Zucchini Nuggets

English version below!

Es ist Zucchinisaison… und wir haben das Glück, dass Mr. Squirrels Eltern und einer unserer Nachbarn uns mit dem Überschuss aus ihrem Garten versorgen. Aber irgendwann kommt man an einen Punkt, an dem man nicht mehr weiß, wohin mit dem Zucchini. Netterweise hat unser Nachbar uns auch direkt mit seiner „Notfalllösung“ bei zu vielen Zucchini versorgt: Panieren und braten. Hört sich unspektakulär an, aber ich habe eine Variante gebastelt, die wir absolut lieben!

Summer Food: Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini with Fresh Tomatoes, and Tomato Sauce

On some days it's just too hot to eat something that is above body temperature. Today is one of these days.
So I decided to go with tons of veggies that could in the end be eaten hot or cold.

Antipasti I: Marinated Veggies

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

We had an Italian themed dinner party last week and made a nice little plate of antipasti as appetizers. It's June, so we wanted to stick to as many cold dishes as possible. Antipasti proved to be easily prepared in advance and a great way to start out the dinner. There are three main components to the dish on the picture above: (1) Marinated veggies, (2) baked bellpeppers with shaved almonds, and (3) the tomato that's filled with pesto cream cheese. I'll explain how they were made in the following blog posts.

So here is how you can make the marinated veggies:

For this starter plate for six people (each person got their own ;) No sharing necessary), I used the following:

Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 small zucchinis
• 250g of meadow mushrooms 
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 150ml olive oil (plus some for frying)
• 1½ tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• some fresh basil, thyme, and rosemary
• salt

Fried Rice with Veggies and Sesame

Die DEUTSCHE ÜBERSETZUNG findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Very easy and a great way to use up any veggies that need to go and, of course, if you have leftover rice! I used leftover white rice and some purple rice, but any type will do. 

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 300g of rice (300g before cooking)
• 4 medium carrots
• 300g of smoked tofu
• 4 small onions
• 1 medium zucchini
• 50g of sesame seeds
• soy sauce
• salt
• 1 tablespoon of powdered curry
• some vegetable oil
• some roasted sesame oil (the dark yummy oil, not the light tasteless stuff)

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is a family favorite. I would usually use arugula instead of the basil, but it's not in season right now, so it's super expensive. The fresh, organic basil was a special offer today! Hooray!

Ingredients: 

• 2 large zucchinis
• 300g of Hello Kitty pasta (the salad gets exponentionally better with Hello Kitty pasta, but regular pasta works, too)
• one glass of dried tomatoes (225g drain weight)
• 5 fresh tomatoes
• lots of fresh basil (I used as much as you can see on the picture - the whole thing!)
• 3 tablespoons vegan honey (agave sirup works, too)
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) olive oil
• some extra olive oil for frying
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons mustard
• salt
• pepper

Green Thai Curry with Rice

Again, as with most more exotic recipes, I am claiming no authenticity for my green Thai curry. I am just claiming that it tastes great! :)

I made a big batch of green curry tonight because I made lunch for myself, a friend, and the boyfriend for tomorrow. And for dinner tonight. And whatever is left over won't survive for too long either. Here is a recipe for a normal batch.

Ingredients:

• 600ml of veggi stock
• 400ml of coconut milk (1 can)
• green curry paste - how much depends on how hot you like your food and on the curry paste itself. Also: Make sure you check your curry paste for non-vegan ingredients. Some are made with shrimp etc.
• 2 small zucchinis
• 1 eggplant
• 1 small broccoli
• 3 lime leaves (optional)
• a little bit of salt
• 1 cup of rice (I used red and white rice)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tsp of sugar