Don't Hate Your Zucchini!

This is the time of year when your zucchini plant seems to be producing more zucchini than you know what to do with! My two zucchini plants are pretty much the only thing in my garden that is doing much of anything and it is just my husband and I so I have to get creative to use it up. There are tons of delicious healthy and not so healthy desserts out there to bake with that zucchini but it is nice to have a savory dish too. I will be sharing a couple of my favorite sweet treats in the near future but for now try out this savory dish. We love it and most of the time eat a big bowl of this with a slice of home made bread or some toasty garlic bread along with it. It is one of my husband's favorite meals!

This meal is also great because you can adapt it easily to whatever veggies you have on hand or whatever your family likes. It is easy to make a small amount for a side dish or a huge pan full that you can eat off of for days.

Gather up your veggies and chop them up. We like bite size pieces and try to keep them all about the same so they cook evenly.

Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Corn on the cob (cut the kernels off)
Fresh Green Beans
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

We usually keep it pretty simple and just use those veggies but if I have other things in the fridge I sometimes will toss in:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Onion
Asparagus

Heat a big frying pan on medium to medium high heat. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Once the oil is heated us toss all of your veggies in together. Add in your seasonings now. We like to always add salt and pepper and then whatever else we are in the mood for. Mrs. Dash, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Italian Seasoning, Rosemary/Basil/Thyme. Experiment and see what good combinations you can come up with! The secret to these tasting so good though is that you cannot stir them around much. Let them sit until the bottoms brown and get that yummy caramelization. Then flip them over and do the same thing, add your seasonings and let them sit until they brown. The grape tomatoes will also pop as they cook and they taste amazing when they do this. Once your veggies have some nice caramelization and are cooked through turn off the heat. You can either eat them just like this or I love to sprinkle on a little bit of fresh Parmesan cheese and let it melt in.

Give this a shot, you can have a delicious and healthy meal on the table in 30 minutes or less!

Fast and Fresh: Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Sometimes you just don't have a lot of time to get dinner on the table.  That makes things difficult when you are trying to feed you and your family healthier meals and you don't want to just run out and grab some take-out.  These fast and fresh recipes from Cooking Light are delicious and healthy and you can have them on the table in 30 minutes or less.  Give them a try, you will love how easy and delicious they are!

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

A three minute dip into a pungent marinade is all that you need to put big flavor into chicken breasts.  Serve with rice.

Chicken:
2 T minced fresh cilantro
2 1/2 T fresh lime juice
1 1/2 T olive oil
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp salt
Cooking Spray

Salsa:
1 cup chopped plum tomato
2 T finely chopped onion
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

To prepare chicken, combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand for 3 minutes.  Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade.  Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 tsp salt.  Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast and about 1/4 cup salsa)