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Delicious...but not dessert: Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Lately I have been reading up a lot on the benefits of eliminating animal products from your diet.  Not only is it good for your health and waist-line, but it's good for the environment too.  I could go off on a whole 'nother tangent talking about the environment and how we are destroying planet earth (sorry to put a damper on the mood), but I'll save that for another day-- or another blog altogether.

I have always eaten 'healthy' but, ever since I have been out from practice for an injury, I have had a bit more time on my hands to soak up all the circulating commentary on veganism, and even more extreme- raw veganism.  Now, I don't ever think I could go through with being completely vegan, let alone raw, but I am making a concerted effort to limit the number of animal products I am consuming and increase the number of raw veggies I am eating.

Don't worry, this is NOT going to turn into one of those hippie blogs where every recipe is ethically sustainable and void of eggs, butter, milk, and whatever else may be needed in my baking endeavors that these lovely creatures can provide, however, I have encouraged my family to purchase free-range vegetarian fed eggs and organic milks as much as possible, because the way the animal is treated in the process of raising it is truly reflected in the nutrition content and flavor of your food.

Finally, on to what I cooked for dinner tonight...this may not be a dessert, but I definitely still got brownie points, because it was DELISH-ious!  And totally cheap.  Even my dad said it was good, and getting a comment out of him is like trying to squeeze grape juice out of a raisin... it just is not gonna happen.  So when he said it was tasty, I decided it was blog worthy.

Not to get frilly with the name of this dish, imma call it- Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic
• pinch of red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
• a few tablespoons of olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 4 zucchinis
• lemon (juice and zest)
• 1 pkg angel hair
• grated parmesan

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.
2. In the meantime, peel the zucchinis using a peeler to make thin, fettucini-like strips.  Reserve the seeded centers for juicing later on. 
3. Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (or use coconut oil) into a nonstick skillet to heat up over medium-low.  Add about a quarter teaspoon of salt, ground black pepper, pinch of red pepper flakes, and 3 minced garlic cloves to the oil.
4. Prepare the angel hair as the box calls for while the oil is heating. Once it is done, drain and put it back in the pot with some salt and pepper and olive oil until later.
5. When the minced garlic starts to sizzle a bit, dump in the zucchini.  Turn the heat up and add about a quarter cup of water while the zucchini is cooking.
6. After 2-3 minutes, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and a teaspoon or so of zest.  Let the zucchini cook 2-3 more minutes until the zucchini is wilted and not cooked to death.  
7. Put the angel hair in the skillet with the zucchini and mix together with about a half a cup of grated parmesan cheese.
8. Serve. Eat. Enjoy.

This is such an easy, light, delicious dinner.  I'm definitely going to make it again!

Made with love, as always.

Not a good sign

Last night as I was getting ready for bed I noticed that I wore a hole in the butt of my favorite pair of jeans. One would think that this is a bad omen-- getting a hole in your jeans the same day you start a baking blog...is someone trying to tell me something?


Well, it obviously didn't affect me that much because today I had a baking EXTRAVAGANZA, if you will.  


I found a delicious recipe for Soft Gingersnap Cookies with white chocolate chunks on tastespotting (one of my favorite websites ever...most other students I see surfing the net during class are on facebook, but I prefer to peruse pictures of recipes from fellow bloggers.  I guess that is part of what inspired me to start my very own blog).  You might wanna make these for a crowd, or freeze some after you are done, because I got 80 cookies out of this recipe.  They were on the smaller side, but that just means you can have 3 cookies instead of just 1, right?  Anyway, I am planning on taking them to a St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight. I know what you're thinking-- ginger in March? And, I don't really have a good answer to that question, but they are yummy.  Try 'em!

The second recipe is one for Coconut Banana Muffins with chocolate chips, which I found on epicurious but tweaked a bit.  I sent these in a care package and they were well-received.  I finally tried one of them that came out of this batch and they were, indeed, delicious.  I might try mixing the chocolate chips into the batter next time....


Here is my version of the recipe:


Ingredients


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coconut, plus 1/4 cup coconut for the top of the muffins
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Made with love, as always.