August 28 - September 3: Quick and Easy Supper

No matter what you do during the day, if you're like me, by the end of the day you are often feeling tired, frazzled, and in no mood to deal with dinner.  Well, this week we hope to help.  Our theme is quick and easy suppers, and our focus is getting a healthy, home-cooked dinner on the table in minutes.  Fortunately for us, there are a ton of great resources online for healthy, fast meals. 

Light, Delicious, and Superfast - A few special words about Cooking Light
My personal favorite fast-meal resource is Cooking Light's Superfast collection, and so I want to give it a little special love. They have a huge section of 20-minute recipes, categorized for easy browsing to help you.  Have chicken breasts sitting in the fridge? Check out Superfast Chicken.  Want to fire up the grill a few more times before it gets cold?  Superfast on the Grill is there to help.  Craving some tex-mex flair?  Try Superfast Southwest.  Those are just a few of the categories featured.

I can't say enough about Cooking Light here, folks.  Some of my favorite standby recipes are from the archives of Superfast.  Pasta with Sundried Tomato Pesto is probably my favorite pasta way to cook pasta -- c'mon, sundried tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese? Who wouldn't be in love? (Spoiler alert - this is already on my list to cook this week!)  And it seriously takes more time to boil the water than it does to bring the sauce together.

The Barbecue Sirloin and Blue Cheese Salad is on the table in 15 minutes, tops -- if you buy prebagged lettuce, the beef will cook by the time you are done chopping shallot and slicing peppers. Did I mention it's delicious?  My husband, who eats anything I serve with a brave face but rarely remembers any meal the next day, requests this salad on a regular basis.

And if you're looking for a quick-prep meal that will look like it took hours to make, may I recommend the Fig and Blue Cheese-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin?  Melt-in-your mouth, 5 minutes of prep and 25 in the oven, and easy to clean up (but be sure to line your baking pan with aluminum foil!), and seriously impressive-- this dish is worthy of date night but easy enough to make any night.

 Other Great Resources for Quick & Easy Meals
Cooking Light is an old favorite of mine, but there are lots of other great resources out there for this theme, and I encourage you to check them out, too (go ahead, you won't hurt my feelings). 

• Martha Stewart's Dinner Tonight collection features hundreds of quick recipes that are designed to be easy, fast, and made with things you can find everywhere.  While you're browsing, sign up for the free Dinner Tonight E-mail list, too, and she'll deliver a daily quick recipe to your inbox.
• Of course, no list of quick recipe resources would be complete without Rachel Ray, Food Network's queen of the 30-Minute Meal empire.  She's got some great ideas, and if you can keep up her pace in the kitchen they'll all come together in 30 minutes or less.
• Not to be outdone, kitchen crusader Jamie Oliver also has a collection of 30 Minute Meals.  This site is more a promotion for his book of the same title, but the website includes several recipes from said book.  
• A quick search for "fast healthy meals" turns up some other great collections from Eating Well and WebMD -- I've had success with recipes from both!
• And here's one hot off the presses: a Huffington Post column that appeared yesterday features "Vitamin Packed Seafood Dinners in Just 15 Minutes or Less."  Seafood is great for this theme -- it is fabulous for your heart, and it almost always cooks quickly.  Shrimp, scallops, and fish filets will take just minutes from fridge (or freezer!) to table.

As you can see, this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart!  I hope we can inspire you this week, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with to make.  Happy cooking!

Packed Lunch Link Roundup

Packed Lunch week is drawing to a close, but that definitely doesn't mean we should stop looking for ways to bring nutritious creative meals to work and school.  Fortunately, FPP isn't the only website that's been trying to help you fill your Hello Kitty lunchbox lately. To help keep you inspired all year long, here are just a few of the pack-a-lunch links that have come across my inbox over the last few weeks.

• FoodNetwork's Healthy Eats Blog is serving up a Brown-Bag challenge in September- they're challenging readers to pack a lunch every work day in September!  They'll be blogging all about it, and they invite readers to submit their own blog entries, too.  Get the details here, including a link to the Facebook group where they'll be hosting a chat with a nutritionist mid-month.
• From WebMD, some quick, easy, healthy ideas: Brown-Bag Lunches and Snacks for Work or School
• The Back-to-School section at Epicurious features great ideas for packed lunches, including slimmed-down sandwiches.  They've also got some great ideas for weekday breakfasts!
• From FitSugar, 10 Healthy Sandwiches for back-to-school

August 21 - 27: Packed Lunches

Here in Champaign, classes started again today! While most of us are out of school, the end of August and early September always gets me back in the mood for school, and there's something reminiscent of New Year's about it - makes me want to adopt good resolutions. And since we've been living off of one income for all of the summer months, I am also reminded that our bank account is not unlimited. So, for all those reasons, it's a good time to try out some good packed lunch recipes - I need to stop going out for lunch every day!

However, your standard turkey sandwich gets boring really quickly. So, now is as good a time as ever to look for some new, interesting ideas for lunch - something that travels well, but is a little more tempting than some cold cuts between a couple slices of bread, which is what my husband and I always default to. Do you have any favorites?

Now that summer is ending and the heat wave has finally broken, soups are starting to come back into my mind as a viable lunch option.

Asparagus & Pea Soup, www.tartelleteblog.com

 Or maybe a tasty salad?

Easy Avocado-Lime Black Bean Salad, ohsheglows.com

Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad, smittenkitchen.com

And, not to get down on sandwiches, because I do love them, but I'm always looking for something new - maybe try some grilled or fresh veggies and a yummy spread on some whole-grain bread or even a tortilla for a wrap? There are so many possible tasty combinations.

High-Protein and Oil-Free Basil Pesto, ohsheglows.com

I can't wait to hear what you come up with - I can use all the inspiration I can get! (and my wallet will definitely thank you, as well...)

Good luck!

Easy, Quick Tomato Sauce

I know this is not going to sound like much, but seriously, it revolutionized my pasta-making. When I lived in Paris during college, I lived with two Italians, one of whom was a fabulous, natural cook. She could whip up a ricotta birthday cake from scratch without a recipe (and did so for my 21st - how lucky can a girl get?) and could turn almost anything into a simple, yet delicious pasta sauce. I remember distinctly how she made pasta with broccoli that seemed like it would be the most boring, bland thing, but it was stunning - clean, but rich flavors. I wish I knew how she did that!

I did have the opportunity, however, to learn how she made her go-to tomato sauce. I always enjoyed my grandmother's spaghetti and meatballs, but the pasta sauce there (made with tomato paste, etc.) seemed to take forever to make and the process really was a labor of love, as far as I could tell. What was so great about this sauce is that it goes together in about 5 minutes and you can let it simmer on the stove for a bit to develop the flavors, but it can really be ready whenever you want. AND, you can change it every time and add whatever you're in the mood for or will best compliment whatever you're serving it on. So, here are the basics:

1. Start with some onion, garlic, or both (I'm sure you could use shallots, too, if you were so inclined). Chop the onion and/or slice the garlic.
2. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the onion/garlic. If you're using garlic, you want to wait for it to brown, infusing the olive oil with it's flavor, and then you can take it out. (If you want more garlic flavor, you can mince the garlic and add it in, but be careful - it burns really quickly when minced!). The onions should be cooked for 5 minutes or so, until soft and somewhat translucent.
3. Then, you can add canned tomatoes. I always start with one 14-oz can, determine I don't quite have enough (especially if you use a whole small onion or half of a large one), and add another can. You could also do this with chopped fresh tomatoes, though you might want to cook it a bit longer.
4. Add some dried herbs and/or spices - basil, oregano, and thyme are all good options - or try an Italian Herb blend, maybe. This is where you can really get creative and play with flavors - do let me know if you come up with any all-star combos!
5. Add some salt and pepper (I often swap out the black pepper for red pepper flakes) and a pinch of sugar (maybe 1/4 tsp for each can of tomatoes you used?) - that's the real secret - it brings out some of the tomatoes' natural sweetness and cuts some of the acidity.
6. Then, just let it simmer for awhile to meld the flavors and you're good to go!

Here are a few pics of the large batch I made last night:

I usually use just diced tomatoes, but these were all the tomatoes I had in the house. The crushed tomatoes in tomato puree made it a little smoother, actually. Not a bad option.

I was inspired by my own post and added carrots to my sauce this time. Just one more veggie - can't hurt!

I simmered this for about 30 minutes - you can adjust that based on how liquid you like your sauce. :)

The great thing is that this basic recipe is so versatile. There are lots of possibilities for variations!

• Smooth - The recipe above makes a rather chunky sauce, with larger pieces of tomatoes and onions. If you prefer a nice, uniform sauce, throw it in a blender or food processor and go to town until you achieve the consistency you're looking for.
• With veggies - I've added diced carrots to this recipe (added in step 2 with the onions - no garlic) and frozen green peas (added at the end to let them warm through). You could also try diced bell pepper, celery, or even something like spinach (I'd add that one at the end, too) for a "Florentine" twist.
• Meaty - This one is straight from the horse's mouth - my wonderful Italian friend, in sharing her Eggplant Parmesan recipe, instructed that I make the basic sauce, with onions, and add pork sausage (I usually pick "Italian style") with the onions at the beginning - she also recommends adding carrots and peas to that one. I'm sure you could try with any ground meat you like. With the sausage, it adds a lot of flavor into the sauce, so if you're going to use something like ground beef or turkey, just be sure to compensate with more spices or herbs. I've actually also used tuna in this sauce, too - adds a bit of a twist. Maybe tuna with olives? Yum!

I'm sure there are more, too. :) And you can simply put it over pasta, or you can use it in a more complex dish, such as this, which I used this sauce for last night. Talk about eating your veggies!

Aug. 14 - 20: It's Red Week!

Okay, yes, so red week is almost over you say. I know - and I promise to try to be better about getting these things up at the beginning of the week! - but that is why we have the calendar, and this one is pretty self-explanatory.

So, as I'm sure you have surmised, the goal for this week was to make something red. As you probably know, one of the easy tricks of healthy eating is having a wide variety of colors on your plate. Different colored foods have different health benefits, but rich natural colors are, as a general rule, a good thing. Since you can get great tomatoes and berries and other red foods around now, we figured red was as good a place to start as any!

Here are interesting facts about red food:

• Plant pigments known as anthocyanins, betalains and carotenoids give red foods their color and not only do they look gorgeous, but they are full of antioxidants.
• Red foods also contain lycopene, which has been tied to reducing the risks of developing prostate, lung, breast, and stomach cancers.
• The nutrients in these foods also help lower blood pressure and reduce UV damage.

But, the best thing about red foods? They're delicious! Here are a few ideas of lovely red produce (which may never make it into a dish in my house, as I'm constantly tempted to just snack on them by themselves):

• Red apples
• Red grapes
• Cranberries
• Cherries
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Watermelon
• Tomatoes
• Beets
• Red potatoes
• Red onions
• Radishes

You could really go anywhere with these - make gazpacho,

or give it a twist by trying this sangrita soup:

Or put some beets in your pesto, like this:

Or roast up some delicious red peppers and throw them in a tart:

The possibilities are endless, and delicious! Let us know what you come up with!

Overnight Oats - Another whole-grain breakfast idea

Well, apparently here at the FPP, we like our whole grains for breakfast. I have seen "Overnight Oats" talked about frequently on several different blogs now, so I figured I should give them a go, and what better time to try them than this week?? So, on Monday night, I decided to try Angela's Easy Vegan Overnight Oats from ohsheglows.com. It seemed as good a place to start as any! So, I pulled out my old-fashioned oats, some chia seeds I found at the local co-op, and almond milk. I started making it according to the recipe and then thought "Only 1/3 cup of oats? That's nothing!" So, I decided to double the recipe and use one average-sized banana. That may have been a little ambitious - having never had chia seeds before, I did not realize the heft they can acquire! They get rather bulky and filling (don't worry, I still ate everything the next morning!). But next time, I will probably stick to one helping, and maybe add in some more fruit - take some inspiration from some other recipe ideas.

But I digress. Overnight oats seems like a great way to get in some good healthful oatmeal during the summer when even turning on the stove is unappealing, much less a piping hot bowl of oatmeal... Plus, it's great for people like me who can rarely get out of the house on time, even without eating breakfast - it travels quite well!

So, here's the idea - raw oats plus milk of your choosing and/or yogurt, and maybe some bonus seeds (I've read about chia seeds, ground flax, and wheatberries being added), plus a mashed banana for sweetness - all mixed together and left to sit in your fridge overnight. Then in the morning, add a dollop of nut butter or granola, or fresh fruit, or whatever suits you, and maybe some maple syrup or agave. The mashed banana already adds some sweetness in there and seems to bind it all together pretty well. I followed Angela's recipe pretty closely, adding some peanut butter and fake maple syrup (because it's what I had) in the morning, and I was good to go. It's definitely filling and gets you going in the morning!  Here's Angela's photo:

Easy Vegan Overnight Oats, ohsheglows.com

And the recipe:

Mix together the following ingredients in a bowl and place in fridge overnight.

• 1/3 cup regular oats
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 tiny ripe banana, peeled and smashed
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the morning, add:

• 1 Tbsp. nut butter
• pure maple syrup (to taste)

And, you're done! Doesn't get much easier than that! And if you're looking for some ideas for different flavors, here are a couple places to start:

• Bluebery Banana Pie Vegan Overnight Oats
• A tribute to Overnight Oats with tons of different ideas from Kath Eats Real Food
• An ode to Overnight Oats from EatingBirdFood.com (people really do seem to love this stuff, huh?
• A zesty twist from Whole Foods

If you're feeling really adventurous, and have extra time, you could try:

• Vegan Overnight Oat Parfaits

And if raw oats just aren't your thing, but you like the idea of making oatmeal at night and having it ready to go in the morning, try:

• Alton Brown of Food Network's Overnight Oatmeal Recipe

Good luck! Let us know if you try any of these, or have any success with something else :)

Cinnamon Quinoa

I couldn't let whole grain week go by without sharing my absolute favorite way to eat quinoa: for breakfast! Simple, healthy, and delicious...like oatmeal but better!  I first discovered this recipe as part of Bon Apetit's "Foodie Cleanse"-- a two-week program focused on eating real food that was high in fiber, low in dairy and fat, and designed to help right the digestive system in a healthy way after the holidays this year.  Their choice recipe was the Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa from 101cookbooks.com.  That recipe, which includes toasted pecans and fresh blackberries, is absolutely divine.

The great thing about this recipe, though, is that the basic "recipe" can be adjusted and played with in an infinite number of ways. Here's the foundation:  bring one cup of water, one cup of milk, and one cup of quinoa to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, about 5 minutes.  Then stir in LOTS of cinnamon and any add-ins (except fresh fruit, which should be a topping, not a stir-in).  Serve in bowls with toppings, and drizzle with sweetener. 

In the original recipe (did I mention that it's divine?), toasted pecans are stirred in, blackberries are added on top, and agave nectar is drizzled on top.  In the cleanse (and in my kitchen), almond milk is substituted for milk.  We always have toasted nuts, but the fruit changes.  Dried fruit works well stirred in at the very beginning (to allow the fruit to soak some of the liquid and soften).

This week, I was visiting my mom, and she asked me to make some for her to try.  We used what she had on hand, which was dairy milk, dried blueberries, sliced almonds, and maple syrup.  My picture is below-- it was still delicious! 

The possibilities are really endless with this beginning.  Honey, walnut, and bananas? Yes, please! Peanuts and strawberry preserves (thinking PBJ)? Why not?  The basic formula: whole grain quinoa + metabolism-boosting cinnamon + low glycemic index sweetner + healthy fats from nuts = delicious, nutritious, easy breakfast.  Plus, leftovers (the cooked quinoa with cinnamon-- leave the add-ins out until the last minute) reheat very well in the microwave, so this can be ready in a matter of minutes on a busy weekday morning.

August 7 - 13: Whole Grains

This week, we're challenging ourselves to incorporate one of the best foundations of healthy diet: whole grains.  Here's a quick look at what whole grains are and why they're so good for you.  Many of you have already started cooking and posting your whole grain recipes, but if you're still looking for inspiration there's some ideas here, too.

What is a whole grain?
Whole grains are actually the seeds of grasses that are cultivated for food.  Unlike refined grains, which have been milled to remove outer layers and produce a smoother finish, whole grains are consumed, well, whole! Whole wheat and brown rice are probably the most common examples, but other foods that are considered whole grains include: bulger, steel-cut oats, rolled oats, millet, quinoa, popcorn and wild rice.

Why whole grains?
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that at least half the grains we eat be whole grains, and given the health benefits, it's easy to see why!  According to the Harvard School of Public Health, "Eating whole instead of refined grains substantially lowers total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad) cholesterol, triglycerides, and insulin levels."  Whole grains may also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improve digestive health.

What can we cook?
The possibilities are practically endless!  The Mayo Clinic has these tips for incorporating more whole grains into your diet:

• Enjoy breakfasts that include whole-grain cereals, such as bran flakes, shredded wheat or oatmeal.
• Substitute whole-wheat toast or whole-grain bagels for plain bagels. Substitute low-fat bran muffins for pastries.
• Make sandwiches using whole-grain breads or rolls. Swap out white-flour tortillas with whole-wheat versions.
• Replace white rice with kasha, brown rice, wild rice or bulgur.
• Feature wild rice or barley in soups, stews, casseroles and salads.
• Add whole grains, such as cooked brown rice or whole-grain bread crumbs, to ground meat or poultry for extra body.
• Use rolled oats or crushed bran cereal in recipes instead of dry bread crumbs.

 So feel free to try a simple substitution this week (and every week!), and let us know what you think!  Already eating whole grain bread and brown rice?  Try a new whole grain!

Green Beans, Broccoli, and Bulger - saladpride.blogspot.com

Many whole grains that seem exotic, like bulger and quinoa, are really as simple as boiling water.

Quinoa-Stuffed Artichokes, healthybitesfood.wordpress.com

And don't forget about the possibilities for baking...

Honey Oat Quick Bread, eatingwell.com

 

So consider venturing beyond your comfort zone this week, and make a change that is sure to benefit your health!  Whatever you choose, we look forward to reading all about it.  Happy Cooking!

Stephanie's Minimal Effort Pasta Primavera

We love getting good recipe ideas from YOU - really, that's the goal here, that we all can share what we love to cook, and we're happy to post ideas onto the blog so they're more easily re-found later. :) If you're sharing or adapting a recipe you found somewhere else, just let us know so we can credit the original poster. Or, if you're a cooking whiz like Stephanie and come up with your own recipes, we're psyched to share those, as well. So, without futher ado, here's what Stephanie has to say about her standby Pasta Primavera...

Stephanie's Minimal Effort Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:
Spaghetti/Mostaccholi/Whatever​ pasta is in your cupboard (I usually use about 1/2 lb for myself and take the leftovers for lunch. You can use any amount though, depending on how many people you are feeding.)
Asparagus (I usually use about half a bunch)
1/4 c. peas (Frozen is fine)
1 tomato
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 zucchini chopped
2 T. olive oil
Any other vegetable in your house (I have used broccholi and yelow squash before, but it is totally optional)

Boil pasta, and about halfway through the boiling process, add the chopped asparagus to the pasta water. Towards the very end of the boiling process, toss in the peas. Meanwhile, saute the onions and zucchini in olive oil. Add the tomatos towards the end. After the pasta is done and the vegetables are done, drain the pasta and combine with the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste, and top with shredded cheese if desired. Takes about 15 to 20 minutes total. I have never tried it, but you could probably add chicken or shrimp or something if you wanted to make this not vegetarian.

Vegetable Crumble

Last night, I made MattBites' Vegetable Crumble. And I completely forgot about taking pictures, so here's his.

This is actually the second time I've made this dish in as many weeks. The first time I made it, I stuck pretty close to his recipe, using yellow summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and these really thin eggplants we got from our CSA share. I used regular butter and fresh rosemary (we didn't have any fresh thyme) in the crumble topping. It was very tasty. My meat-loving husband even enjoyed it (and ate the leftovers for lunch the next day!). It's also quick and easy to assemble, and you can play Wii Jeopardy while you're waiting the hour for it to bake... :)

So, last night, with my vegetable drawer still overflowing, and it being Medditerranean week and all, I thought this was a great go-to recipe. This time, I used zucchini, tomatoes, a yellow pepper, an onion, some little cauliflower stems we had, 2 patty pan squash, and, I just realized, I forgot the garlic (heresy, I know). I tried making the crumble this time with vegan butter (Earth's Balance) and since our fresh herbs had mostly died on the counter and for some reason I apparently don't even have dried thyme, I added some dried "Italian Herbs" to my crumble mix. It came out just as tasty. So, one to file away - you can easily swap out the butter and make this recipe vegan. Good to know.

I liked this, too, because it packs so many veggies into one satisfying dish, and is so forgiving. I think it could work well with fall/winter squash and root vegetables, too. Lots of variations to try!

I actually served this alone, mostly because I was too tired and lazy to put any more effort into dinner (though my husband did make himself a sausage or two to eat along with it), and it was pretty filling by itself. But you could always put it over pasta or eat it with some good bread. There are lots of good veggie juices left in the pan after cooking, so bread might be good to sop those up. You could also serve it along side any protein.

Here's Matt's original recipe:

Vegetable Crumble
5 cups mixed vegetables (zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant), chopped rough, ½ inch
3 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of pepper
butter for greasing pan

Crumble Topping:
½ cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ cubes
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon cold water

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix vegetables, tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place in a greased 9 by 9 inch baking dish or in individual gratin dishes.

In a bowl, mix the flour, butter, salt, pepper, and thyme and rub the mixture together with your hands. It should be crumbly and sandy, not overly mixed. Sprinkle the water over the mixture and blend with a fork.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the vegetables and cook for 1 hour or until the vegetables are soft and the crumble topping is golden brown. Garnish with fresh thyme and serve hot.

Zucchini (and Onion) Parmesan

Happy Tuesday everyone! Before I post my recipe, I have to tell you how thrilled we are to have all of you involved in the Project.  The response has been awesome, and we are so happy that you are as excited as we are about this.  I really can't wait to see what you all will cook up!

By now, I know lots of you are already thinking, planning, and cooking Mediterranean food.  For my first Mediterranean dish, I was inspired by the fresh zucchini at the Farmer's Market on Saturday.

I've never liked eggplant, so eggplant parmesan has always been off the table.  Ever since I first heard about someone subbing in zucchini, though, I've been dreaming up ways to do it myself.  On Sunday, I finally settled on the following. I mostly used what I had laying around, including an extra onion.  We love onion at our house, but if you're not a huge onion fan, I would recommend leaving it out.  I served the final creation with whole wheat spaghetti and some roasted garlic bread we had leftover.

Zucchini (and Onion) Parmesan

1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 small yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices, optional

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp olive oil

2 cups tomato puree

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp dried basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 slices provolone cheese, torn into pieces (see below)

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350º.  In a medium frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Put the flour in a shallow dish and lightly dredge each slice of zucchini in flour, shaking off the extra.  When the oil is heated, add the zucchini in batches (carefully!), and cook about 2 minutes on each side, until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside, then repeat with the remaining zucchini and the onion.

In a small bowl, stir together tomato puree and the next five ingredients (oregano through pepper).  You can also substitute 2 cups of whatever tomato/marinara sauce you like.

In a smallish casserole dish, spread about 2 tbsp of the tomato mixture.  Top with a layer of zucchini slices, then top each slice with a piece of provolone.  On top of that, layer a few slices of onion, then sprinkle with some of the parmesan cheese.  Top that layer with 2-3 tbsp of tomato mixture, then repeat layers with remaining zucchini, onion, cheese, and sauce.



Be sure to add a little extra parmesan to the top!

When the ingredients are all used up, bake the casserole until the cheese melts and is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!



More Medditerranean Recipe Ideas

Well, this is getting exciting - things are taking off! We already have some great ideas for easy, healthy medditerranean-inspired dishes.

If you're looking for something new to try, I've found some recipes online that are making my mouth water. I can't vouch for any of them, but if you try any of them, let us know and we'll update with comments.

Greek Nachos, a Mark Bittman recipe from notwithoutsalt.com - These use lamb (or ground beef), but I think these would be easy to make vegetarian, if you were so inclined (maybe use beans? or some sort of spicy tofu or other meat substitute?). Seems like a good jumping off point for any number of creations...

Grilled Vegetable and Hummus Tart, from ecurry.com - This not only looks delicious, but it's vegan, for any of you concerned about that.

A quick and easy Tomato Sandwich, from The New York Times - looks like a great way to use some of those awesome farmer's market tomatoes around now. AND, you can take it for lunch!

Good luck, and we look forward to hearing what you come up with this week!