Eggplant Burgers

• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 4 c. roasted eggplant
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 c. chopped fresh parsley (or cilantro or a mixture)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 c. dried bread crumbs

Cut eggplant in half longwise, place on baking sheet with flat side down, roast until fork tender at 350 degrees. Allow roasted eggplant to cool a bit then scoop out the soft flesh into a medium sized bowl. Mix in rest of ingredients adding breadcrumbs until mixture can be formed into patties or balls. Place patties or balls on baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Can be used as a burger or meatball substitute or in a pita with hummus like falafel.

Sweet & Sour Vinaigrette

From Recipes from the Heart Cookbook

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Whisk all ingredients in small bowl and then add dressing to salad; toss.

Pumpkin Pie

Dice unpeeled pie pumpkin, or any orange-fleshed winter squash and boil until tender. (If the squash has dark flesh, peel first) Drain.

Measure out

• 2 c.of the pumpkin
• 1 1/2 c. milk.

Place in blender:

• 2 eggs
• 1tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbs. flour
• 1 c. of the cooked pumpkin
• 1 c. of the milk and puree until very smooth

Pour into mixing bowl. Add remainder of pumpkin and milk and repeat blending. Mix blended batter with 1 c. sugar (white or brown) or 3/4 c. honey. (If using honey decrease milk or pumpkin by about 1/2 c.) Fill your favorite piecrust with batter and bake @ 325 deg. about 1 hr. or until firm. The batter may be frozen in plastic milk jug until ready to use.

Pumpkin or Winter Squash Soup

Cut pumpkin open and remove seeds. Cut pumpkin into one-inch cubes. Slice onion, and sauté for a few minutes, then add the pumpkin. Sautee for about five minutes, stirring, and then add a cup of water, put on a lid and let it simmer for forty to fifty minutes, until the pumpkin is tender. At this point some of the pumpkin can be mashed to thicken the broth. Add some more water to the onion-pumpkin mixture to make it soupy. Heat and season with salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The soup may be garnished with croutons. Can also be made with winter squash.

Green Bean and Tomato Salad

This is a common summer salad that is easy to make and can accompany many main dishes.

• 1/2 pound green beans
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 large tomato, cut into wedges.

Wash and trim the green beans. Cut them diagonally into 1 1/2" pieces. Cook the beans in boiling water to cover for about 10 to 15 minutes, until just tender. Drain the beans and set them aside to cool. Combine the lemon juice, oil, salt, and garlic. In a bowl, combine the cooked green beans and tomato wedges. Toss them with dressing.

This versatile side dish is served in Chile, especially in the summer, when green bens and tomatoes are abundant.

Zucchini & Carrot Layer Bake

Cook, mash and season about 1 1/2 lb carrots.

Sauté diced onion and 3 c. diced zucchini in 3 tbs oil.

Add 1 c. finely chopped almonds or sunflower seeds, 3/4 c. wholewheat breadcrumbs, 1 beaten egg, 1 tbs soy sauce, and mixed herbs to taste.

Put 1/2 the zucchini mixture in greased loaf pan, then the carrots, then the rest of the zuc mixture. Cover with foil & bake 1 hr. @ 350. You can fill a pie shell with this too.

Summer Roasted Veggie

from Simply in Season 

• 8-10 c. chopped fresh veggies (potatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions, summer squash, etc.) cut in small cubes if hard like potatoes and larger cubes if soft like summer squash
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. each chopped fresh basil, thyme, oregano
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper

 Whisk dressing ingredients together and toss with chopped veggies. Spread in single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees until fork-tender, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese for a main dish or cool and add feta and chopped tomatoes for a salad. Leftovers make a great pizza topping!

Zucchini Boats

Cut 3 med. zucchinis lengthwise and scoop our pulp leaving 3/8inch shell. Cook shells approx 2 min in boiling salted water. Drain. Chop pulp. Mix with 1 beaten egg, 1 c. dry bread crumbs, 1 med minced tomato, ¼ c. grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, 2 tbs. minced fresh parsley, and 1 minced clove of garlic. Stir into mix, ¼ c. broth, ¼ tsp salt, dash of pepper. Stuff zucchinis. Place into oiled baking dish, drizzle with 1 tsp melted butter. Bake @ 350 20 min. until tender.

Salad with basil

• 1 head lettuce
• 1 white onion
• (June produce), sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup or more fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 3/4 cup snow peas or snap peas cut into inch-long pieces
• 1/3 cup or more cilantro, chopped
• 1/3 cup blue cheese or feta, crumbled
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or toasted sunflower seeds

salt and pepper to taste

Dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Curried Zucchini Soup

If you don't know what to do with all those zucchini's yet to come, here is a simple, quick and delicious Curried Zucchini Soup It can be frozen for later use. 

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. curry powder (mild or hot to your taste)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder or fresh garlic
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 C. onion coarsely diced
• 2-3 small zucchini, coarsely diced
• 1 C. low sodium veggie stock
• 1 C. water
• 1 TBS. raisins
• 1 TBS. cranberries
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

In med-sized stockpot over med-high heat, add oil, curry, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add the zucchini, stock, and water. Increase the heat to med-high to boil, then to simmer, uncovered, until zucchini is soft; about 10 minutes. Cover, remove pot from heat, and let soup rest for at least 5 minutes. Stir in raisins, cranberries, and salt. Puree in a food processor or hand blender until smooth. Serve hot or cold with plain yogurt if preferred.

(NOTE: if you don't have cranberries use all raisins or visa versa. It's just as delicious). ENJOY!