stuffed zucchini

this is, by far, one of my favorite meals. the recipe is from one of my childhood friend's mom - deb tucker. my friend katie had her mom make this for her birthday one summer long ago, and ever since then, i can't make the meal without thinking of her!

Ingredients:

• 4 zucchini
• 1 lb sausage
• ¼ c. diced onions
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 c. breadcrumbs
• ¼ c. parmesan
• ½ c. shredded mozzarella

Instructions:

1. Cook zucchini in boiling water (enough water to cover the zucchinis) for 10 minutes. Drain. Let cool to touch.
2. Cut zucchinis lengthwise and pit – leave ¼ inch crusts. Place shells in a 9x13’ pan.
3. Mush pulp and set aside.
4. Brown sausage, onion, and garlic until brown. Drain.
5. Combine sausage mix with breadcrumbs and parmesan.
6. Spoon mixture into shells.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min.
8. Remove and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Put back in oven and bake for 5 minutes.

green smoothie... mmm? eh....

i've heard about these green smoothies - packed with nutrients and veggies, etc. - but i've never actually tried one. so the other day on the Today show they were talking about this specific recipe, and i figured i'd give it a shot. it wasn't the best thing i've ever had, but despite the look of it, it also wasn't the worst thing i've ever tasted. the texture was a little weird since i used a blender (i think a food processor would work better)... i had to chew little pieces of it after taking each sip. also, i'd leave out cilantro next time (after all, it is the rudest spice.)

for those of you feeling adventurous, here is the recipe:

Green Smoothie Recipe:

1 1/2 cup of water
1 head of organic romaine lettuce, chopped
3-4 stalks of organic celery
1 organic apple, cored and chopped
1 organic pear, cored and chopped
1/3 bunch of organic cilantro
1/3 bunch of organic parsley
Juice of ½ fresh organic lemon

Combine the water and chopped head of romaine into your blender. Starting the blender on a low speed, mix until smooth. Gradually moving to higher speeds, add the herbs, celery, apple and pear. Add lemon juice last. Serve chilled or at room temperature. This recipe makes about four servings.

pesto chicken pizza

Throughout last semester, my friends up in Dallas and I attempted to make pizza on several occasions, always lacking one key ingredient (think: yeast, flour, etc.), so our previous batches have been a little less than successful. We've battled dense, cake-like dough and tough, "unspreadable" dough, but tonight I finally used a recipe that ended deliciously! The original recipe can be for the crust can be found here. What follows is my latest kitchen adventure with my sister Madison:

I started with the crust. Here are the ingredients we used:

• 1/3 cup warm water (I just turned the faucet all the way hot...)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 1 & ¼ cups whole-wheat flour or white whole wheat flour (separated)
• ¼ cup soy flour (protein!)
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds (fiber and omega 3s!)
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 tbsp cornmeal
• Non-stick cooking spray

1. In a small bowl, mix together the yeast, honey and hot water. Let this sit for ten minutes while you mix the flours. (The yeast will froth up as it sits.)
2. Mix ground flax seeds, 1 cup of the whole-wheat flour, soy flour and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture to the water mixture and mix by spoon until dough balls start to form. Then use hands to incorporate all the flour and form into a ball. (at this point you may have to add more water)
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface using the remaining ¼ cup of flour. You may need it all, you may not... just keep adding it while kneading if the dough is too sticky.
5. Knead for about 1-2 minutes.
6. Place the ball of dough in a bowl and cover the bowl with a towel. Place the bowl of dough and a cup of hot tap water in the microwave (don't turn on the microwave, it’s just a good, warm place to let the dough rise). Let rise 20-30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
8. Spay a cookie sheet or pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray and dust with cornmeal. (I used a stone pan).
9. Once dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll dough out thin.
10. Place the crust on your pizza pan.
11. Top with sauce (we used Classico Tomato & Basil - delish!) and toppings (For cheese, we used a mixture of low-fat mozzarella cheese and parmesan. We also cooked some small pieces of chicken in a pan with some olive oil, S&P and then stirred it in some homemade pesto - using the basil from my herb garden!!) and bake on the lowest rack in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

The best part about this pizza is that it is healthy! The soy protein and flax seed make this pizza a little less guilt-ridden. Without the toppings, 1/4 of the pizza (2 slices) has: 195 calories, 4g of fat and 6g of fiber. Not bad for pizza that actually tastes great! :)