Tag: zucchini

Metabolic balance Monday Recipe – Zucchini and Bell Pepper soup

Ingredients:

  • Olive oil
  • Onion, finely chopped
  • Zucchini, diced
  • bell peppers
  • Seasoning (salt and pepper and Cilantro )
  • Vegetable Stock

Instructions:

Place peppers under the broiler or on your grill until they are soft and the skin is darkened.  Remove the peppers and set them aside to cool.

Toss some olive oil and your onions into a pan and cook them over medium heat until they are soft.  Add the Zucchini and stir for a few minutes. Add the vegetable stock and bring the mixture to a boil.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Peel cooled peppers and and puree.  Puree the zucchini mixture and then add the bell pepper puree. Season to taste and serve.

Note:  This soup does not have any protein so you can use this soup as part of a meal.  Soups are an excellent addition to any meal.  If you don’t know why, read this article. 

Note:

Orange Bell Peppers.  They are so pretty but I forgot to eat them with my salad so now that they are wrinkly and I don’t want to have them raw.  They are still edible which is why we are tossing them into a soup. Don’t be afraid to use vegetables when they don’t look pretty.  All the nutrients are still locked inside. Look through our soup recipes for one to use with your less than salad perfect vegetables or send us a message on Facebook and we will hunt for a recipe to add to the blog.

metabolic balance Monday Recipe – Zucchini Basil Soup

Ingredients:

  • Zucchini, trimmed and cut crosswise into thirds and chopped onion
  • Chopped garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Vegetable stock
  • Basil leaves

Instructions:

Coarsely Chop Zucchini.  In a pan, cook onion and garlic. Add zucchini and seasoning.  Cook for about five minutes and then add vegetable broth. Simmer until Zucchini is soft.  Add basil to soup and then puree with a hand blender.

Season soup to taste.

Note: Because this soup does not contain a protein, you can eat a protein and bread with this soup making it a perfect soup for a soup and sandwich lunch.

organic zucchini photo by  ilovebutter

Zucchini Boats with Mozzarella Cheese

Inspired by this recipe on My Gourmet Connection

Ingredients:

  • Zucchini
  • Sweet Onions
  • Garlic
  • Rye Breadcrumbs
  • Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • Black Pepper
  • olive oil

Instructions:

  • Trim off the ends of your zucchini and split them in half and scoop out the insides. don’t scoop too deep or you will have a sinking boat.  Remember that you have to weigh all your vegetables together to create your serving size.  (If you want to add bulk to your meal, think about adding some leafy vegetable like spinach to the filling.)
  • Put your zucchini on a baking pan in a 375 degrees F oven.  Let the zucchini bake until softened.
  • Saute the onions in olive oil until opaque.  Add the zucchini pulp (spinach if you decided to add bulk) to the onions and season with garlic and pepper.  Stir in the breadcrumbs.
  • Fill the zucchini boats with the filling and sprinkle cheese on top of the filling. you can also mix the cheese into the filling if you prefer.
  • Place the boats into the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.
  • Serve.  If you make additional servings, freeze them for a lunch meal but make sure you are measuring accurately for each serving.

Note:  Please remember that you have used your bread with the crumbs and your protein with the cheese.  You have only your fruit remaining.

Note: If you are in the strict phase, skip the oil.

photo of zucchini in a container is by Alice Henneman