Halloumi, Zucchini and Sundried Tomato Penne

 

This month has a been taxing on the wallet so I've been avoiding buying groceries and trying to make do with whatever I have in the house. That, combined with the fact that Matt and I have opposing schedules this week and haven't been eating together, allowed me to be rather creative in the kitchen. This recipe is one of my creations that actually turned out. I would actually make this intentionally now. So should you.

When I was googling zucchini recipes trying to figure out what I could do with the 3 I had in the fridge I saw this recipe for sundried tomato zucchini rounds and was all excited because I actually had sundried tomatoes too! But I didn't have goat cheese or chives. Then I thought "YAY I have halloumi!!" so that's how I came up with this dish!

Ingredients

250g package of halloumi, sliced into 3/4" slabs
300-400g of dried penne
3 small zucchinis, sliced in 1" medallions, then chopped in half again
2 gloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 of yellow onion, diced
4 tablespoons sliced sundried tomatoes in oil
1 tbsp oregano
olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Boil penne until al dente, and set aside.
2. Grill halloumi on a greased grill, or in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. This should take about a minute a side, and the cheese should be golden and firm where the grill/pan has touched it. Set halloumi aside on a plate.
3. Put a large frying pan on medium heat, drizzle with olive oil, add your diced onions and cook until soft. Add the crushed garlic and mix around for 30 seconds.  When chopping the zucchini try and make your zucchini slices the same size as the penne. Add the sliced zucchini to the pan, mix well and add more olive oil if it looks dry.
4. Season zucchini generously with salt and pepper and the oregano. Cook zucchini until firm yet soft on the outside, for about 3-5 minutes.
5. When the zucchini is done, add the pasta, sundried tomatoes, break up the fried halloumi into bite-size pieces and mix it all together. Fry until all the ingredients have heated up and married into a lovely harmony of flavours. Then eat! It's great the next day too.

Pattypan and Halloumi Salad with Mint and Oregano Dressing

Do not be intimidated by the title if you've never heard of those ingredients. pattypan is a beautiful summer squash, also called star squash and halloumi is a Greek cheese that is best served fried. So really its just a squash and cheese warm salad. Okay that sounds even worse...its really really good trust me.

I made this for a dinner party and people started eating it before I could get a pretty picture! 

If you've never had halloumi cheese you need to try is RIGHT NOW. And good news Calgarians! Your local Safeway carries it! Shocking, I know. The flavour combinations really jive in this salad and I highly recommend having a bite of the halloumi together with the pattypan. Delicious. This recipe was adapted from a Big Girls Small Kitchen recipe.

Ingredients

Yields 4 served as a side dish.

4 medium-to-small sized pattypan squash
1 250g package of halloumi
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
olive oil for drizzling
juice of half a lemon
1 red chili pepper, seeds removed
small bunch of fresh oregano
small bunch of fresh mint
small bunch of fresh chives, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Make your dressing: add the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic cloves, half the mint, all the oregano, half the red chili and season with salt and pepper into a food processor and give it a good buzz.
2. Heat up a medium sized frying pan on medium heat. Cut up the pattypan into approximately 2x2" squares. I just followed the star pattern and made them into wedges.
3. Drizzle some olive oil in the pan, add your pattypan then season with salt and pepper. Move around to get it coated with olive oil.
4. Mince half of the red chili pepper with seeds removed and add to the patty pan. Let the pattypan cook for about 5 or 7 minutes to the point that it is still firm but gives way a little when you poke it. Some of the sides should look golden.
5. Remove the pattypan from the pan into a serving dish and cover it with a plate or something to keep it warm while you grill the halloumi.
6.  Slice the halloumi into 3/4" slices, and then slice the slices into 3. It should make them about the same size as the pattypan. In the same pan you fried the pattypan in which should have some residual olive oil, add the halloumi and fry each side until golden brown.
7. Add the halloumi to your serving bowl with the pattypan, pour the dressing over it and combine. Tear pretty remaining mint leaves and garnish the salad with the remaining mint and fresh chives. Serve immediately! and EAT!

1 Dish, 2 Meals - Roasted Sweet and Yellow Potato with Zucchini and Dill

 

 

Notice the small portion in the picture. This actually makes and entire pan, which I ate all by myself hehe.

Matt grilled a veggie meadly for me with our new veggie griller and then I made the leftovers for breakfast.

Grilled Sweet and Yellow Potato with Zucchini and Dill

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, fine sliced

1 big yellow potato, fine sliced

2 zucchinis, sliced into 2" medallions

1/4 red onion, sliced

1/2 lemon zest

small bunch of fresh dill, ripped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

 

Instructions

1. Preheat your BBQ to medium heat.

2. Slice your potatoes in half, then slice them into fine half medallions. I'm not going to lie - the sweet potato will be a b*tch to slice. Slice your zucchini into 2" medallions on an angle. This will allow all the veggies to cook at the same rate. Slice red onion

3. Add your lemon zest, dill, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic to the veggie meadly and mix well. Take it to the BBQ on medium heat and pour into a veggie griller, and grill for 20 minutes, moving around the veggies every few minutes so that they do not burn.

4. Eat! Eat all the zucchini and reserve some of the potatoes for breakfast...

Sweet and Yellow Potato Omlete with Dill

Ingredients

Use the leftover sweet and yellow potatoes from the night before

4 eggs

1 tbsp milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp olive oil

 

Instructions

1. Preheat a medium sized frying pan on medium heat, drizzle with olive oil.

2. Place a single layer of sweet potato slices on the bottom, then a single layer of yellow potato slices on top.

3. While the potato layer is getting a head start, whisk your eggs, milk, salt and pepper together.

4. Pour eggs over top of the potatoes and cover the pan with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

5. Cook for about 10 minutes - until the eggs are cooked through and no longer runny. 

6. Cut into pizza-like slices and garnish with more fresh  dill.





Pumpkin Apple Spice Pancakes (wheat free)

This isn't really inventive, I just took my favourite things to eat for breakfast and made them into a pancake. But its reallllyyy yum. And healthy, and most importantly: filling.

Ingredients

yields 6 small pancakes, or 2 servings

3/4 cup whole rolled oats
1 cup egg whites
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 apple, grated
1  tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
coconut oil or fat of choice

Instructions

1. Grate the apple - I did this by rotating the apple on a box grater until I reached core and continuing around the apple. Squeeze a bit of the juice out of the apple.
2. Heat your frying pan on medium.
3. Mix the grated apple and all the other ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
4. Add coconut oil or fat of choice to frying pan, spread around.
5. Drop the pancake mix into the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until golden brown.
6. Eat with maple syrup! Do it.

MegaCheese Casserole

This is another recipe that Matt and I came up with from whatever was in the fridge. We had a lot of cheese. Like 8 different kinds. I guess for the last while everything we have made with cheese in it had a different cheese in it. So the solution to this problem was an extremely delicious one. If you don't have a million ends of cheeses in your fridge I'm sure 3 or 4 would work just fine.

Ingredients:

1 cup Aged Cheddar
1 cup Gouda
1 cup Havarti
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/4 cup Romano
1/4 cup Swiss cheese
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
28 g or a healthy handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked
500 g of pasta (bow tie, fusilli, rigantoni or the 'odd ball shape' that we used
1 cup pasta water
2 tbsp butter
3 heaping tbsp flour
1 & 1/4 cup milk
3-4 garlic cloves, fine sliced
500 g cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Grate all your cheese. Make sure the cheddar, gouda and havarti are in one bowl, and then the parmesan, romano and swiss are in another bowl.
3. Chop tomatoes in half, place in a bowl and season with sea salt and pepper.
4. Fine slice your garlic and set aside. Pick all your thyme leaves and set aside.
5. Boil your pasta until just before al dente. It will cook more in the oven. Make sure to RESERVE PASTA WATER and don't forget like we always do.
6. Grease a big casserole pan.
7. Now that all your prep is done, 100% of your attention will be devoted to the roux. Heat a frying pan to medium heat, melt the butter in it. Add your sliced garlic.
8. Slowly add flour to the butter, whisking the entire time. Once you've added all your flour, it should be a thick paste, and the garlic should be golden brown.
9. Reduce heat to medium low.
10. Start slowly, very slowly, adding the milk to the paste, whisking all the time.
11. Make sure that you are constantly whisking and that the paste is becoming a thick sauce.
12. Now that the roux is very rich, thick sauce, you can add to a big mixing bowl your pasta, pasta water, roux, seasoned cherry tomatoes, thyme, cheddar, gouda and havarti. Mix until well combined. Have a taste and season with salt and pepper again, if needed.
13. Pour the pasta mixture into the casserole pan and spread out evenly.
14. Evenly sprinkle the bread crumbs over the surface. Sprinkle over the surface your parmesan, romano and Swiss cheese.
15. Put in oven and cook for 25 minutes or until the top is a lovely golden brown and all bubbly.
16. Eat it! Mmm, now I am regretting now having this with a pickle. A pickle would have been the perfect acidic complement to the creamy goodness.

Sweet Potato Paddies

This meal not only prepared me for the competition but when I ate it again the next day it also cured my hangover from celebrating too much.

Ingredients

1 Sweet Potato or yam, grated
1/4 red onion, grated
2 eggs
1 tsp Tony Chachere's seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
coconut oil or fat of choice

Instructions

1. Heat a frying pan on medium.
2. Grate your onion and sweet potato or yam.
2. Put grated sweet potato and onion into bowl.
3. Crack eggs into the bowl, add your Tony Chachere's seasoning, salt, pepper and mix all together.
4. Oil the frying pan and drop the potato mixture into the pan like you would pancakes. Squish the potato mixture down so that it's an even thickness all around.
5. Cook each side until golden brown.
6. Then eat it with your other breakfast foods! I also think that this would be good as a Thanksgiving side dish.

note: you can use seasoning salt instead of Tony Chachere's if you don't have it.

Not Your Boring Quinoa Salad

Here's a quinoa salad that packs a punch, contains a lot of protein and can be made ahead for a healthy side dish or for lunch. Can be made vegetarian and vegan by substituting vegetable stock :)

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups of chicken broth, OR 2 cups of water with 2 heaping tsp of chicken bouillon
1 red chili pepper, finely diced
half a cucumber, diced
1/4 of a red onion, finely diced
handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
half a can of chickpeas
1 and a half limes
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Steps:

1. Rinse your quinoa with a wire mesh strainer. Place in a pot with either your water and bouillon or your chicken broth. To make vegetarian/vegan you can use vegetable stock/vegetable bouillon.
2. Bring to boil, then reduce to medium high heat and cook until there is no moisture left - like you cook rice!
3. While the quinoa is cooking, chop all your vegetables: chili pepper, cucumber, and red onion.
4. Put the cooked quinoa in a large bowl and allow to cool.
5. Once the quinoa is cooled, add to the quinoa all your vegetables and chick peas, squeeze the juice of 1 and a half limes into it, add your olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Enjoy!