Zucchini Fries

Hello world!  I'm alive and well, just been using a lot of cookbooks/old recipes/food not worth mentioning which is why I haven't posted much lately.

Today though, I have a new treat....Zucchini fries!

My apologies in advance, I kind of threw this together and as usual, didn't measure, but this is something that you can alter based on how much you are making.  And a helpful step if you have the time is after you slice the zucchini, wrap it in paper towel and let it sit for a couple of hours to draw out some of the moisture (although who knows, maybe they will be crispier if you don't let them dry out??).

Anyway, you will need:

• Zucchini
• Egg
• Almond meal
• Cayenne pepper (optional)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Salt
• Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the almond meal and spices in one dish and whisk an egg in another.  Dip thinly sliced zucchini in the egg then dredge through the almond meal mix.  You want just a light coating on these, too much and we all know how almond meal tastes when its caked on (gross).  

Arrange the zucchini strips on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, flipping zucchini over halfway through.

I baked mine for 10 minutes on each side, and I probably could have baked them just a little bit longer, but the coating was starting to get crisp, and I definitely tasted the flavor of the seasoning (if I had to guess, I'd say I used 1/2-3/4C of almond meal and maybe 1/2-1 teaspoon of garlic powder and onion powder and 1/4-1/2 of cayenne...I really need to get better about measuring).

Serve with your side of dipping sauce (I whisked together a couple of tablespoons of olive oil mayo with a little bit of lemon juice, super tasty!).

I had two small zucchini that I made up as a test and I ended up eating the entire dish, oops!

Zucchini pasta

No grains?  No problem!  Vegetarian?  This is the meal for you!

This is one of those creations where I am kicking myself a little for not properly measuring things out, but I guess that's when some of the best stuff happens.  And I didn't want to wait to post it until I made it again, so here you go. Obviously you can use whatever you have on hand and play around with the seasonings, this is what I had.

Ingredients:

• Zucchini (I got an awesome julienne peeler and I love it!  I sliced 3 zucchini the other day and used a little more then half of it for this dish)
• Mushrooms, rinsed and diced
• Red onion, thinly sliced (I used about 1/4 of one)
• Kale (there was some kale ready to be picked in the garden, so this was a great dish for it)
• Sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced
• Capers (a couple of forkfuls) 
• Lemon juice (I used about 3 capfuls)
• Lime juice (another 3 capfuls, so maybe a teaspoon each?)
• EVOO
• Coconut oil
• Salt, pepper and lemon pepper seasoning

In a large skillet, add a couple tablespoons of coconut oil and add the zucchini, mushrooms, onions, kale and tomatoes.  Saute for a few minutes until everything is tender.  Add the capers, lemon juice, lime juice, a drizzle of EVOO and season to taste.

Makes 2 servings.

Zucchini chips

**Please excuse the crappy iPhone camera quality here.

Okay, so I was inspired by this post for zucchini chips, but obviously, my chips didn't come out nearly as large as the ones the reader made.  Perhaps they used the oven instead of the food dehydrator?  Anyway, these are still delicious, and I had about a pound of small zucchini, so maybe large won't shrink up as much?  But now I have another great use if I get a boatload of zucchini this summer!  My recipe is below.

• 1 pound zucchini, sliced into 1/2" slices
• EVOO (about a tablespoon?  I don't measure)
• Cayenne pepper (a few dashes)
• Sea salt (a few grinds of the shaker)
• Butter flavor popcorn seasoning
• White cheddar flavor popcorn seasoning  (obviously you don't have to use these but this is what I had on hand so I tossed some in)

In a large storage bag, combine all ingredients and shake well so everything combines.  Place in a food dehydrator and run until the chips are crunchy and crisp.  I had mine going for about 12 hours and it seemed to come out fine.

I didn't make the salsa to accompany this, and kind of glad I didn't based on the tiny size of these things!  But, the EVOO gave it a smooth flavor, the cayenne added a little bit of heat and the other seasonings came out great.  Will definitely be making these again, and a larger batch as I could easily eat this entire bag in one sitting (but a pound of dehydrated zucchini doesn't amount to much ;)