My mother passed this recipe along, having used zucchini from her CSA and finding it to be a perfect way to use up a bunch of zummertime zucchini. (I didn't mean to type 'zummertime' but I'm leaving it.)
A coworker gave me a bag of delightful yellow summer squash the other day from her organic weekly produce haul, along with some kale -- I mentioned before how I'm not a huge kale fan, therefore I'm hoping to find a use for it before it goes bad. The summer squash, though, was too much to pass up. So I grabbed some parmesan and those magical little breadcrumbs known as Panko, and set to work making the easiest snack/side dish ever. It's perfect for as many people as you want to serve because you can make as little or as much as you want. For me, I made about two servings right off the bat, which was approximately one smallish-medium yellow squash.
Recipe adapted from blackjack bakehouse.
Summer Squash Parmesan Crisps
1-2 medium yellow squash or zucchini
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
a couple pinches of salt
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with tin foil and brush with a little olive oil or spray with vegetable/canola oil.
Slice squash into 1/4" thick slices and toss with olive oil in a medium-sized bowl, coating thoroughly.
In another small, shallow bowl, combine parmesan, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Coat the squash in the breadcrumb-parmesan mixture, pressing into the squash a little bit so that it sticks. They don't need to be completely coated.
Place the coated squash on the pan and then sprinkle the remaining breadcrumb-parmesan mix on top of the disks of squash for a crunchy, cheesy topping.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown, let cool just a little bit, and eat them straight away.
Serves 1-2.
As I start this post, the weekly noon-time tornado siren test is going off. It's over 80 degrees outside, the sky is blue-blue-blue, everything is green, my plants could probably use some water, my cat is lolling around the cool stone floor, and it feels a lot like summer.
Probably because it's July. Summer felt like it took ages to get here this year. But finally. Finally!!
I traipsed over to the farmer's market this morning -- the big one this time. It was busy, but not too busy -- sometimes it's insane. It is 4th of July weekend, though, and I suppose a lot of people are out of town. It was nice. There was a lot of selection; we even splurged and had mini cinnamon-sugar donuts for a mid-market snack.
The one thing I'm not too happy about is the bread that I bought specifically for the Scottish berry dessert I made -- will show later -- because it was a little dry. So, experiment overwith, I've determined that the best bakery in town is to be found my own local once-kind-of-dinky-now-actually-pretty-good farmers market one block from my apartment. But even kind of dry bread makes good French toast. ;)
Otherwise, the produce was much better this time around. Strawberries, blueberries, sugar snap peas (guh! yum!), and red potatoes. I plan to eat the strawberries and the peas plain for snacks, the blueberries have already gone into the Scottish dessert, and the red potatoes are going to get smashed up and roasted.
Can't go wrong.
Oi. I wish I had something more exciting or happy to report other than that I've apparently come down with some bug, one of those indecisive ones where you're not sure if the symptoms you're feeling are a precursor to something else, or if it'll just fade away (with LOTS of vitamin C and ibuprofin and throat lozenges)... And I got into a minor car accident over the weekend which was scary and stressful more than anything (everyone was fine), but I get rattled pretty easily by that sort of thing. Which, in this case, may have opened the flood gates for some kind of cold that was lurking, just waiting for my immune system to let down its guard for a moment.
Have a cold? Eat fresh food!
I found a smattering of yummy organic produce at the grocery store on my last visit. The closest natural/organic stores are all small, independently-owned outfits in the area, and unfortunately they are all the furthest away from me, so I often have to make do with the nearby Festival Foods, if only because their organic/natural section is the biggest in the area outside of a full-blown specialty grocery.
Festival happened to have some pretty tasty, and reasonably-priced organic produce the other day, so I snatched up a few things and couldn't resist the apple pretty much immediately. It's amazing how the appearance of organic and "regular" produce compares sometimes. Sometimes it's surprising in a way you wouldn't expect: the organic pear is bigger than the other one, or the organic bananas are actually cheaper than the other ones. It's rare to find organic produce cheaper than the other stuff, but it's happened to me on occasion. In this case, my Gala apple was definitely dirtier-looking than the Gala apples in the regular section. The other Galas were bigger, and they were also incredibly shiny and firm and exactly the same size. This is the sort of comparison I expect.
Is it sad how easily I can fall in love with a piece of fruit? Anyway. It was awesome.
In other news, a small grill appeared mysteriously on my back porch -- a gift from my sister, I think, since they had an extra one. So I may be trying my hand at grilling FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. :) There's an asparagus-wrapped-in-prosciutto recipe that's been floating around that I'm just dyyying to try.
The big local farmers' market starts up this coming Saturday! I will not be here! I will be in Door County on a fundraiser bike ride! But you can bet I'm still going to stop by any of the numerous independent markets up there and try to procure as much local bounty as possible. The excitement is mounting...
And today I also purchased a blender. Finally. So I can make tasty smoothies and... more smoothies...
