eat your chips !

What to do with the plethora of zucchini and eggplants which are probably overrunning your summer garden .

With Autumn around the corner and the rather extraordinary summer we have had this year in the mid-west I wanted to find another exciting way to enjoy the constant zucchini harvest .

During one of my Pinterest journeys I came across a recipe that was so simple , I had to re-read it . So simple I thought it cannot be that simple . So simple that when I made it ............ I regretted not making it sooner .

 

 

A few very simple steps, plenty of hands off waiting time and you will enjoy the most delicious "chips" that you will be bugging your children and significant other , along with any picky eaters to indulge .

 

This recipe is so simple , 3 simple steps to chip nirvana.

 

step one : procure zucchini and or eggplant

 

step two: buttermilk or regular milk

 

step three : panko breadcrumbs and grated pecorino cheese

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 420F, place a cake rack  ( lightly sprayed with canola oil) within a sheet pan and place to the side . Wash and dry your vegetables and slice about quarter inch , place in milk and toss to coat well.

 

Put enough panko breadcrumb in a bowl to coat and approximately equal amount of finely grated pecorino ( I happened to have that on hand) or parmesan cheese .

 

Take zucchini slice from bowl of milk, pat into breadcrumb mixture , pressing lightly , place on cake rack .

 

Place in oven for about 20-30 minutes , depending on your oven until they start to brown slightly and the smell will overwhelm your senses !!! You can flip them over if the underside is not browning. You can use the convestion setting , however they will need to be monitored a lot more closely and flipped half-way through the cooking process .

 

Allow to cool slightly , enjoy at room temperature along with some tzatziki dip .

 

 

Now how often do you tell your children to eat their chips !!!!!!

 



.... its a wrap !!!

 

 

Summer is coming to a close , the girls are back in school , and happy to be back in school . A family trip to Southwestern Michigan for a few days was a fitting way to end the summer vacation , rev up the relax button and recharge the batteries.

 

 

In the past couple of weeks , my little gourmet and I ventured into Whole Foods where they had a promotion of healthy lunch ideas for children. If your child tried everything then they could rate the food item , spin the wheel and get a mystery prize . Well, my little gourmet tried everything , spun the wheel , got a mystery prize , the location of which is awol.



 

 

 

 

One of the lunch ideas was collard greens with red pepper hummous and a little cabbage salad. I was salivating just looking at the sample platter and was equally chuffed when my little gourmet gave me the thumbs up . Monday before school started we had to go to the supermarket to restock the fridge , so I tempted them with these wraps, and to my surprise they devoured them.

I would suggest using organic collard greens, and as small a leaf as possible , that way they will be nice and tender . To make the wrap you remove the spine of the leave or else it will be hard to wrap , so essentianlly you end up with to halves of the collard leaf.

I made my own hummous recipe, loosely based on a recipe courtesy of Ina Garten ( I omit the garlic and  tabasco and add a heaping tesaspoon of ground cumin) - this is the the only one the girls will eat and enjoy. I added some red bell pepper and made a slaw with a combination of red cabbage , grated carrot and parsley . I had made some homemade vinaigrette for a salad the day before and I used it to barely moisten the cabbage salad .

It was delicious.

It was refreshing .

It was devoured by both girls .

It was requested for lunch .


I rest my case ............... and consider it a wrap !!!!!