A Quartet for Summer Featuring Zucchini (Week 20)
Last week, as summer rolled along and July turned into August (!), we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary as well as the joy of cooking with peak summer produce. Yes, for a short time each year the vegetables are local and so divine that we can’t help but include them in our dinner every single night.
Specifically, we’ve been cooking with a lot of zucchini! Much like other ultra-versatile vegetables, the zucchini is excellent in a number of different meals. It’s extra-excellent, to me, because its own flavor isn’t too bold and gladly takes on the flavors of whatever is around it. Zucchini isn’t trying to be the star of every meal. It is joyfully delicious in its own, understated, but very-present way.
Our anniversary had originally included a myriad of seafood options from day to night, but plans change and that is entirely OK. Our very low-key day included sumptuous breakfast sandwiches in the morning, which left us so full we didn’t even bother with the originally-planned fried seafood lunch.
By the time dinner rolled around, we were feeling hungry once again so Seth made one of my absolute favorite meals: risotto (with fresh summer corn and zucchini). Nothing says “happy anniversary during a pandemic” quite like eating a decadent meal in your comfy pants, flowers all around, and baseball on in the background. :)
The dinners I’m sharing below all include zucchini, except for one and that’s because we’ve been continuing our “taco salad night” which is one of the happiest dinners. A taco salad is my version of a “happy meal” and I take so much joy in eating them at home. The best part is that you can add as much guacamole as you want…there’s no extra charge!
As always, if we use a specific recipe, I will link it when available. And if you would like additional details or a recipe from one of our original dishes, then please let me know. We are here to inspire your dinnertime decisions and to provide ample options for the forever question “What’s for dinner?”.
Let’s get to the food! It was a really delicious, summery week.
Basil Pesto Pasta with Zucchini and Chickpeas
Not only is it zucchini season, but fresh basil pesto is shining bright these days as well. This pesto pasta is one of the best during the summer because basil pesto goes with everything!
Our choices for this version included chickpeas, zucchini, and fresh tomato, but we’ve also made it with chicken and shrimp, if we aren’t in a meatless mood. We opted for fusilli noodles from Jovial Foods since the spirals get extra pesto in every nook and cranny. Additionally, the zucchini and chickpeas easily soak up the pesto too so every bite is basil-y and bright. Scrumptious.
Basil pesto is simple to make in a food processor or a blender and then voilá! You’ve got a stupendous “sauce” for any number of awesome meals. Have you made it before? I highly recommend making it from scratch, adding extra garlic, plenty of Parmesan, and saving the leftovers. Basil pesto is also a wonderful dip. :)
Turkey and Pinto Bean Taco Salad (with extra guacamole)
Grab our recipe for taco salad, right here.
As I’ve said many times, taco salads are a happy food. It’s all this deliciousness in one bowl and it’s semi-healthy (fairly?) since the main ingredients are on a bed of greens and sometimes one can stop themselves from heaping on all of the cheese. A taco salad is a great dinner. Simple as that.
Lately, our bowls are filled with ground turkey which is sautéed with peppers and onion, pinto beans that are made just slightly spicy, diced tomato, fresh cilantro, a lime wedge, and a good heap of fresh (homemade) guacamole. Oh, I also add a happy/hearty sprinkle of shredded cheese over everything. This meal has got it all.
I suppose you could call our taco salad a “taco bowl” or a “burrito bowl,” but this salad notion has stuck. I won’t mind if you call it something else since we all know it’s basically a made-at-home version of those pesky chain restaurants’ “burrito bowls.” ;) However, I do think ours are better. And there’s plenty of guacamole.
Corn and Zucchini Risotto with Rosemary
The corn risotto recipe is from NY Times Cooking; we made slight adjustments.
If you’re a frequent reader, then you know my risotto love runs deep. It’s in my top ten favorite meals. I’ve loved it forever and will enjoy it always. It’s a dinner I devour and find to be simply stupendous. Therefore, it was quite a perfect choice for our anniversary dinner last week. No, we did not go out or get takeout. We cooked at home. We’ll get takeout another time.
Risotto is so versatile which is one of the reasons to love it. You can add anything to it to make it a seasonal dish; alternatively you could add nothing at all and still have a really delicious dinner. Since it’s summer, we opted for fresh corn and zucchini. These are two staples of the fresh produce world that are the stars of gardens everywhere right now.
To enhance our risotto just a touch, we added way more Parmesan than the recipe called for and added fresh rosemary for another depth of flavor. Two fantastic changes if you ask me. The result was the creamiest risotto ever that I inhaled a little too quickly.
Happy Anniversary, Seth! Thank you for cooking one of my all-time favorite meals. Now, let’s sit quietly as I devour a massive bowl of this superb risotto (and then eat all of the leftovers the next day before you’re home from work). Marriage. It’s the best. ;)
Sunday night Farfalle with Zucchini and Mushrooms
On Sunday afternoon I was debating between two styles of meals for dinner that night. We had plenty of produce and it was time to use it. We also are currently well-stocked with gluten free (of course) pasta. So while I had briefly settled on a rice noodle dish, that plan lasted mere moments.
I suddenly remembered we had an unopened jar of Rao’s Homemade Basil Marinara in the cabinet and my Italian food cravings came rushing in. Dinner was decided! And man was it delicious.
For this iteration of “make something with zucchini,” we created the easiest meat-sauce -pasta with ground turkey, zucchini, mushrooms, and onion. To make it even simpler, we added a jar of the Rao’s Basil Marinara which is ridiculously good if you have yet to try it. While we have made our own tomato sauce from scratch many times, there are certain Sunday nights when a jar of the good stuff is exactly what you need.
I loved this dinner because it was hearty, yet healthy. By keeping the protein lean and the veggie count high, I felt pleased with our meal that was nutritious and very delicious. Honestly, any meal that can taste far more decadent than it actually is will always be a winner to me. Well, the Parmesan on top doesn’t hurt either. ;)
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Enjoy!
