vegetables

Squash Cakes

One of the best part of having a vegetable garden is all the wonderful homegrown produce that is right in your back yard. One part of growing a garden that people seem to forget to mention is that sometimes (Ok, well maybe more like often) you have an over abundance of veggies. Right now that is going on in my garden. I have so much yellow crookneck squash.

Seriously, I love squash but i’m at a point of what the heck do I do with all of this squash? I’ve roasted it and sautéed it, I have even frozen some of it, i’ve spammed my Facebook friends for recipe ideas too.  Looking at the squash I wasn’t sure what to do with it anymore then I remembered something I first made a couple years ago, zucchini cakes. Zucchini cakes are basically a vegetarian crab cake and delicious! I figure why not try it with the yellow crook neck squash, I had nothing to lose. I have definitely earned back my dollar and change I invested when I bought the seeds back in the spring.

I threw some gluten free bread in the oven to toast up and dry out to make some fresh breadcrumbs and went to work on shredding my squash, making sure to remove the seedy portions. The seeds just don’t shred that well.  After draining the squash I put together the faux cakes and started frying and let me tell you the squash cakes were delicious and were a hit with my family! They were the perfect way to use up some of my excess squash. I know I will be making them again real soon!

Squash Cakes | Country Girl Gourmet

Do you have squash (yellow or zucchini) growing like crazy in your garden? Try this recipe and discover a new delicious way to eat squash!

Squash Cakes |Country Girl Gourmet

Squash Cakes
 
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Ingredients
  • 3 cups coarsely shredded zucchini or yellow squash
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup fresh bread crumbs (gluten free work well)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
  • 2-4 garlic cloves, minced (to taste)
  • 1½ teaspoons seafood seasoning or season all (seasoned salt) or Cajun seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
  1. Place grated zucchini in a colander; sprinkle with salt and let stand 30 minutes. Press with paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible; zucchini should be fairly dry and reduced to about 2 cups.
  2. Mix zucchini, bread crumbs, green onions, bell pepper,garlic, seafood seasoning, mustard, mayonnaise, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl. Form into patties (large or small)
  3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

 

Gluten Free Corn Casserole

This year for Thanksgiving I have the challenge of making our normal Thanksgiving feast gluten free. After talking to my husband and kids about what they want to eat I discovered there were only a couple things that would need a gluten free makeover. The stuffing, corn casserole and any baked goods like pies. The stuffing is the easiest makeover as it will be made using gluten free bread instead of regular bread. The corn casserole and pies, well more so the pie crust would be a bit more tricky but I felt I could do it. I chose to tackle the corn casserole first and save pie crust for another day.

I have been making corn casserole for years. I cannot even tell you how many years ago I started making it. I can tell you it all started after watching Paula Dean on Food Network. It looked good and it was easy to make. One of the key components of the recipe was Jiffy corn muffin mix. This is where my gluten problem is. I needed to figure out how to make the recipe without the Jiffy corn muffin mix. Well, lucky for me I saw an article on Buzzfeed about how to make your own DIY mixes and as luck would have it Jiffy corn muffin mix was on the list. I then checked on Google and found multiple other websites with similar DIY recipes. I figured I could convert those recipes to gluten free and test things out. It seemed to easy to me but I did and it worked! My kids were none the wiser and gobbled up my test run of Gluten Free Corn Casserole.

Gluten Free Corn Casserole | Country Girl Gourmet

I can’t wait until Thanksgiving now to see what the rest of my family thinks. I wonder if they will be able to tell it is gluten free? Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Gluten Free Corn Casserole | Country Girl Gourmet

Gluten Free Corn Casserole
 
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Serves: 12
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An awesome and easy to make Gluten Free Corn Casserole. Sure to become a family favorite!
Ingredients
  • ⅔ cup gluten free all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup yellow cornmeal
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon xantham gum
  • 1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
  • 1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ½ cup butter, melted
  • 1-2 cups shredded cheddar or cheddar-jack cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
  3. Add can of corn and can of creamed corn, sour cream, and melted butter. Mix well.
  4. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan/dish and bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with desired amount of cheese 1-2 cups. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until cheese has been melted.

How to Make Zoodles!

Using veggies to replace pasta is nothing new for me. I have been roasting spaghetti squash for years  to use in place of spaghetti and I often sub eggplant for lasagna noodles. Noodles made with zucchini, often called Zoodles though have been on my to try list for years. Then all of the sudden in the last year or so they were everywhere and I was left pondering, How to make Zoodles?

There are different ways to make Zoodles. The one I have heard about the most is to use a Paderno Spiralizer but really didn’t want to spend $40 for another kitchen gadget that I had no clue where i would keep.  A cheaper option was the As Seen on TV, Veggetti. I know several people who have bought it and loved it but it still left me with a new kitchen gadget that I would have to find a home for in my overflowing cupboards. Seriously, my husbands questions why I have so much stuff and from time to time he asks why do you even have this? So I was thinking maybe something smaller like a Julienne Peeler. They are small, cheap and would definitely do the trick. Then I remembered that I already had something that might work, my mandoline! I didn’t need to buy anything at all just experiment and figure out what worked best to figure out, How to make Zoodles!

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

First, I gathered my supplies. 3 small-medium zucchinis, knife, cutting board and colander. To make zoodles it is up to you if you want to peel your zucchini or not. I chose to keep my peel on. I rarely peel zucchini.

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

I tested out my large grater blade first but I felt my zoodles were too thin.

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

So I went to the Julienne Blade

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

and it seemed to do the trick.

How to make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

The thing to remember is you want to make one smooth swipe the length of the full zucchini down the mandoline.  If you are using a larger zucchini rotate your zucchini  to the next side to avoid seeds. You do not want the seeds… the seedy parts of zucchini do not like becoming noodles.


 How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

Once you have turned your zucchini into noodles place your zoodles into a colander and lightly salt your zoodles. I used about a teaspoon for my 3 zucchinis.

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

You want to draw out as much moisture as you can before cooking. I found it was best to let the zoodles sit for 30 minutes or longer.

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

After your zoodles have sweated place on a paper towel and pat as much moisture out as you can.

How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

Then all there is left to do is cook your noodles, if desired. The zoodles can be eaten raw or cooked. They can even be cooked a couple different ways. You can add to boiling salted water like traditional pasta and cook for 2-15 minutes depending on your zoodles or you can do like I did and sauté them for a couple minutes.
How to Make Zoodles! | Country Girl Gourmet

To saute depending on the amount of zoodles you are making you add 1-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil, Butter/Ghee or even Bacon Fat  to a sauté pan and heat on Medium-High heat. Once your oil is hot add your zoodles and sauté for 5-6 minutes string often to prevent sticking. Then serve in your favorite way to enjoy pasta.

zoodles-10

I like to keep it simple and while sautéing I added some garlic and when they were finished I added some red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese making a zoodled  version of Spaghetti with Garlic, Red Pepper and Olive Oil. 

zoodles-11

And that is, How to make Zoodles with a mandoline.

Quick , easy and delicious! What do you think? Are you ready to try Zoodles?

5.0 from 2 reviews
How to Make Zoodles!
 
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Recipe type: gluten free
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An easy to make and versatile substitute for your favorite pasta. Perfect for those that are gluten free and/or on a paleo diet.
Ingredients
  • 2-3 small to medium zucchinis
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Cut lengthwise slices from zucchini using a Mandoline stopping when the seeds are reached. Turn zucchini over and continue slicing until all the zucchini is in long strips; discard seeds.
  2. Place zoodles in a colander and lightly salt to sweat zoodles. Allow zoodles to sweat 30 minutes or longer. Blot dry with a paper towel before cooking.
  3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir zucchini in the hot oil 5 to 7 minutes. Season and serve in your favorite ways to serve pasta. .

**recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com Low Carb Zucchini Pasta**

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

I have always been a vegetable lover. As a child I would eat seconds of my veggies and loved broccoli and spinach. One vegetable that we never had was Brussel Sprouts so I always assumed they were gross little green balls. As an adult I never really had any desire to buy them but one day while grocery shopping my daughter asked me to buy a bag in the frozen food section. So I did. I made them and no one would touch them. They were soggy little things, overcooked by the steam bag.I knew there had to be a better way to make brussel sprouts and my daughter still wanted her brussel sprouts.

I came up with this recipe accidentally and it has become a fast family favorite since.  It is quick and easy and doesn’t disappoint. I highly suggest trying these Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and giving these wonderful sprouts another try!

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta | Country Girl Gourmet

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Ingredients

1lb Brussel Sprouts

3 slices thinly sliced Pancetta,diced (I like to use a scissors and cut it. Bacon can be used instead of Pancetta)

2 TB Butter

2 Cloves Garlic

Fresh Ground Sea Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Wash  and cut Brussel Sprouts into quarters.

2. In a large skillet using medium heat melt butter and then add Pancetta and sauté until it begins to crisp.

3. Add Brussel Sprouts and garlic and sauté until brussel sprouts start to brown and are cooked thoroughly. This should take less than 10 minutes.

4. Season with Salt and Pepper and serve.