Anyone who has planted zucchini squash will know what the “abundant” means.  It is one vegetable that, once planted, resembles Jack’s beanstalk.  That is, the zucchini vine never stops growing, so the question now, “what do we do with them all?”

And we might wonder why such a plethora of vegetables doesn’t exist with hard to find shiitake mushrooms, or French truffles, for example.  But since we are blessed, or stuck, as the case may be, with plenty of zucchini, it might be helpful to know how to use the great quantity that’s available during the summer.

Food historians tell us that zucchini came from the New World, and from here to the Old World in the sixteenth century after discovery of the Americas by Europeans.  The minute it arrived in Italy, the rest, as we say, is history.  It was first discovered in Northeast Mexico as a domesticated plant, and later in the Midwestern United States.

When the Zucchini got to the Mediterranean, it was magic. That will be part 2 in the Zucchini saga. Until then, I will leave you with this recipe.

Marinated Zucchini

serves 4

4       zucchini

1/4  cup olive oil

2       tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus whole leaves, to garnish

2      tablespoons white wine vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

-Cut the zucchini into thin round slices.

-Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide heavy saucepan.  Fry the zucchini in batches, for 4-6 minutes, until tender and brown around the edges.

-Transfer the zucchini to a bowl.  Season well.

-Heat the remaining oil in the pan, add the mint and vinegar and let it bubble for a few seconds.

-Pour the marinade over the zucchini.

-Marinate for 1 hour, then serve garnished with mint.

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It is officially summer which means the opening season for picnics.  Whatever the menu in any picnic, there is always a potato salad on the table.  I pride myself of trying every dish that someone bring to a gathering, the only exception is the potato salad. Don’t misunderstand me, I like potato salad like most people but I am always nervous when I see a mayonnaise loaded  salad simmering in the summer heat.

Here is an easy refreshing potato salad that use olive oil and lemon juice for dressing which make it safe salad to accompany and grilling menu or picnic.

Summer Potato Salad

serves 4

4       medium salad

1        medium ripe tomato diced

1        medium sweet onion, finely chopped

1        punch Italian parsley, chopped

zest of one lemon

1/4   cup lemon juice

4       tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

-Boil the potatoes in water until they are cooked but not over cooked.  Remove from the stove and wash with cold water. 

-Peel the skin from the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch cubes and place in a salad bowl.

-Add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently.

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One of the great invention of cooks in the Levant is Bulgar wheat.  Bulgar is made by parboiling wheat, which is defined first as boiling the wheat, then drying it.  One can find Bulgar wheat in most stores because it full of nutrient, has more fiber than rice and does not effect the blood sugar as much as white rice do which make it a good grain option for diabetic.

Bulgar is being produced on a mass scale nowadays but it used to be done by the ladies in small villages.  Generally a village will own only one huge pot in which wheat is parboiled, and the village women will get together to prepare the bulgar, much the same as a quilting be is conducted here in America.  The women get together usually in August because of the availability of the sun for drying the wheat.  The pot moves from house to house, according to a mutually agreed upon schedule.  At 4 am the women taking part will show up at the house of the woman designated for that day’s work, carrying the pot.  The women from the designated household knows she must have coffee ready, as well as the wood for the fire outside where the pot will be placed.  It is a pot large enough to hold about 100 pound of wheat.  It is filled with water and allowed to cook.  During the cooking phase of the project, everyone in the village can hear the gossiping and the giggling of the collective cooks.  The men of course, don’t mind this noises because their wives doing this job instead of them.

Once cooked, the wheat is poured into a large basket to get rid of the water.  The wheat is then carried to the roof the house-always flat- where it is spread on bed sheets for drying.  They also erect a scare crow to keep the birds away from it.  After one week of drying the bulgar is carried to the village grinding mill and cracked assording to the desire of the women bringing the wheat.  Once cracked, it is taken to the roof once again for further drying.

If you are buying bulgar in a store, be careful not to confuse real bulgar with what is labeled as “cracked wheat” or “crackedk roasted wheat”.  Bulgar gives recipes a nutty flavor, and cook much more quickly than cracked wheat, which does not have the same flavor.

 Tomato Bulgar  Pilaf

serves 4

1       16-ounce can diced tomatoes

2       cups water

1/4  cup olive oil

1       medium onion, finely chopped

1       16-ounce can cooked garbanzo beans, drained

1       cup coarse bulgar

salt and pepper to taste

–Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot.

-Add the onion and saute until translucent.

-Add the tomatoes , the juice from the can, the water, the salt and the water.  Bring to a boil.

-Stir in the bulgar and the beans.  Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes or until the water evaporates and the bulgar is soft.

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 Some of the best dishes in every cuisine in the world has been developed from the creativity of ancient cooks who refused to throw away food that is not fresh either because of poverty orbecause the lack of access to plentiful ingredients. 

In the Mediterranean, bread was a basic ingredient that should never be wasted. Cookes used dry and sometimes stale bread to make unique dishes that we still enjoy now.   Some wonderful examples include the Italian usage  of old bread in their wonderful soups like robellita as well as poor’s man soup. In the Levant, old dry pita bread is used in Fattoush salad and in several Fetat dishes.  Fetat is main dish that use dry pita bread  as a bottom layer.  The bread is then  topped with several choices of topping that range from stuffed eggplant, sauteed beef or garbanzo beans.  Usually a pomegrante or lemon base sauce is drizzled over the mixture and then topped with tahini or sesame garlic sauce. Toasted pine nuts is sprinkled on top to provide texture and fine presentation.

Garbanzo Bean Fetat

serves 6-8

2     loaves dry pita bread

2     16-ounces can garbanzo beans

3      cups plain non-fat yogurt

4      cloves garlic, mashed

1      cup lemon juice

1      cup tahini

1       tablespoon ground cumin

zest of one lemon

salt to taste

1/2  cup toasted pine nuts, optional

1/2  cup pomegrante seeds, optional

-Cut the bread into 1-inch squares. Place the bread in a shallow serving platter.

-To make tahini sauce, whisk yogurt with the tahini, garlic, lemon, lemon zest, cumin and salt.

-When ready to servr, boil the garbanzo beans over the stove.  Remove from the stove and spoon the hot garbanzo beans with little boiling water over the bread.  Pour the tahini sauce over the garbanzo beans making sure it cover the entire pan.  Sprinkle with the pine nuts and the pomegranate.  Serve.

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My Italian friends would scream if they knew I mention tofu and Italian in the same sentence let alone using it in Italian food.  One of the characteristic of tofu is that  it is flavorless.  Some people find that to be very disadvantageous. For me, I see that as a plus. Because tofu has no taste it can  adapt  to any flavor you use with it. I use tofu as a cream to make strawberry smoothies, as nuts in pesto or as cheese in Tiramisu.

Vegan pasta mold is a favorite dish in my household and for my guest vegan and meat eater. It is easy  dish that provides  good protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients.

Vegan Pasta Mold

serves 6

12       ounces lite firm tofu

6         cloves garlic

1          cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4     cup olive oil

lemon zest

salt to taste

1         pound angel hair pasta

-In a food processor, puree tofu, garlic, basil, lemon zest, salt and olive oil.

-In a large pot, bring salted water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al-dente.

-Drain the pasta.  Add pasta while it is hot to the tofu paste and mix well until all pasta is coated with the tofu paste.

-Spray a bundet cake pan with olive oil spray.

-Stuff the cake pan with the pasta.

-Press the pasta very firmly in the cake pan.

-Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Serve with mixed salad.

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When my husband’s sister, Virginia, was alive, she kept the entire family amused by denying her age.  Some people call it “lying” about one’s age, but with Virginia, we always called it “being in denial.”  For example, one day at lunch, her daughter told us that she was having her 50th birthday the second day.  Virginia, who was then past 80 years old, asked “how can that be? when I am only 60?’

Denial must run in the family, because my husband has lately figured out a way to deny both his weight and his age.  He calculates his weight in kilograms (divide the number of  pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms).  And he calculates his age in Celsius (Fahrenheit temperature minus 32 times 5/9), which produces a much smaller number.

I have a friend who claims to be a very nutrition savvy. He told me that he fallow the food pyramid and ate only what was recommended for his height and weight.  He said for breakfast her rarely finish one serving of carbohydrates and serving of fruit.  When I asked him to write down everything he consumed, I learned that his idea of one serving of a carbohydrate is a large bowl of cereal, a whole bagel with cream cheese, and a banana.  One serving of a drink, according to him, is two glasses of orange juice.  So, his idea of a serving was the sized of the meal he heat in one seating.  I don’t need to tell you how shocked he was when I figured that his breakfast alone came to 9 serving of carbohydrate, almost all his daily allowance for carb.

Those who are struggling daily with too much weight are caught up in the purely American notion that everything must be super-sized.  We buy an extra large popcorn in the theatre because we can get a free refil of a food that we’ve already had too much of.  The same is true with soda, and with fast food meals.

We have come to understand which fats are bad for us.  We are beginning to understand that junk foods are not good for us, but what we haven’t come to terms with is, what is a proper serving size for the food we eat. 

Vegan Basil Pesto

makes 2 cups

12      ounces lite tofu

6        cloves garlic

1        cup chopped fresh basil

zest of one lemon

1/2   cup olive oil

salt to taste

-Place all items in a food processor and puree until you have smooth paste.

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More  gluten free flour choices for your cooking:

Arrowroot flour: Arrowroot flour is ground from the root of the plant.  It is tasteless which make it an excellent thickening in any recipe.

Buckwheat flour: The kernels can be pulverized in a food processor to make flour. This flour has strong nutty flavor and it is better to combine it with tasteless flour in recipes.

Corn flour:Ground from corn. It comes in yellow, blue or white colors.  Yellow and blue have anti-oxidants and protein than the white corn flour.  Used to make corn bread and tortillas, as well as polenta.

Dhokra: A flour from India, made from a blend of rice, lentils and chickpeas.  It is used to make cakes that look like cornbread squares.

Millet flour: Comes from a grass family and used in African and Asian countries.

Quinoa flour:Quinoa is a grain that is used in South America. Quinoa is high in protein.

White Sorghum flour: It comes from a grass family.  It is made from grinding the sorghum grain.  It has mild taste which make it a good flour to replace wheat flour in recipes.  It is one of my favorite flour to use in making cookies and cakes.

Soy flour: Made from grinding soy beans.  High in fat and high in protein, but the fat has a strong flavor.  You can replace up to 1/5 of the flour called for in your recipes.

Tapioca flour: Tapioca flour is made from the root of the cassava plant.  It is a light, soft and fine flour.  It add little chewiness to baking products.

Fava bean flour:A ground dry fava beans.  This flour is high in protein which make it require more liquid in baking.  It does has a high strong flavor.

Almond and Hazelnut flours:  Both flours are made for grinding almonds and hazelnuts.  These flours high in protein and flavors which make them excellent flour in cookies.

Double Chocolate Scones

makes 10

1 1/2      cups white sorghum flour

1/2         cup almond flour

1/3         cup un-sweetened cocoa powder

1/2         cup packed brown sugar

1/2         cup olive oil

1/2         cup orange marmalade

1             cup plain non-fat yogurt

2            teaspoons baking soda

1/4       teaspoon salt

1           egg, beaten

1/2      cup semisweet chocolate chips

-In a large bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

-Add olive oil and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

-Whisk egg and yogurt and orange marmalade and then add the flour to the flour mixture.  Mix well, and then add the chocolate chips.

-On a lightly floured surface, gently knead dough until dough is nearly smooth.  Pat dough into a 9-inch circle and cut into 10 wedges.

-Place wedges 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet, and then bake for 30 minutes.

-Remove from the oven and allow them to cool before serving.

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