OK, here I go again with another quick and easy veggie side dish.
First of all, if you are new to this site, you need to know that I love veggies. Not all veggies. But most of them. However, if you put a fried parsnip, mashed rutabaga, or turnip gratin in front of me, even if the gratin is smothered in a beautiful Gruyère sauce, there would be no way on God’s green earth I would partake. Sorry, but the truth must be told! And I believe it all goes back to my childhood.
I grew up on a 2½ acre plot of land in Kenmore, Washington. There were two houses on this site. My family (2 parents, 1 exceptional girl, and 2 rather dull boys) lived in the larger farmhouse. My maternal grandparents lived in a small house on the same property. And while my dad worked at Boeing and my mom as a secretary at various local schools, my grandfather raised chickens for the eggs he sold to a local feed and seed store. My grandmother grew veggies in a huge garden, every kind of berry imaginable, and tended to all of our fruit trees. Then she preserved every veggie, fruit, or berry that could be contained in a glass jar. Grandma also made all our bread. She also fed and raised a cow or two periodically for milk, for home churned butter, and then to provide us with various cuts of meat that we stored in an individual freezer locker in a big building in Lake City. This was just how it was for many families during the 40’s before home freezers or even refrigerators were common.
Heck, those were the days when an ice man delivered ice for the ice box that lived in our screened in back porch! (And you thought I was a spring chicken. Hardly! I even remember the Watkins man that appeared every so often to peddle a variety of household products, including liniment (a muscle pain relief product), which was the original product of the J.R. Watkins company, along with other items like spices, extracts, cleaning supplies, and personal care products. All sold door-to-door through direct sales.)
But what I remember most were my loving parents and my grandparents. All 4, devoted Christians that were way ahead of their time. Never a harsh word. Never a condemnation about race, creed, or skin color. Just good people.
Both my grandparents and parents were products of the depression era. So, bottom line, nothing went to waste. And in those days, whatever grew quickly and well in grandma’s garden was served often. And included in this trio of veggies cooked to death and presented often were parsnips, rutabagas, and turnips. And I hated them with all the passion any child would exhibit when forced to eat something as loathsome as a root vegetable. (Except potatoes, of course. They were always welcome!)
Now to my credit, these three root veggies are the only ones I still do not tolerate. All the rest I consider mana from God. But back to the reason for this post.
One of my favorite veggies (actually a fruit) is the humble zucchini. And last night when I planned to serve shrimp curry for dinner, I decided some kind of East Indian spicy roasted zucchini would make a great side dish. So, I went online and found this recipe on the cookwithmanali.com site. And it was the perfect accompaniment. Not too spicy. Just spicy enough to provide a new and interesting way to flavor roast zucchini.
So, if you also love a bit of spice on your food, I recommend this recipe.
Well, that’s it for today. Snow is predicted and frankly, I could care less. I love snow.
So, regardless of whether or not you love snow, I suspect you have no more control over the weather than I do. So, don’t fight it. Go outside. Make a snowman. Make soup. Make homemade bread. Bake cookies. Make it fun for your whole family.
And on that happy, possibly snow-filled, enforced time at home with ecstatic children and pets who refuse to go outside and freeze their lower reaches, I wish you and yours, as always, peace and love from our home to yours.
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ tsp. fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. ground coriander
¼ tsp. smoked paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 med. zucchini, sliced into ⅓-inch rounds
Panko breadcrumbs
Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Stir the garlic, salt, black pepper, ground cumin, ground coriander, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and olive oil together in a mixing bowl.
Add the sliced zucchini and toss together till combined.
Dip both sides lightly in Panko.
Place on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Roast in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for 23-25 minutes or until tender and the Panko is crisp.
Serve hot out of the oven.