Roasted Summer Vegetables with Cannellini Beans and Wilted Arugula

This recipe is extremely easy, super delicious, and a fantastic way to use up that summer bumper crop. Here I have only used tomato, zucchini, red onion, and garlic, but eggplant, yellow squash, and bell pepper would be excellent additions. This can be simply dressed with aged balsamic vinegar, but I have included in this recipe the quick blender pesto I prefer for it. This recipe is vegan, unless you top it with parmesan like we did…Similarly, if you feel the need to add an animal protein, tuna or shrimp would be great choice, but I think this dish is plenty substantial as it is.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 large entree portions, or 4-6 sides

For Salad —

– 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

– 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

– 1 medium zucchini, roughly diced

– 2 medium red onions, peeled and cut into eighths

– 2 tsp. dried thyme

– 1 head of garlic, divided and peeled

– 2 cups fresh arugula

– 1 1/2 c. precooked or canned cannellini (white) beans

– Salt and pepper to taste

For the pesto —

– about 15 fresh basil leaves

– 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

– 1 Tbsp. water

– scant 1/4 c.  pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Place tomatoes, zucchini, and red onion in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with thyme and salt and pepper (I recommend 1 tsp. of salt, and 1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper). Toss until vegetables are well and evenly coated

3. Cook vegetables in oven at 350F for 15 minutes

4. Remove pan from oven and add garlic cloves, stir gently to mix well

5. Return pan to oven, reduce heat to 225F and roast for at least one hour, stirring vegetable occasionally

6. Remove vegetables from oven, add fresh arugula and beans

7. Return pan to oven until arugula is wilted and beans are heated through, about 5 minutes

8. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. I served mine over fresh romaine

For the pesto:

1. Place basil, water, olive oil, and nuts into a blender or food processor

2. Blend until smooth. Yup, it’s that easy….

We had ours with some crusty french bread and a little sprinkling of parmesan. With a glass of Chardonnay. It was the perfect summer dinner.

Zucchini!!! How to Make the Best Zucchini Bread Ever!

As you can see, humility is not one of my strong suits….

It’s June and, in my opinion, unless you live in Antarctica there is absolutely no excuse not to eat seasonally (and locally) this time of year. This is the first year that we have not had a garden — between having a new baby and my husband’s work schedule it just got away from us this year. Now that it’s June and I’m thinking about all of the delicious stuff we would normally have growing in our own backyard I really wish that we had made a point of planting, but oh well, c’est la vie I suppose….Luckily I live in an area where tons of fresh, local produce is available, like the zucchinis I found yesterday for 49 cents a pound…..can’t beat that! This bread is vegan and I think that the recipe is pretty perfect (again, that humility), but I have included options for a non-vegan version of this bread as well.

Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
– 3 cups of flour — I use whole wheat but you can use white if you like
– 1 tsp. salt
– 1 tsp. baking soda
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 1 tsp. nutmeg
– 3 tsp. cinnamon
– 2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce (I think that the applesauce makes this bread really moist and wonderful but you could use 3 eggs here instead)
– 1 cup vegetable oil, butter substitute, or butter
– 1 cup light brown sugar
– 1 Tbsp. honey (optional)
– 1 Tbsp. grated or chopped ginger (you could also try mincing crystallized ginger for an added kick)
– 3 tsp. vanilla extract
– 3 cups of shredded zucchini (about two medium sized squash)
– 1 Tbsp. flax seeds (optional)
– 1 c. walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 325 F.

2. Grease and flour a 9in x 5in bread tin. I suppose you could use cake tins too though if you prefer.

3. Grate your zucchinis. Some recipes would have you drain your zucchini, but I don’t and the result is a super moist, decadent bread.

4. In a separate bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients together (the flour through the cinnamon).

5. In a separate bowl mix all of your wet ingredients together (applesauce through vanilla). If you are using butter or butter substitute  you will want to cream your butter and sugar together first, and then add the other wet ingredients to that.

6. Add your wet ingredient mixture to your dry ingredients. Mix well.

7. Fold in your grated zucchini, flax seeds, and the nuts if you are using them.

8. Put your batter into your bread pan or cake tins. This bread will rise, so you do need to make sure there is room at the top. It should be about this high in whatever tin you decide to use:

9. Bake in the oven at 325F for 75 minutes. To check whether your bread is done insert a toothpick, knife, or some type of skewer into the middle of the loaf; if it comes out clean it’s done!

10. Let cool for 15-20 minutes, then flip the bread out onto a towel or a wire rack to finish cooling.

This bread is perfect for breakfast, but you could totally slice and toast it too and use it to make savory sandwiches. The ginger adds a really nice depth of flavor that makes it perfect for a sweet afternoon snack…
I just had an awesome idea: I should totally turn this bread into a cake recipe! It would be a great way to trick my stepsons into eating zucchini….At any rate this was the perfect way to start my day: coffee with almond milk, fresh berries, and two thick slices of bangin warm zucchini bread. Mm-mm-mmm!