Zucchini, Squash Gratin

I wonder sometime when I make plans for dinner if I'm cooking something for the veggies, or is it more for the cheese? Our family is nothing more than rats when it comes to cheese. All cheese. We love cheese. This next recipe is something I came up with years ago.The original recipe was tired and boring so I hope you enjoy my own version. I use zucchini and yellow squash in this because the love the color and texture the yellow squash brings to the dish. 

You will need: 

2 Zucchini

2 yellow squash

1 large onion, chopped 

1 stick of butter

2 tsp salt and pepper

2 tsp onion powder

1 pinch of Allspice

2 cups of Apple Smoked Gouda, shredded 

1 cup Parmesan, shredded 

3 Tbsp Oat flour 

1 cup of hot milk 

1 cup of gluten free bread crumbs or Panko. 

 I use the mandoline slicer for my veggies so they are all equally sized for cooking. 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In my french pot I melt 3/4 stick of butter over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook on medium heat until soft but not brown. Add zucchini and squash to onions, stirring carefully tossing the veggies around. Season with salt and pepper, onion powder, and a pinch of allspice.

Let your zucchini and yellow squash cook for about 5 minutes until they just start to get soft but be sure not to over cook. Add 3 Tbsp of Oat flour, and stir around to mix the flour. Add hot milk. This will help to thicken the dish. Pour everything into a baking dish.

Mix your cheeses together and spread on top of your veggies. Now you can add your gluten free bread crumbs or Panko to the top. I use the remaining butter and put a few pats here and there but you can leave this step out. You can even drizzle some olive oil on the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Name That New Recipe Contest - Veggie Strings

Once in a while I'll get some ideas about inventing new recipes. Now that it's July, my garden is bursting with yummy veggies for us to work with. Yellow and I think JULY is the perfect month for Veggie recipes. My first recipe idea is cooking with squash and zucchini. A few days ago I invented a new recipe and my husband loved it so much he ate it all. I have to agree it was fantastic. I could not come up with any names for it, so I posted to my friends on Facebook and asked them to come up with names for this new dish. After many interesting suggestions, I picked Vickie's suggestion, "Veggie Strings." 

Below is my new recipe for "Veggie Strings" an easy, fast summer dish the whole family will love. Best part is, it's Gluten Free!

For this recipe you will need:
1 Parsnip
1 Yellow squash,
1 Zucchini
salt and pepper
1 TBSP Feta cheese

Serves 2 people.

I have a new toy, it's a mandolin slicer. This is a fast way to make healthy, fast food and I love that part.

Now I know you won't believe me when I say that people don't know what a parsnip is, but it's true. I took a picture to show them. Make sure you wash this really well, because they tend to be gritty.

A Parsnip looks a bit like a carrot but tastes nothing like it. Use the string setting on your mandolin and slice the parsnip first and then cook the parsnips in a frying pan with olive oil on med high. cook until light brown, maybe 3 to 4 mins.

Using the mandolin slicer, slice the yellow squash and zucchini the same way and add salt and pepper now. Add those to the frying pan and add a tiny bit more olive oil.

Cooking time is up to you. For me it's about 4 minutes because I like a bit of crunch to it, but if you like it softer then I would go 8 minutes. You can top it with Feta cheese or any cheese, or nothing at all. I hope you like this as much as we do!

Keep a watch out as the Yellow Rose and I have some really fun and easy summer veggie dishes coming next and we are very excited to share them with you. Send me a post and let me know what you think of this new recipe "Veggie Strings." 

Happy cooking,
Zabrina.