want to add some salt to the recipe.)
3 cups fresh spinach
2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
shredded Parmesan to taste
1/4 cup of feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the spaghetti squash but cutting it lengthwise and spooning out the seeds. Once gutted, place the two sides flat face down in a baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water. Baker for 30 minutes. Then pull it out of the oven, and turn the squash face-up, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pan, sautee the onion and garlic until soft and aromatic. Then add the can of drained tomatoes, sautee for a minute. Then add the spinach, basil, oregano, and parsley. Stir until it is cooked down.

Once the squash is finished, take it out, drain the water, and spoon out all of the spaghetti-like goodness into a big bowl. I let my boyfriend do this part. I’m teaching him how to cook.

Toss in the sauteed mixture. At this point you can also add a little Parmesan, and about 1/4 cup of feta cheese. Or you can opt out of this.

prep: 10 min.
cook: 45 min.

Enjoy!