Oven Fried Zucchini & Feta Fritters with Garlic-Dill Dipping Sauce

New home, new appliances, new recipes. I bought The Complete Convection Oven Book, cause not only does my oven have fancy convection, but the microwave as well. Need to get over the intimidation of convection. This is my first selection. It was delicious. I did tweak original to be gluten-free with crushed corn chips, but think I will use gluten-free cracker crumbs instead next time. I did not make the sauce, but including in recipe; as it sounds delicious. Anyway will make again. I froze the extra; hopefully with success! You can substitute the zucchini for winter squash, carrots, sweet potatoes etc. You will not have to drain moisture out like the zucchini.

Ingredients:

• 2 zucchini, grated with large holes of a box grater
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs or gluten-free of choice
• 2 scallions, chopped

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill or herb of choice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all into a small bowl.

Directions:

Select Convection Roast and preheat to 375-degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the grated zucchini in a colander and toss with salt. Let drain for 5-10 minutes. Press out moisture and transfer to a large bowl. This step maybe eliminated if one thick spiralizes the zucchini. For some reason; using this method, the zukes produce less moisture.

To the zucchini, add the garlic, olive oil, baking powder, pepper, eggs, feta, and bread crumbs. Stir to combine.

Spoon out the mixture onto the prepared sheet.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool before adding dipping sauce.

Cilantro Lime Sauce

This sauce is creamy and tangy. I use as a sauce over pork or an accompaniment to nachos. Easy to make and freezes well. Has some of my favorite ingredients; cilantro and jalapeno. As you can see;  GLAD little plastic storage cup are destined for the freezer. Unthaw in the frig.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch cilantro,  washed and cleaned of stems
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 small container greek yogurt (recipe called for 1/2 cup; I just threw in the whole container)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Hopefully you have someone who likes to clean the cilantro leaves off of their stems. Tedious, however, if you put your favorite tunes on; not so bad...

Place the cilantro, jlapeno, garlic, lime juice, yogurt, salt and pepper into a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Add the olive oil and blend once again.

Taste and make necessary seasoning adjustments. Enjoy!

Keeps in frig for up to 5 days. Freezes beautifully and that is how I roll.

Curried Rice Pilaf

I made this rice in the morning and popped into the refrigerator. This allowed the flavor to meld. No one had organic celery because of weather issues and I bet the addition would make this rice even better. Also the orginal recipe from BH&G Grill Cookbook; included 1/2 cup dried fruit; which I eliminated and 1 1/2 teaspoon instant chicken or beef bouillion granules. I used about 1/4 cup beef broth. I often cook a batch of plain rice, place in freezer and then you have it on hand whenever it stikes you!
I am a Freeze McQueen!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup beef or chicken broth (enough to moisten rice sufficiently)
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (I use my homemade stuff Madras Curry Powder blog: 3/6/13 label: spices)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Directions:

Heat the butter in a skillet and saute the onion and celery. Once softened add the rice, garlic, curry powder, broth of choice, pepper and salt. Heat and combine. 

To serve top with toasted almonds. Wonderful with grilled meat (Ginger Rum Marinade blog 4/24/19 label: marinate)

Ginger Rum Marinade

This recipe is my mission to work my way thru BH&G Grill Cookbook. The recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups marinade; enough for 2 1/2 - 3 pounds pork, beef or chicken. I chose boneless, skinless chicken thighs and next go around I will cut the thighs in large pieces to allow the marinade to penetrate more. I will also add more red pepper or perhaps a cut-up jalepeno. I would also set aside 1/4 cup of marinade to pour over grilled meat before serving.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup rum
• 1/4 cup soy sauce ( I use tamari)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar ( could try less)
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes ( I would add more depending on heat level you like) or cut-up fresh jalepeno
• 2 1/2 - 3 pounds beef, pork or chicken ( I would cut-up meat of choice for skewers to allow marinade to penetrate)

Directions:

Combine pineapple juice, rum, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and red pepper. Set aside 1/4 of a cup if desired.

Place meat of choice in a large zip-lock bag and pour marinade over the meat. Marinade in refrigerator for 4-8 hours; turning bag occasionally.

Thread the meat on skewers. Drain the marinade and reserve.

Grill the meat according to grill instructions. Brush marinade on meat the last 5 minutes of grilling. Discard remaining marinade.

Brush with the 1/4 cup marinade once meat is taken off the grill.

Delicious served with Curried Rice Pilaf ( blog 4/24/19 Label: rice)

Banana Bread

I searched for my old banana bread recipe, but no luck. Came upon this recipe from Simply Recipes. Was easy and moist. When bananas are too ripe;bag up and throw in the freezer until time to make some quick bread...

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you want less sweet)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Butter a loaf pan (4x8ish- I used my glass loaf pan).

In a mixing bowl add the melted butter to the mashed bananas and combine thoroughly.

Mix in the baking soda and salt. Add the sugar, beaten egg and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 50 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan and remove to cool the rest of the way on a wire rack.

Printed

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

This is about as easy as you can get! I used pork tenderloin, but one may also use a shoulder or a butt roast. The original recipe called for 3-4 pounds of pork. I used 2 pork tenderloins, about one pound each. If you go for the larger amount, I would double the juices, spices and onion. The liquid cooks down a bit. Also, I cooked on low for 6 hours; the recipe called for 8-10 hours. I made tacos for the first batch, but possiblities are endless: rice bowl, nachos. I added our homemade green chili, shredded cheddar cheese and lettuce, refried beans and a dollup of sour cream. Yum! Recipe courtesy of www. laurengreutman.com

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• juice from one lime
• 1/2 cup orange juice

Directions:

Grease the inside of the crock pot. Add the diced onion and then the pork. 

Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over the pork.

Cook on low for about 6 hours. 

Pull pork apart and voila!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

This dish uses spaghetti squash in place of lasagna noodles. It is really good people! I did some prep the day before: baked the spaghetti squash and removed from its skin, cooked the Italian sausage with the chopped onion and shredded the mozzarella cheese. That way the next day was simply assembling the dish and baking. I used hot Italian sausage and think next time around will use Sweet Italian sausage; for those who prefer a less spicy dish. One could also use ground beef or ground turkey; although the sausage give a nice umph.  I am going to serve with a green salad. Thank you for dinner!

Ingredients:

• 4-5 pound spaghetti squash (one large or two small)
• sea salt
• 4 ounces grated parmesan cheese
• 12 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
• 25 ounces thick marinara sauce
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 16 ounce ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs (beaten)
• ground pepper
• chopped fresh parsley

Direction:

Preheat oven to 375-degrees. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Pierce whole squash in several places and microwave on high 5-6 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Much easier to cut!

Cut spaghetti squash in half and cut the two halves again in two rounds for a total of four. Deseed the rounds and place on the prepared baking sheet and salt lightly. Bake for one hour turning halfway through. Set aside to cool.

Once squash is cool; run a fork around the inside of the rounds to shred the "noodles". Set aside in a bowl.

Cook the Italian sausage in a skillet and once cooked through; using paper towels pat out excess fat.

Return to skillet and add onion and cook till onion is soft. Set aside to cool.

Combine beaten egg, ricotta cheese, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and half of the parmesan. 

Combine the marinara sauce and the cooked sausage and onion.

Grease a 13x9-inch pan.

Place a thin layer of meat sauce in the bottom of the pan. Next distribute the 1/2 spaghetti squash ( I usually add just a thin layer; saving extra spagetti squash for other recipes) evenly atop the meat sauce. Add 1/2 the ricotta mixture and 1/2 the mozzarella. Repeat layers; reserving enough meat sauce to be the last layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 parmesan cheese on top. 

Cover with foil and bake for about one hour; Take foil off the last 10-15 minutes. Cool briefly and cut into slices.