@eyo

My apologies for the 'zuclear disarmament' . Unfortunately that is the way of the zucchini. A veggie seduction of zucchini proportions.

Understand about the Bezos quarantine. Check out thrift shops instead. I have it on good authority from a fellow c99er that popular appliances often show up there for a great price.

Btw, would you be terribly angry with me if I told you how delightful your comment is?

LOL I want a zoodle maker now, and like a dawg drooling my mouth is watering on those recipes. But no Bezos accounts exist in my utopia. yippee no zoodle money

I think about c99ers every day I eat, because of leeks and chick peas with fennel seed. There is a leek butt from Saint Davey's Day in the window, I did as I was told. heh One time janis b pm'd me a recipe with fennel seed and now all I eat is chick peas with fennel seed in veggie curry. I bought a pound of curry, so yea hah! Spice of life right on, but not without butter. Butter makes everything better. zuklear disarmament

Pretty sure some one of those zoodle recipes are gonna stick in my lint trap now, thanks a lot. The zukes at the healthy market are from Mexico right now, as are lots of the fresh 'organic' veggies. Too early for local growers, too wet. Some will be in my basket soon anyway, I like to think Mexico is pretty local. Baja California, why not the whole state? wall teardown

Did I mention my cloth bags are from the TJs in Santa Rosa, the one that burned in the Tubbs fire? I got 'em there when it was their "grand" opening a couple decades ago. That's a not-so-good trigger but what isn't. gidddyup phoenix This is how I get dis-invited everywhere eventually. SYMPTOMS gettin' on everything.

hello goodbye Foodie Tuesday who could hang a name on you? zoebear

cheers

@Mark from Queens

Hope you're feeling a little better today as you make music...

having grown up in an Italian family that looked at cheese the way Americans look at ketchup

Boy, ain't that the truth! I like your idea to substitute with the flavors of nuts. Meats also work so well with veggies. In fact I can no longer eat starches with meats anymore. My digestion doesn't do well with the heaviness of that combo. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I LOVE my veggies!

Glad you could stop by and I'm glad to hear you'll be sautéing your mushroom from now on

I cook very similarly, sans all the cheese (cholesterol problems, hereditary heart disease, etc). Which was hard, having grown up in an Italian family that looked at cheese the way Americans look at ketchup (a condiment that is kind of disgusting to me as an adult) - they put it on everything.

I find nuts somehow give me a cheesy kind of flavor, and always throw them in salads and use all kinds to make pestos, not only pine nuts.

Having a much harder time resisting pasta and now mostly eat whole wheat when I do. Got to get back to eating less carbs, and pasta I could eat literally everyday but won't. Haven't tried the zucchini pasta yet but have the spaghetti squash, which I occasionally like. As you say it's not a substitute - at all. But it very occasionally does the trick.

I keep a cupboard that is in line with all of your dishes. To me good cooking means always having good staples. New recipes come from there, or new ways of sprucing up old regulars. Fish sauce, ginger, coconut milk, many different herbs and spices, etc are all there. Little pockets of ethic staples can transform one's cooking.

We make tons of veggie dishes; I prefer to mostly only use meat to flavor things, and only a little at a time (having realized how much we've been conditioned in this country to expect huge, oversized portions, of well everything, but meat in particular, which I can't help but think often of the strain on the animal population and the harsh treatment of such).

Thanks for the mushroom tip, zoe. As others have said I also didn't know that and have wondered why they do taste more boiled than sauteed.

Great essay!

@Unabashed Liberal

Lovely to 'see' you! Thanks for stopping by!

hope it's cool to throw in a graphic on another topic.

Totally cool. It's an Open Thread, which is for everyone, and every topic! It's good information and we all appreciate your contributions.

vegetarian, really dig all of the yummy-sounding recipes--which I'll promptly copy/print, and hand over to the top chef in the family--Mr M.

There isn't a vegetable that we don't eat, but, various varieties of squash are among our favs. Don't have a spiralizer, though. Will see if I can pick one up, soon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since I've had to go through 'spells' of limited participation, lately, hope it's cool to throw in a graphic on another topic. (Feel free to let me know, if you'd rather I refrain from doing so.)

This chart represents the percentage of 'privatization' of Medicare, by State. IOW, the chart represents the percentage of MA or Medicare Advantage beneficiaries/participants.

I'm 'guessing' that this is one reason behind the push to further privatize Original/(TM) Traditional Medicare. Of course, one tactic is to 'reform' TM under the guise of setting up a Medicare Buy-In and/or MFA system.

FWIW, will put my limited time, effort, and ability to use in trying to stop further efforts to transition Traditional Medicare (TM) into a so-called 'managed care' program. Mr M and I greatly value the autonomy that the original program allows beneficiaries--to see any physician/provider, anytime, without going through a so-called 'gatekeeper.' (whose sole responsibility is the financial bottom line, or keeping down costs)

Hey, Everyone have a nice day!

Blue Onyx

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.
~~Gilda Radner, Comedienne

Dem Budget Committee Chair Yarmuth, December 13, 2018, "Newsmakers" -
"Ultimately, we are going to have to 'deal with' programs like Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security, and, ah, it's one of those things that's going to have to be done on a bipartisan basis, because "nobody wants to walk the plank on those."

Beware! Yarmuth wants to strike a so-called "Grand Bargain" with Republicans. See C-Span video, above.

@Daenerys

As a fellow foodie and gardner its good to talk to kindred folks. I've never planted zucchini before but will remember your advice

If you forget to pick it one day, the next thing you know they're the size of fat baseball bats!

Although that does sound like they would be pretty fun to spiralize

Your description of that zucchini bread sounds awesome. Will have to look around for a good recipe. Speaking of which, thanks for the soup recipes. I love making soups. They're comforting, economical, and easy to take to work for lunches.

Looking forward to getting your input on desserts. I think the next foodie OT should be something that appeals to our sweet tooth, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Zoe, your pesto and garlic shrimp zoodle recipe sounds awesome.
We love brussels sprouts at my house. Here is one of my favorite recipes:
Brussels sprouts, potato and bacon breakfast hash
We hope to get some brussels sprouts plants this year; last year we were too late. Not sure where we'll get our vegetable plants from this year since Shopko is closing its doors by June, another victim of vulture capitalists. *sob*
Brussels sprouts are also amazing roasted with garlic and parmesan.

Some more of my favorite vegetable recipes:
Roasted pumpkin soup
Alton Brown's winter vegetable soup (Not sure why they pulled the recipe from the Food Network web site and youtube, but it is awesome.)

We love vegetable stir-fry too; we usually get the frozen stir fry mix from Aldi and add some grilled chicken strips. For the sauce all you really need is some soy sauce, ginger, garlic and brown sugar though. And of course anything with broccoli. Broccoli, spinach and carrots grow well in our garden, as do tomatoes. Gotta use up the rest of the tomato-basil sauce I made last year and make some tomato-basil soup.

I like cooking, but baking has become more my thing in recent years. The last place I worked had an awesome zucchini bread recipe--it also had raisins, walnuts, coconut and crushed pineapple in it. I don't even like zucchini bread but that one was pretty awesome. If you plant zucchini you gotta stay on top of it though, as my MIL found out the hard way. If you forget to pick it one day, the next thing you know they're the size of fat baseball bats!

@wendy davis

Thanks for the tip about rice. Very useful! Your Teriyaki sauce sounds lovely. Great thing about a good sauce is all the things you can pair it with! I might do a foodie feature on sauces, whaddya think?

Wonderful of you to stop on by and share your particular magic

on such a fine topic, but...needs must and all that rot.

i'll add two tips: don't buy mushrooms whose gills are showing ; it means they're old, and will taste like ammonia when cooked. bleh. we grow a lot of sweet italian basil, and when i prepare it for pesto, i shock it first (most often w/ baby spinach leaves) in boiling water for a minute or two, then dip it/them into ice water to chill, as it keeps them from turning brownish.. i do the same for chinese snow peas; they all retain their color, and in the case of snow peas...their crunch if stored separately for use in left-overs.

ah, a couple more tips: rice heated in a bit of oil in a skillet until slightly opaque before adding hot liquid to steam w/ a lid helps keep the grains from fusing together. walnuts pre-baked are an entirely different animal (i.e., they don't taste like bathroom floors) than raw ones tossed into some baked confection or other. i toast the pinons, too, before i blend the pesto, and don't add the parm/romano until later. it freezes so well,

best ever teriyaki sauce recipe; i stole it and amended it so it would be shelf-stable. substituted diced garlic and ginger for...dry stuff.

Ingredients
1/2 cup low-sodium tamari
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger or to taste
1 teaspoon garlic granules or dried bits
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons dry sherry

1/4 cup water mixed with 3 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. add the water and cornstarch, whisk until kinda thick; cool

pour in the bottle/s of your choice; i save tamari bottles and use those, and always make at least a double batch.

@bobswern

What a great idea. I was thinking of doing a ratatouille, but may play around with the vegetable gumbo idea.

Bonnie sounds like my kind of gal. I'm sure we'd have a lot to talk about in the way of vegetables.

and it helps when your spouse is the founder of the oldest, town-sponsored community garden in the county!

As always, this community is so rich with ideas and people generous in sharing those ideas. Thanks for being one of those people

We purchased our first spiralizer around about a year ago, and we've been going crazy with it, ever since! We spiralize: zucchini, summer squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, and daikon radish. (Come harvest time, and it helps when your spouse is the founder of the oldest, town-sponsored community garden in the county! We do accept veggies, when fellow community gardeners don't know what to do with their bumper crops!)

We spiralize lots of Italian dishes in Alfredo-mode (substitute skim milk for the cream, of course; then we usually cheat by adding some cornstarch, flour, or condensed soup, depending upon what we're cooking; and, of course, nothing beats oodles of melted cheese in the sauce: gruyere, swiss, mozzarella, and always parmesan, romano or asiago). We also do Chinese and Thai dishes with the spiralizer. We just kind of wing it, truth be told!

However, my absolute favorite zucchini/summer squash dish (no spiraling involved) is somewhat of a homegrown concoction we call VEGETABLE GUMBO. We originally started with a recipe, but we've deviated so much from it, over the years, its now our own creation:

1. ) We pull out the big kettle, and we go to town: a.) start with carrots, celery, and onions (and/or leeks if you have 'em), and a few cloves' worth of minced garlic in 2 or 3 tbsp. olive oil. Once they're starting to soften, after 10 minutes, give or take, b.) add about a quart--or two--of canned or fresh plum tomatoes, onion (and leeks if we have 'em in the house at the time), parsnips, escarole, lots and lots of fresh basil and parsley (all sliced/chopped), and--most importantly--a half dozen, large/very large zucchini and summer squash. Slice 'em all up, and put 'em in the pot, with about a quart, give or take, of low sodium chicken OR vegetable stock. Depending upon quantities, and personal preferences, you'll usually end up with a gallon, or two, or three in the pot. Heat all to a boiling, then simmer on low-to-medium/low heat for the duration of cooking time.

2.) Adjust chicken/vegetable stock to your personal preference, add about 6-12 dashes of Tabasco, depending upon your personal heat threshold, and a tablespoon, or two, or three, of Worcestershire. Add salt, pepper to taste.

3.) Cook up a bunch of rice or egg noodles in a separate pot; we usually cook enough for three dinner's worth of servings. (Notice how unspecific I am about quantities? It's all about personal preferences!)

Let it simmer for no more than an hour, tops! Serve in bowls over the rice or egg noodles and have plenty of grated parmesan/romano or gruyere on the side. And, optionally (see #4, immediately below)...

* = 4.) NOW here's the best part:

Nights #2 and #3: cook up some chicken, shrimp, or fish, or just throw it into a remaining third or half of the overall Veggie Gumbo mixture, above, and let it simmer 'til cooked (reserving the remainder of the Veggie Gumbo for night #3), and serve in bowls over the leftover rice or egg noodles and have plenty of grated parmesan/romano or gruyere on the side.

Note: This Veggie Gumbo tastes even better if you throw it in the fridge for 24 hours, and then reheat it!

We LOVE this Vegetable Gumbo (and its practical variations) in our house!

Note, when the Veggie Gumbo is chilled in the fridge, and you're tired of heating it up, just freeze it or pour it all into a colander, and you'll end up with an awesome veggie juice and ratatouille (reserve some of the juice for the ratatouille). This ratatouille dish is great--once again with some grated cheese over it--broiled/baked in the oven for 5-8 minutes.

@janis b

You knew that would catch my eye, didn't you? Growing Black Krim Tomatoes:

Native to Russia, Black Krims produce beefsteak-type tomatoes that can show unique dark violet coloration when given plenty of sun exposure. They are indeterminate, and typically require 70-90 days to reach maturity after transplant. Black Krim are renowned for their great, mildy-tart taste.

a fellow foodie here, who at the moment is simmering a tomato sauce with the abundant Black Krim cherry tomatoes. The hot and dry past few months has been ideal for tomatoes.

I started slowly sautéing lots of garlic with chili and anchovies. Then I reduced a fair amount of white balsamic vinegar in the mix. Next I added the the tomatoes, salt, and lots of fresh herbs while listening to music. Taste and adjust.

For those overgrown zucchinis, stuff them …

Ingredients here.

Cheers