Zucchini, Fennel and Spinach Soup with Basil: Another 5:2 Soup

Sorry for not having been posting for a few days. I do have an excuse; I have had shingles. While I am on the mend now, the last couple of weeks have been spent attempting to get some  sleep (highly unsuccessful) and smearing various goos all over the sore parts of me. Even considering cooking was more work than I could handle, although I did go in to my regular job more often than not. At home we ate from the freezer and takeout. Try to avoid getting shingles if you can. Painful, to say the least. Okay, VERY painful.


So this first post back isn't a Meaty Monday post, but a Fast Diet, or a 5:2 recipe for a soup I am planning to have today, and share with Donna at work. Takeout isn't good for my figure. Ahem.


This soup is deeply flavorful, but fresh tasting, quick to make, and partly stolen from a Rachael Rae recipe. It uses things you can still find in the farm markets and grocery stores in late September. It is also under 50 calories per serving, plus it is gluten free and vegan, unless you use a meat stock.

Zucchini, Fennel and Spinach Soup with Basil

Zucchini, Fennel and Spinach Soup with Basil

With a nod to Rachael Ray, as I saw a good-looking recipe in her magazine for a zucchini - fennel soup recently. My version still tastes rich, but will fit easily into your Fast Diet or 5:2 Plan.

1 lb. zucchini , diced (about 2 medium)
8 oz. fennel bulb , cored and sliced (about 1 small- medium)
2 shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups baby spinach (85g)
2-4 Tablespoons sliced basil leaves
(optional: 1 tsp. chicken stock base)
few grinds of nutmeg and white pepper
sea salt

Place the zucchini, fennel, shallots and garlic in a large saucepan, and cover with water.  Add the stock base if you are using it. Salt lightly. Bring to a boil, cut back to a simmer, and cook about 10 to 12 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  Add the spinach, basil, nutmeg and pepper, and cook an additional 2 minutes or so until the spinach has wilted and is bright green. Taste for salt  and pepper and add if needed. Puree with an immersion blender, or a regular blender and serve hot. Makes 4 hearty servings under 50 calories each.

The 5:2 Feast: Chicken with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Creamy Basil Noodles

The 5:2 Feast: Chicken with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Creamy Basil Noodles

I really wasn't going to post today. For two years now I've been posting three days or more a week,  with a full time job and ...a life, and just for August I was trying to cut myself some slack. Turns out I'm harder on myself than anyone else has ever been. I just "guilted" myself into writing this as I made my approx. 300 calorie dinner to take to work for the late shift. Today is one of my fast days. If you are on to the Fast Diet from England, you'll understand. These recipes  are both quick and easy to make, have great flavor, and are quite filling.


I made the creamy shirataki noodle part a few years ago, and it's based on some recipes written by Hungry Girl, aka, Lisa Lillien.  Back when I first joined Weight Watchers, her recipes were all the rage, but I was not a huge fan because of all the processed, fat free foods she uses in her recipes. If you don't mind that stuff, get your hands on a copy of her book "Hungry Girl 200 under 200". Sorry, Lisa, I didn't mean to damn you with faint praise, you filled a need for many of us, and helped a lot of people find good things to eat while dieting. Even if you don't make the recipes exactly the way she wrote them, the book will give you great ideas for dishes to fix on your fast days. Of course I've doodled with her recipe  a lot, with ingredients and technique, so it's the same in spirit... It tastes good, but doesn't include additive-filled things like fat free sour cream or fat free parmesan cheese. The chicken dish couldn't be easier too,  basically a "dump and run" recipe that anyone would be happy eating, dieting or not.

Chicken with Zucchini, Tomatoes & Creamy Basil Noodles

Serves 1

For the noodles:

1 8 oz. package of Shirataki noodles, drained, rinsed and cut in pieces with a scissors
2 wedges of Laughing Cow Light Original cheese wedges, cut in smaller bits
2T minced basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
water as needed

For the chicken:

1 4oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite sized strips
1 cup of sliced zucchini
1/2 cup  canned diced tomatoes
1 minced garlic clove
1 teaspoon of dried basil or oregano
1/2  cup water

1. Spray a small nonstick skillet with a quick spray of cooking spray, heat over medium-high heat and add the chicken strips. Stir and cook until lightly browned. Add the zucchini and the garlic, and cook for another minute. Add all the remaining ingredients,  cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid, and cook another minute or two until the sauce has thickened. Turn off the heat and let it rest covered while you make the noodles.


2. Place the drained noodles in a small, dry, nonstick skillet over medium heat and stir for a few minutes until they are as dry as you can get them.  add the remaining ingredients for the noodles, through the grated cheese. Reduce the heat to low, and stir to melt the cheese wedges, adding a water a few tablespoons at a time to just make a creamy sauce.

Enjoy, and these both reheat well in a microwave for an at-work lunch or dinner. I like them in the same dish...


Disclaimer:

This makes an approximately 300 calorie meal. Your calculation may differ, and it will certainly differ with the use of other ingredients.

Pesto Braised Zucchini & Fennel with Shallots

I've been looking for reasons to run my oven lately. It's been so damned cold here that the warmth and aroma of slowly cooking food appeals to something primal in me, I think. I wouldn't mind camping out in front of my oven the way our elderly cat is camped out in front of the heat vent in the living room. Now, you can certainly braise food on top of the stove, or even in a slow cooker, but neither of them give you the same cozy, warm home. And once everything is in the oven, there's not so much for the cook to do but have a glass of wine, or a nap.

Braising involves cooking food partially submerged in liquid at a simmer. A pot roast or meat stew is a braise, but some of my favorite braises involve vegetables. Braised vegetables become meltingly tender, and absorb all the flavors they've been bathing in. Wonderful cold weather food.

Last week's recipe for Butter Braised Asparagus is a quick braise without much prep needed on your part. This braise of Pesto Braised Zucchini & Fennel with Shallots takes a few more minutes, but the resulting dish is luscious, with great depth of flavor and it reheats beautifully. I always pray for leftovers. It's one of my favorite dishes to serve beside simply baked chicken or fish, which can, incidentally, be popped into the oven next to the zucchini at the right time.

Pesto Braised Zucchini & Fennel with Shallots

Ready for the oven, just needs to be covered and baked.

Note: This is vegetarian and gluten free as written, if you prefer a vegan version, use all olive oil instead of the butter and oil, and use the basil and oil puree carried in many supermarkets, instead of traditional basil pesto, as it usually contains cheese.

Ingredients:

2T unsalted butter
1T extra virgin olive oil
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into sixths (reserve some fronds for garnish)
3 small to medium zucchini, cut in half through the middle, then halved lengthwise
8 large shallots, peeled and halved
2T basil pesto
1T lemon zest
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water or stock
salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Lightly oil a shallow 2-3 quart oven-to-table baking dish.

2. Heat the butter and oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. as soon as the butter begins to brown very slightly, add the fennel, with a cut side down. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the fennel is browned on one side, then flip and brown the other cut side. Cook about 10 minutes total. Remove the fennel to the prepared baking pan.

To get the fennel browned you may have to turn it a few times.

3. Add the zucchini to the oil in the pan, and raise the heat if necessary to brown the cut side quickly. You want the zucchini to be mostly raw. Remove the zucchini to the baking pan, and then arrange the zucchini and fennel alternately, and tuck in the cut shallots in between. Salt and pepper liberally.

4. Add the pesto, the zest, the wine and the water to the frying pan, swirling to blend. Bring to a simmer for a minute, and pour it evenly over the vegetables in the baking dish. Cover with a lid or foil, and bak for about 1 hour, or until the fennel is tender. Test it with a fork or the tip of a paring knife. garnish with the reserved fennel fronds if you wish.

Pesto Braised Zucchini & Fennel with Shallots in
my favorite baking dish from Kitchen Kapers

Serves 6.

Roasted Zucchini with Feta, Olives & Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

Roasted Zucchini with Feta, Olives & Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

There are weeks where bits and pieces just pile up. The backseat of my car looks like a thrift shop with a food processor, a yogurt maker and a lampshade all destined for new owners. My desk is four inches deep in decor catalogs since we're looking to replace a few things in the living room. My fridge, well, don't ask. There are odds and ends of blog food, restaurant leftovers and impulse produce buys that are begging to be reinvented. And eaten. Goat cheese from a week ago, and roasted tomatoes we made here on Wednesday this week. Some small zucchini from down South where there already IS garden zucchini. 

Depending on what day you ask, leftovers from blogging recipes are either a curse or a blessing. They started out this morning as a curse because I literally could not find a box of blackberries in that fridge for all the other stuff piled up. Tonight they've become a blessing: a nice light dinner for me.

This isn’t really a salad, but could be served as an appetizer or salad course. To make it heartier, add some of the chick peas from Monday's blog post, or some slivered salami, even  cooked chicken if you don’t want to go vegetarian. It would still be still gluten free, assuming the meat you choose has no binders added.

Roasted Zucchini with Feta, Olives & Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

For the zucchini:

4 medium-small zucchini

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup pitted Kalamata or oil-cured black olives halved or quartered

4 oz French goat feta, crumbled

For the Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette:

2/3 cup roasted tomatoes, with skins

2-3 roasted garlic cloves from the tomato recipe (see link)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2T homemade flavored white wine vinegar or plain white wine vinegar

2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. hot pimentón (hot smoked paprika)

Preheat the oven to 425°F and cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Trim the ends from the zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, cut each piece in half through the middle and then cut each quarter in half or thirds so you have about 3” zucchini spears. Place in a medium bowl, add the olive oil, and the salt and toss well, then arrange on the covered baking sheet skin side down. Roast for about 40 minutes until they are just starting to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Zucchini ready to roast.

While the zucchini are cooking, in a mini processor or blender, combine all the dressing ingredients until smooth.

To assemble the dish, place about 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette on the bottom of a small plate, arrange the zucchini on top, and sprinkle with the feta and olives.

Serves 4.

Another Grainless Wonder: Curried Zucchini Cakes

Sometimes things just JUMP into my shopping cart. Like zucchini. I bet you were thinking Oreos, but no, those NEVER jump in MY cart. I don’t like them all that much. Perversely, I love zucchini and Chuck absolutely hates it. So of course, it just happens to hop into my cart quite often. Odd.

I started playing with this recipe last summer when the zucchini plants in the garden were popping out little zucchies as fast as they could. Had been tinkering with coconut flour, too, at the time as a replacement for grain flour in some recipes. I wanted something that didn’t really have Mediterranean flavors, and also something that was grain-free. Coconut flour is the perfect solution in this recipe. These cakes are vegetarian (if you eat eggs), gluten -free, and can be dairy-free if you omit the yogurt on top and substitute a dab of hummus.

These tender pancakes are loaded with flavor, and are very easy to make. I couldn’t decide what to call them—pancakes, flapjacks, fritters, so the ubiquitous “cakes” won out. I think you’ll like these, and will just call them good. Serve them up with a big dollop of plain Green yogurt on top. I ate 5 of these as soon as I finished up with the pictures.

So hard to take a picture when they smell so good!

Now, if you are a purist, replace the curry powder (hot or sweet) with ½ teas ground coriander, ½ teas ground turmeric and ½ teas ground cumin. I am not a purist and have a couple of enormous bags of Penzey’s curry powders. Plus when I use the other spices, I feel obligated to grind them fresh, toasted first. Not happening when I am hungry.

Note: I use organic canola oil as regular canola oil is made from genetically modified seeds, organic is not.

Curried Zucchini Cakes

1-1/2 lb zucchini, shredded, salted lightly and squeezed dry

1 scallion, white and pale green part minced

3 large eggs

¼ cup coconut flour

1 tsp Madras Curry Powder

½ tsp baking powder

Dash of sea salt

2 T+ organic canola oil  safflower for frying

Make sure you’ve squeezed as much liquid as you can from the shredded zucchini. Mix the zucchini and the scallion with the eggs in a medium bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon.

In another medium bowl, mix the coconut flour, the curry powder (or the spices) the baking powder and the salt. Dump the dry ingredients into the zucchini-egg mix and stir into a thick batter.

Don't rush, let them get just past golden brown on the bottom before you turn.
Peek under one every now and then to check.

In a large nonstick frying pan, heat a tablespoon of the oil until it shimmers, over medium heat. Ladle in about 1/3 cup of the zucchini batter, per pancake. Cook until browned on the bottom, and then turn carefully. Repeat, adding more oil as necessary until all the batter is used. Keep the cooked cakes warm in a low oven until all are cooked. Serve hot with plain Greek yogurt and chives.

Make 12 cakes, serves 4.