Puffy Pancake for Dinner

 If you think that pancakes are just for breakfast, have I got a surprise for you. This Dutch Baby, a kind of pancake you bake in the oven, is savory and it's topped with the flavors of summer - fresh corn, tomatoes, zucchini and basil. It goes together quickly, aside from the chopping time, and makes a great supper or delightful side dish.

I made mine with all-purpose flour, but the original recipe calls for whole wheat or half and half. If you are gluten free, I would just use a gluten free all-purpose flour mixture. King Arthur Baking sells a nice one, but many stores carry others.

You could also substitute other veggies live beans or summer squash, although the trio I used is wonderful and is just the taste of summer for me. I did use a sweet white onion, but I suspect that a yellow onion, red onion, or scallions/green onions would work well, too if that is what you have on hand. Fresh corn can be replaced with frozen corn, which is what I did since I didn't have fresh corn on hand.

The recipe says to mix the flour with the salt and pepper, but I think that with all the whisking going on to make the batter for the pancake that you could just add it along with the flour, which would save a dirty bowl. Whisk the flour in slowly so that it doesn't clump up as much.

Be ready to eat this while it is hot from the oven. I had a quarter left over and reheated it in the microwave the next day for another dinner, topped with a little shredded cooked pork shoulder. That was delicious, too.

Savory Dutch Baby with Summer Veggies

Serves 2-3 as dinner, 4-6 as a side
I apologize - this recipe came from the Washington Post, or Better Homes and Gardens or Southern Living...should have written down where.

For the Veggies:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced 
3/4 cup corn kernels, cut from the cob (about 1 ear - OK to use frozen)
3/4 cup zucchini, diced 
1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper
3/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
4 large basil leaves cut into chiffonade ribbons for garnish

Use a 10-inch cast iron or oven proof skillet to heat the oil to shimmering. Add the onion, stir, and sauté for 3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the corn and the zucchini, salt and pepper, stir and sauté  for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir and sauté another minute. Place veggies in a bowl. Cover and keep warm while the Dutch Baby cooks.

For the Savory Dutch Baby:

1/2 cup flour...whole-wheat entirely, or 1/4 cup whole-wheat and 1/4 cup all-purpose, or 1/2 cup all-purpose, or 1/2 cup gluten free flour mix
3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened oat milk)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

Wipe out the skillet used to cook the veggies. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and move the oven rack to the middle of the oven.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs to combine, then whisk in the milk until well-combined. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper and then slowly whisk in the flour to fully combine. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skilled and swirl to coat the pan and sides. Place into the oven and heat for 10 minutes - you want the skillet to be good and hot. Carefully add the batter to the hot skillet and then put it into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. The pancake will puff up! When golden brown, remove from the oven and top the pancake, still in the skillet, with the warm veggie mixture. Garnish with the basil chiffonade ribbons. Serve at once.

Harvest Time Combo

September is finally here. That means a number of things, but two that thrill me are that fall is just around the corner and that the garden is producing at capacity, with lots and lots of delicious veggies, herbs and fruits to enjoy.

The smaller tomatoes have been prolific for weeks, but the large tomato plants (this year only three plants-because of the drought-and all the Black Krim variety) are just now providing ripe fruit to enjoy. My favorite way to enjoy them is sliced, with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar splashed on, a grinding of black pepper, and a sprinkle of chopped basil lending both fragrance and flavor.

One of my favorite recipes using the smaller grape tomatoes is Mediterranean Couscous with Chicken, but wheat couscous is off my list of foods at the moment. I was pleasantly surprised to find Lundberg's brown rice couscous at the store Monday morning. They are a California company that grows all sorts of rice, so I bought a box and immediately thought of making that recipe. I had some chicken, the lemon, basil and small tomatoes and, although it would effect the flavor, I decided to forgo the feta cheese since cheese is also off the list. The pine nuts would come from my fridge, not the couscous box, and would be for Sweetie...yes, another food not on the list. Actually we never did get the pine nuts on this dish but I did get a nice phone visit with our daughter instead.

It has been very warm around here for the last week or so and I have been sort of hibernating, especially in the afternoons. If we cool down the house overnight and then close the downstairs windows and connecting doors, the downstairs keep pretty cool until dinner time. I have been doing a lot of reading. In the mornings when it is cooler, I've been working on a stained glass piece I'm making for my younger brother's round number birthday. It's been ten years since I've done any stained glass work, so my skills are rusty, but I finally have all the pieces ready and on the lightbox and it looks pretty nice. Now for foiling, fluxing and soldering. It may not end up being a perfect piece, but I think it will be lovely and suit my brother, too...although he may be perfect.

The brown rice couscous is prepared differently than regular couscous, which is basically steamed. With the brown rice version you begin by simmering the broth and couscous, then taking it off the heat and letting it steam. It adds about 15 minutes to the process, so build that into your meal prep plan. You can increase the lemon zest and lemon juice and it will be even better. I decided that about 2/3 of the tomatoes (picked right before dinner) were plenty but go for the whole amount if you just love cherry tomatoes.

Mediterranean Chicken Couscous
Serves 8 (more if part of a buffet or potluck)

1 1/4 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 (5.6 oz.) package Lundberg brown rice couscous
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (or turkey - I used roasted turkey thigh meat)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Garnish: fresh basil leaves

(Note: You'll need to buy a 2/3 oz. package of fresh basil and 1 rotisserie chicken to get the right amount of basil and chicken for this recipe. Substitute 3-4 teaspoons (I used 3) dried basil if you can't get fresh. 3 cups of leftover cooked chicken or turkey in large dice works fine, too.)

Place chicken broth in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the dried thyme and the poultry seasoning.  Place couscous in the pot, and stir. Cover and simmer over low heat for 11 minutes, then remove from the heat, keep covered, and let stand 10 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork, stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients. Serve warm or cold. Garnish with fresh basil leaves or a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts, if desired.

Height of Summer Chicken and Corn

The garden is so beautiful right now! The cherry tomato plants have taken over most of a 4 foot by 6 foot planter box, but there is a sky blue morning glory with flowers as big as saucers that has climbed up and through those tomatoes and up some more.

There is a smaller Early Girl plant that is starting to produce red, ripe tennis ball size tomatoes, too. I used both the cherry and Early Girl tomatoes in today's dish. The squash plants yield about one a week, which is fine since there has been no baking to speak of until today for about 5 weeks, and not much real cooking either. Sweetie grills the squash, just like using a campfire. Come to think of it, having no working kitchen is a bit like camping out, without the bugs. Fun for a while, but it was so nice to finally bake today!

A good friend has corn that has all ripened at once, so she gave us some a few days ago. The first eating was lightly steamed and right off the cob. Today I cut the kernels off the cobs and added them at the last minute to a chicken casserole which also has fresh tomatoes, white wine, onions and fresh basil. It's based on a recipe I've loved for years, Chicken Cacciatore. This is a fresher combination and really delicious.

It is also one to bookmark because you can make it up the night before, or even a few days before you eat it and then reheat it when you have had a busy, busy day. Sitting overnight or longer melds the flavors and it is even better than freshly made. Just be sure to add the corn 5 minutes before you serve the dish. It really only needs to warm up!

I served this with fresh from the garden steamed green beans, but it would be lovely with a salad and some nice bread, too. Bread baking coming soon, I promise.

Chicken with Corn, Onion, Tomato and Basil

1 chicken, cut up (I used 4 chicken breasts, each cut in half)
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 pound fresh tomatoes, washed, stem end removed, and cut up (I used about 14 oz. Early Girl and the rest cherry tomato...with the cherry tomatoes cut in quarters)
3 tablespoons fresh basil, sliced in thin slices or chopped
2 ears fresh corn, cut from the cob
salt & pepper to taste & olive oil for the bottom of the pan

Sprinkle chicken with salt. In a large, heavy ovenproof skillet, over medium heat, brown chicken in hot oil. (I use just enough oil to coat the pan bottom to keep the chicken from sticking. If you have a large, heavy ovenproof non-stick skillet, you don’t even need the oil.)
Add the onion; cook about 3 minutes, stirring, until the onion is crispy-tender. (If using chicken breasts, remove them to a bowl...which retains the juices...while you stir the onions, then place them over the mixture once the tomatoes have been added. Otherwise they may cook too long and become tough)
Remove pan from the heat. Stir in the tomatoes and pepper. Sprinkle with the basil.
Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F. oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until tender. 5 minutes before dish is cooked, add the corn, cover, and return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve at once.
 If you will be reheating the dish, don't add the corn until you have reheated the dish. Keep the corn refrigerated until ready to use.
If you are reheating the dish, place it in a preheated oven, without the corn, and heat it until internal temperature registers 165 degrees F. Uncover, add the corn, cover and keep heating for 5 minutes. Serve at once.
It is OK to let the casserole stand in turned off oven up to 1 hour, but the corn will not be as sweet.
Serves 4-6.

Eat From the Garden

Farm to table is really big right now in the restaurant world. That is probably a good thing because getting people to really taste fresh veggies and fruit soon after they are harvested might help generate demand for that taste hit in regular and fast food restaurants, to say nothing of in grocery stores.

Even better than farm to table is garden to table. To have planted the little seeds, nurtured them, set them out in the garden when the time was ripe, kept them going with regular water (and plant food as needed), tying up the tomatoes and re-routing the wayward pole bean vines, watching the first fruits form and grow and ripen...then to pick and eat that ripe food shortly after picking. Bliss.

I usually try to do as little as possible with the harvest if I only harvest enough to enjoy that day. Today I harvested enough lovely green bush beans for Sweetie and I to enjoy with our dinner. All they needed was a quick rinse and a rapid steam to turn them brilliant green and heat them enough to enjoy. Nothing else was needed! We had them last night, too. The thing to remember if you decide to grow bush beans is that they come in almost all at once...within a week or so. Great if you are canning them, but otherwise you need to pick them almost every day and figure out what to do with them. My pole beans seem to take a bit longer, so I harvest them less frequently.

The small tomatoes (Early Girls, I think) also got a quick rinse and then were sliced. The slices were laid on a platter and I sprinkled on a tiny bit of garlic salt and freshly ground pepper.

These tomatoes never saw the inside of a refrigerator, so they were room temperature. They taste like summer...juicy, tart, the essence of tomato. Last night's cherry tomatoes were even simpler. Wash, put on plate. Remove green top, eat, repeat.

If you don't have a garden or a neighbor who wants to share, try a good farmer's market. It will be almost as fresh and very, very delicious.

For those who are keeping track, we now have a counter and sink and faucet in the baking center, so washing up is easier. The photo of the tomatoes and cutting board shows a sliver of the new quartz counter top. Still no regular stove or oven, but Sweetie is patching some dry wall tomorrow and I'll be working on the mural this weekend, so it won't be too much longer before I can bake again.

More Tomato Love

We have been having a little heat, so the cherry tomatoes have been ripening up at a good clip. I've given three or four pints away and today cooked up two pounds to use as the base for some awesome home made pizzas. More ways to love those tomatoes.

With the oven preheating to a toasty 500 degrees F, I made sure they all were sans stem and clean. Some were ripe enough that the skins had split...so juicy! Some were tiny, some were about the size of a walnut, and everything in between. Red, yellow, orange and gold orbs, uncut, went into a large plastic bag to be coated with olive oil, then  onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I did sprinkle a little garlic salt and grind a little pepper on them, but otherwise they were just roasted until the skins were a bit browned.

I poured them into a big glass bowl and mashed them down a bit with a wooden spoon. Extra juices from the pan were scraped into the bowl too. That was it...the perfect tomato sauce for pizza, with skin and seed still in the mix for flavor and nutrition.

For the pizza, I spread spoonsful of the tomatoes over the shaped pizza dough, added dollops of ricotta cheese, sprinkles of

freshly chopped basil and Italian parsley and oregano, sprinkles of shredded mozzarella cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and a light sprinkle of grated Parmesan.

It was excellent once baked! The crust had crisped up since it was baked on a pizza stone in a very hot oven. The intense flavor of the roasted tomatoes was offset beautifully by the mellow cheeses and the sharply herbal flavors of parsley, oregano and basil. We enjoyed it a lot, along with a nice Caesar salad. And then we had another (they were small) just to make sure that we liked that roasted cherry tomato sauce. We did...in fact we loved it.

Plenty of Cherry Tomatoes

With foggy mornings and sunny afternoons being the norm, my cherry tomato plants are producing like crazy. Every day there are more dots of color among the branches, just waiting to be picked. The most prolific has been the sun gold type, but I'm also getting red ones and yellow ones and orange ones. Yesterday I had enough to give a heaping basket to the firemen at the fire station, another basket for Grandma L and plenty for our dinner salad.

Usually I don't post salads or soups because in my world those are not really recipes. I throw in whatever I have on hand in the amounts that look right, usually directly from the cutting board to the bowl or pot, so there are rarely measurements taken.

Last night's dinner salad was a perfect example. First into the bowl was a small head of romaine lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces. Next in were chunks of green patty pan squash, red and yellow small cherry tomatoes, cut in half, followed by some avocado chunks and a sprinkle of raisins. The amounts were, roughly, 1/3 cup of the squash, 1 cup of the tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, and 3 tablespoons raisins. It was a great mixture, mostly crunchy but with the occasional bit of soft avocado and almost soft raisin.

When you have plenty of cherry tomatoes, what do you make?

Cherry Tomato Is One Of Five Ingredients

Some days it is so wonderful to have something easy to serve for dinner. After a good portion of a day spent installing flashing and siding, Sweetie and I were certainly hungry, but not full of energy. As the sun set behind the trees

it was time to create a fast feast. I started with tomatoes, already picked. So far the only tomatoes I've gotten from the many I planted are the cherry type. The most numerous are orange, a few are red, and a few are yellow.

 I based this recipe on one in the latest Bon Appetit magazine (August 2013) because I had the tomatoes and olive oil and sea salt and last time I was at the appropriate store, I had made sure to purchase the burrata and fresh basil once I saw the recipe, knowing that I would make it pretty soon.

This is one of those recipes that you won't make often if you value your health since the cheese is very rich, but it is the perfect indulgence when the tomatoes finally ripen. It also goes together fast and is impressive, so keep it in mind for your next dinner party or on a day when the kids have worn you out. You can use mozzarella di bufala (made with buffalo milk I think) instead of the burrata...Bon Appetit did. You can also add a few chunks of seedless watermelon for some crunch and another flavor and have six ingredients. Don't be tempted to use dried basil...fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, good quality olive oil and sea salt, plus a lovely, rich, runny cheese are important components.

It looks pretty, too. Since we eat with our eyes first, that counts!

Five Ingredient Cherry Tomato Salad

1 ball of mozzarella di bufala or burrata
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
about 2 tablespoons fresh basil, in chiffonade or chopped
2-3 tablespoons best quality olive oil
a sprinkle of sea salt to taste

Shred or spread the cheese on a serving plate. Top with the tomatoes, basil, olive oil and salt. Let sit 10 minutes so the flavors can mingle. Serve. It's that easy!
Serves 4 - 6.

Roasted Veg Focaccia and Bum Arm

It's been quiet here at FME lately. one reason has been the delightful visit of Captain Jack and the Birthday Girl, but there is also the unfortunate matter of the bum arm. Have gotten moderately good at typing with only my right hand because a combination of accidents (apparently now insurance companies no longer call them injuries...they are accidents) starting with too tight a grip on an unfamiliar golf club, followed two weeks later with lifting a box which was much heavier than I knew. Had an x-ray yesterday at the hospital. With the Labor Day weekend, it will probably be Tues. before I hear back from the doc. This was a week after the doctor asked me to do a wait and see while resting the arm, which was 4 days after the box related injury, so it will be over two weeks after that I find out if anything is fractured! Guess I should have gone to the ER the day of the injury. Live and learn. Send chocolate!

On a lighter note, before all the serious stuff, I baked King Arthur Flour's Roasted Vegetable Focaccia using squash and grape tomatoes and basil from the garden. It has a lovely crust, a nice light & chewy texture and the veggies were a great topping.

When I make it next time I'm going to add fresh rosemary to the dough and sprinkle Parmesan on top of the veggies to bake on...will probably put the tomatoes on the dough at the same time as the squash, too. Putting them on later meant the slid off the crusted dough instead of sinking in.

Roasted Veg Focacciafrom King Arthur Flour

Starter

1/2 cup cool water
1/16 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Dough
all of the starter (above)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water*
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
*Use 1 tablespoon less water in summer (or in a humid environment), 1 tablespoon more in winter (or in a dry climate).

Topping
3 pounds zucchini, about 6 medium zucchini*
olive oil
Pizza Seasoning, optional
2 bunches scallions, root ends trimmed*
1 pound cherry tomatoes*
shaved Parmesan cheese, optional
*Don't stress over exact amounts here; more or less of any of these ingredients is fine.

1) To make the starter: Mix the water and 1/16 teaspoon yeast, then add the flour, stirring until the flour is incorporated. The starter will be paste-like; it won't form a ball.

2) Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 14 hours; the starter will be bubbly. If you make this in the late afternoon, it'll be ready to go by the next morning.

3) Combine the risen starter with the remaining dough ingredients, and mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take about 7 minutes at second speed.

4) Place the dough in a lightly greased container, cover, and let it rise for 1 hour.

5) Gently deflate the dough, and allow it to rise for another hour; it should have doubled in bulk from its original volume.

6) Sometime during the dough's rise, prepare the vegetables. Trim the zucchini, and slice about 3/4" thick. Toss with olive oil; sprinkle with Pizza Seasoning (or other dried herbs), if desired. Spread the zucchini, in a single layer, on a lightly greased baking sheet.

7) Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Toss them with olive oil and Pizza Seasoning or dried herbs. Place them, cut-side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut the scallions into 2" to 3" pieces. Toss in oil, sprinkle with herbs, and place on the baking sheet along with the tomatoes.

8) Place the vegetables in a preheated 400°F oven. Bake the zucchini, turning it over once, until it's golden brown. This will take about 60 minutes. Bake the scallions and tomatoes until they're starting to brown and soften, about 25 to 30 minutes.

9) Remove the vegetables from the oven, use a spatula to gently loosen them from the pan, and set them aside.

10) Lightly grease an 18" x 13" rimmed baking sheet (half-sheet pan) with non-stick vegetable oil spray. Drizzle olive oil atop the spray; the spray keeps the bread from sticking, while the olive oil gives the bottom crust great crunch and flavor.

11) Gently deflate the dough. Pull and shape it into a rough rectangle, and pat it into the pan. As soon as it begins to fight you and shrink back, stop patting. Wait 15 minutes; pat the dough farther towards the edges of the pan. Repeat once more, if necessary, until the dough is close to covering the bottom of the pan.

12) Place the zucchini atop the dough. Cover the pan, and allow the dough to rise until it's very puffy, almost billowy. This will take about 2 to 3 hours. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

13) Place the pan on a lower rack in your oven, and bake the focaccia for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, top with the scallions and tomatoes, return to the oven, and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until the crust around the edges (and showing between the vegetables) is golden brown.

14) Remove the focaccia from the oven, and top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Yield: one focaccia, 8 to 10 servings.

Notes: I used my sourdough starter instead of the starter in the recipe. I forgot the Parmesan shards.
I didn't have any scallions, so used yellow onion, minced, instead. Still yummy!

Fresh Cranberry Beans

It's always a pleasure to stop by the strawberry farm along Hwy 12 to buy some fresh-from-the-fields sweet, juicy, gorgeous strawberries. Now they also have a selection of veggies that they have grown right there in the fields by the Laguna. Recently they had a bag of fresh cranberry beans for sale. I've never cooked with fresh cranberry beans. In fact I've rarely cooked with fresh shelling beans of any kind, but I've been trying to add whole grains and legumes to my diet and this seemed like a great thing to add.

A quick surf on the Internet yielded a recipe for a salad made with the beans, herbs, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, and and olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing. The beans are cooked until tender at a simmer and you add things like celery tops and carrots (which get discarded) to give the beans more flavor as they cook.

I really liked the flavor combo when I made the salad as written, but it needed more vinegar since the beans, as beans often are, were bland. We have also cut back on the oil we use both in cooking and at the table, so I would reduce the olive oil by two-thirds. There was waaaay more oil than I like.

Shelling the beans was sort of relaxing. Sweetie helped me and we were sitting outside with the dog enjoying the summer day as we worked. They are really pretty beans. The pods are streaked with dark pink and the beans look like porcelain, with ivory background and dark pink streaks. When they cook they turn sort of gray so enjoy them while you shell them.

Some of the pods had started to dry out so I kept them intact and laid the pods out on the porch railing in full sun to dry completely. Now I have about 1/2 cup dried beans, too.

The bag of beans yielded about 3 1/2 cups total. I cooked 3 cups of beans and used 2 cups for the salad. Now I get to try them in another recipe, as long as it only needs 1 cup cooked beans. For now, here is the promised Cranberry Bean Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Herbs.

Cranberry Bean Salad
Insalata di Fagioli Borlotti
from La Tavola Marche
serves 4

2 cups fresh borlotti or cranberry beans
couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 cucumber, peeled & sliced
fresh herbs of your choice, chopped: marjoram, oregano, Italian parsley or basil work well
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive
salt pepper
vegetable scraps

In a pot with plenty of water, bring the beans to a boil with vegetable scraps: celery tops, dried out carrots, half an onion sitting in your fridge - toss it in! (The veggies give the beans a bit more flavor.)

Bring to boil then lower to simmer 20-30 minutes until the beans are tender.

Drain beans and discard the vegetables.

In a bowl combine the beans, tomatoes, onion, cucumber. Add in the herbs.

Combine the oil & vinegar then toss with the salad.

Season with salt & pepper.

Let stand 10-15 minutes to let the flavors come together. Recheck your seasonings (taste it) and adjust. Serve.

I would recommend increasing the vinegar by 1 tablespoon and decreasing the oil by two-thirds because the beans need that ooomph of vinegar and I don't like so much oil in my salads. Otherwise it worked perfectly...I went with fresh oregano, Italian parsley and basil for my herbs.

Cool and Quick for Summer Side or Main Dish

There is a couscous dish I've made many times in the past and it's always been a hit when I serve it or bring it to potlucks. It's perfect for a hot summer day because you only use the microwave and the dish itself is fine at room temperature or slightly warm. Best of all it's so quick that you'll be able to spend more time doing your favorite fun summer activities! It's light and has the summer flavors of fresh basil and ripe tomato, plus the zing of lemon juice and peel.

 I decided to try making it as a vegetarian dish and so I removed the cooked, cubed chicken that usually is included and, since I have oodles of zucchini, I added in some shredded zucchini, lightly cooked in the microwave.


If you have packaged couscous with the toasted pine nut seasoning packet in the pantry and the other ingredients around, this takes something like 10 minutes to make, so it's great for a quick meal after a long day.

We used up the leftovers the next day as a stuffing for Portobello mushrooms and it was a great combination. I marinated the prepared mushrooms in a mixture of a little balsamic vinegar, some olive oil, some veggie broth, fresh thyme, freshly ground pepper and a minced clove of garlic. Sweetie cooked the stuffed mushrooms on the grill until heated through. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos, but they really were tasty! The actual prep time for the mushrooms was about 20 minutes, including turning the mushrooms over in the marinade a couple of times and including the stuffing and grilling. Since the filling was ready to go, this, too is a quick and easy meal, although you need to remember to marinate the mushrooms early in the day.

8 Ingredient Mediterranean Couscous Salad
Serves 6-8

1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 (5.6 oz.) package toasted pine nut couscous mix
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 (4 oz.) package crumbled feta cheese
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Garnish: fresh basil leaves

Note: You'll need to buy a 2/3 oz. package of fresh basil to get the right amount of basil for this recipe. Substitute 3-4 teaspoons (I used 3) dried basil if you can't get fresh.

Microwave broth and seasoning packet from couscous package at HIGH for 3-5 minutes or until broth begins to boil. Place couscous in a large bowl, and stir in broth mixture. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

While couscous is standing, use the same container you used to heat the broth and microwave the shredded zucchini on high for one minute.

Uncover couscous and fluff couscous with a fork. Stir in basil, cooked zucchini and next 5 ingredients. Serve warm or cold. Garnish with fresh basil leaves or a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts, if desired.