Veggie Tales

I went to the garden to pick our veggies and this little guy was just staring at me. I have something for always seeing faces in my food. But as I picked these, they just spoke to me, "I am your dinner." Since I live in AZ and it is HOT, like down under HOT, the only thing that sounds good to me to eat is veggies and crisp watermelon. I can't seem to want a dinner that doesn't have these foods as the main ingredient. Today was really hot so I needed to make something that took very little effort and was light in the belly. Hmmmmm, yes. Veggie omelets, lemon zucchini muffins and crisp, sweet watermelon. Perfect for a hot summer night. First for the muffins, a few little gadgets that you just must have:

The Juicer

This little gadget is amazing. You just put in your half lemon and squeeze. Out comes the juice and no seeds. Easy clean up and quick as can be. One of my best friends for sure.

The Scoop

I bought this guy for cookies but it is the mainstay for my mini muffins. I always make mini muffins over the larger sizes because they only take about 12 minutes and the less time I have to heat the house, the better. Plus, I swear the cute little ones just taste better and are the perfect size for little mouths.

Need to use up your garden zucs? Here is the recipe to get the job done. This makes lots.... like 48 mini muffins and one full loaf but it is great to freeze or you can just half the recipe.

Lemon Zucchini Muffins

Blend together:

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar or whatever sweetener you desire. I like to mix up honey, sucanat and coconut sugar. You can also use less sugar if desired.
1 C. oil. Coconut oil works great.

Add:

3 C. whole grain flour. I used soft white and sorghum sprouted flours this day.
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
3 C. finely grated zucchini
Juice and zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp. sea salt. Celtic is my favorite.
Nuts if desired

Mix all ingredients together. Add more flour if too wet. The batter is runny, a little thicker than cake batter. Fill mini muffin pans or any size desired. Bake at 350 until middle springs back when touched; about 12-14 minutes for mini size.


Now on to the omelets. First off, you need to keep the veggies crisp. Oh how I loathe soggy, tasteless veggies. That's where most people ruin their children on veggies.

Rules:

Cook only to release their flavors and soften them slightly. You want a little texture.

Keep them in small pieces. Large chunks are easily detected by the kids. The smaller they are, they harder they are to pick out of their meal. Also, I like to taste a variety of veggies on one fork full. Not one big chunk of one veggie. When they are smaller, you can cook them less which leaves more nutrients. There are great gadgets for this and they are usually pretty cheap.

Season them up! I love flavor and veggies are the perfect medium for this. I have a cupboard full of my favorites and this one below, the mesquite flavor from The Spice Hunter is one of them. It goes perfect on veggies and is great in soups and meat dishes. It isn't hot just flavorful. I sprinkle some on when I am stir frying my veggies.

This omelet had green bell peppers, leeks, mild jalapeno peppers and a Poblano all from my garden. I then added on a little cheese and some garden fresh salsa.

A few little tips to making a great omelet:

Whisk in some milk to the eggs to help them be a little thinner. Pour on the egg batter like a crepe in a medium hot pan that has a little melted butter. Let the egg set for just a second before you put the ingredients on. Then, on one side, lay your cheese down if desired an the rest of your filling. Let is just sit right there until the egg is set. Not overdone. Just cooked. Fold it in half and plate it. Make sure your heat is low enough that the egg doesn't get browned. It should cook a little slower so that the flavors all mesh together and the egg doesn't get chewy. Eggs get slaughtered in the kitchen for some reason.

My neighbor boy had dinner with us when we had omelets one night and he told me that he didn't like omelets and that it was kinda weird to have them for dinner. But, he is always a trouper and ate it. He asked for another one. It's all in the technique. I simply love them. Why not for dinner? It was the perfect HOT summer night dinner. Light and flavorful.