Stuffed Zucchini Boats with melted chedder (Gluten Free)

This is the time of year, right in the peak of #summer where #zucchini is just popping up everywhere. It's in the farmers markets, super markets, back yard growing as intrusively as weeds and of course my CSA. You see the only problem with zucchini is that when it comes.... it really comes. This past week I received 6 zucchinis in the share, and last week received another 6, so what do we do with all this zucchini?? Don't get me wrong, I love this low calorie vegetable but how much can you eat in a week??


Well that's where this stuffed zucchini boats come in. This recipe is delicious and easy to prepare that you will not be able to stop eating them and I highly suggest you invite some friends to enjoy it with you. They will wish that you had even more zucchini. It almosts tastes like a Zucchini lasagna with the cheesy crust and moist stuffing except with half the preparation time.


Imagine that, a green homely tasteless vegetable has been turned into a cheesy tasty melt in your mouth boat. Zucchini lends itself beautifully to stuffing. But, more importantly, it allows one to replace a starchy vegetable, like potatoes which is very high in carbohydrates with a low-carb vegetable. Guilt free, you can eat as many of these boats as you desire.

This recipe comes from Sara Finkel, Jewish cookbook author from her latest culinary collection Simply Delicious.


Serves 8

Ingredients


4 medium zucchini
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 large onion, diced
4–5 tablespoons oil
1 cup Gluten Free Buckwheat flakes, crushed
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Cut zucchini in half, lengthwise, and scoop out insides with a spoon, leaving a ¼-inch shell. Sprinkle zucchini shells lightly with ¼ teaspoon salt.
2. Dice scooped insides and set aside.
3. In a skillet, saute onion in 2 tablespoons oil. Remove from heat and mix with diced zucchini, crushed buckwheat flakes, 2/3 of the shredded cheese, red or green pepper, remaining salt, and pepper.
4. Fill zucchini shells with mixture. Drizzle about a teaspoon of oil on top of each one. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and place in a baking dish. Pour 1/4 cup water to the bottom of the baking dish. Cover and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 40–45 minutes until tender. Remove cover for last 15 minutes of baking.

Crispy Green Kale Chips... That's Right, You Read it the First Time- Kale Chips (Vegan, Gluten Free)

We have all head potato chips in our lives.... as a child I was a potato chip junky! Now once in a blue moon if I dare snack on chips, I would buy the organic baked sea salt kind, you know the one by Kettle. They have several different flavors... Chipotle, Sea Salt with Black Pepper and Barbeque. Now my son who is the fussiest chip eater will devour the Barbeque flavor.

Only who needs to spend money and bring in useless packaging into your home when you can make your own Kale Chips. Yes, you read correctly.... kale chips. Why kale chips you ask? Because over the course of the past three weeks since my CSA started up again for the season, I have been getting a lot of kale. Although I happen to be quite inventive with how to prepare kale, like Sesame Kale Salad, and Stir Fried Kale in Garlic.... I wanted to be a little more inventive with this thick, leather like green leaf vegetable.

It turns out that because of its tough leathery attribute, it make it perfect for baking into Kale chips. Can you imagine... healthy, I mean really healthy chips?? I love it. How can I not try it out? and did I love it.

I would never lie to you when it comes to chips, as I take crackly crunch quite seriously. Baking kale transforms it from the dense bitterness — into something impossibly light, with a nice depth of flavor from the oil and salt. This isn’t a stewy stick-to-your ribs kale braise and it is not something you eat because you ought to, it’s something you’d eat because you like it. Revolutionary stuff, people.

These are a low calorie nutritious snack. Like potato chips, you cannot stop at just eating one. They are great for parties and a good conversation topic.

This recipe comes from Lucy Del Ray on AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

Roasted Kohlrabi (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Truthfully, I probably would not go out of my way to seek out kohlrabi, a German turnip, that looks like a martians' head with antenna leaves. Although this funny looking root vegetable is eaten raw as an hor douvres, especially within the Persian community it just never appealed to me.

The taste and texture of kohlrabi is similar to a broccoli stem or cabbage heart, but milder and sweeter, with a higher ratio of flesh to skin. So knowing that, why would I venture to eat something that tastes like a broccoli stem. When was the last time you ate a raw broccoli stem?

Since I found this recipe online... not sure which site, I decided to try it. So why all this huff and puff about kohlrabi.... because my CSA delivered 3 giant ones this past week and I try everything they give me.

After trying this simple recipe, I have to say that I have a change of heart with kohlrabi. Honestly...it really goes to show that almost anything roasted with a dash of olive oil turns out great and this was no exception. SO I encourage you to try this recipe.

The olive oil and garlic enhance the flavor of the kohlrabi which tastes like a cross between a roasted potato and artichoke heart. Roasting gives the outer layer a slight crunch on the outside and oh so smooth on the inside.

INGREDIENTS

3 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cubed 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1.	Preheat an oven to Roast at 450 degrees F.
2.	Cut the kohlrabi into 1/4 cubes. Combine olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss kohlrabi slices in the olive oil mixture to coat. Spread kohlrabi in a single layer on a baking sheet.
3.	Roast in the preheated oven until browned, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally in order to brown evenly. Remove from oven and serve immediately.