Courgettes (Zucchini) with cheese and green chilies

I will not even deign to comment on the whole zucchini/courgette name debate but suffice it to say I was looking for a veggie side dish that was at least pseudo-Mexican and this one fit the bill. Delicious, but feel free to decrease the amount of cream cheese you put in.
Consider it dependent on your adherence to the credo that veggie side dishes should retain at least some nutritional value.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tomatoes
1/3 cup drained pickled jalapeno chili slices, chopped
1 1/4 lb (500g) courgettes (zucchini)
1/2 cup (115g) cream cheese
salt and ground black pepper

Preparation

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, and oregano. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.

Cut a cross in the base of each tomato. Place in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave in the water for 3 minutes, then lift out on a slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of cold water. Drain. The skins will have begun to peel back from the crosses. Remove the skins and cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the seeds. Chop the flesh into strips.

Top and tail the courgettes, then cut them lengthways into 1/2 inch wide strips. Slice the strips into matchsticks.

Stir the courgettes into the onion mixture and fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Add the tomatoes and chopped jalapenos and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Add the cream cheese. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting. As the cheese melts, stir gently to coat the courgettes. Season with salt, pile into a heated dish and serve.

Serves 6 as a side dish

Tomatoes Stuffed with Grilled Wild Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese

This side dish was described to me as a "Hot Latin Meal" by epicurious.com. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but it does get points for taste and presentation. If you've been paying attention, you'll see that I've done a stuffed tomato dish before. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is nothing wrong with stuffing a healthy vegetable full of cheese. Nothing at all. In fact, I recommend doing it as often as possible. And if you can, combine that cheese with mushrooms. Talk about tasty. I did find it interesting that this recipe billed itself as a salad because it uses "green leaves" as a garnish. Now that's a stretch if I ever heard one...

I served this with pork stuffed chile rellenos, a great combination! 

Serves 4
Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients

1 cup sliced oyster, shiitake, or portobello mushrooms (I used dried ones which I rehydrated in hot water)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
4 ripe yellow or red medium size beefsteak tomatoes
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 handful of mixed baby greens
Sweet Shallot Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Preparation

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on med-high. Add the shallots and when soft, add the mushrooms, rosemary, and thyme. Cook until soft. Set aside. (You can also complete this step ahead of time, refrigerate the mushrooms and then bring them to room temperature when you're ready to stuff the tomatoes).

Meanwhile prepare the tomatoes. Preheat the oven to 325F. Using a sharp knife, slice the tops off the tomatoes either flat or in a zigzag pattern, you need them later so don't discard them. Using a melon baller or spoon, scoop out the insides. Set aside. Place the tomatoes into a 1-inch baking pan (you may have to adjust their bottoms if they don't sit upright) with their tops. Bake until the skin starts to wrinkle, about 15 minutes.

When the tomatoes are finished, remove the tops and stuff with alternate layers of the mushroom mixture and the cheese. Place the tomatoes back into the oven (without their tops) just until the cheese starts to melt, about 5 minutes.

Top each tomato with a bit of the mixed baby greens and a drizzle of the vinaigrette. Cover with tomato tops and serve.


Sweet Shallot Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the shallots and sugar, stirring constantly, until the shallots start to soften and brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and combine the caramelized shallots, vinegar, and oil in a blender and mix until well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Chill for at least an hour before using. Use immediately or keep for up to 2 weeks.

Fried Chickpeas/Hominy with Chorizo and Spinach

This recipe comes from the master of simplicity himself, Mark Bittman. It's a great crowd pleaser. I had a few cans of hominy left over from previous posole recipes and was trying to find a way to incorporate them into a non-soup dish. This is the perfect answer. Canned hominy is about the same shape/consistency as chickpeas and holds the flavor of the chorizo and sherry just as well. The bread crumbs are a bit much though, feel free to decrease the amount or neglect them altogether.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, as dry as possible

Salt and black pepper

4 ounces chorizo, diced

1/2 pound spinach, roughly chopped

1/4 cup sherry

1 to 2 cups bread crumbs.

1. Heat the broiler.

2. Put three tablespoons of the oil in a skillet large enough to hold chickpeas in one layer over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add chickpeas and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until chickpeas begin to brown, about 10 minutes, then add chorizo. Continue cooking for another 5 to 8 minutes or until chickpeas are crisp; use a slotted spoon to remove chickpeas and chorizo from pan and set aside.

4. Add the remainder of the 1/4 cup of oil to the pan; when it’s hot, add spinach and sherry, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook spinach over medium-low heat until very soft and the liquid has evaporated. Add chickpeas and chorizo back to the pan and toss quickly to combine; top with bread crumbs, drizzle with a bit more oil and run pan under the broiler to lightly brown the top. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Yield: 4 servings.

Japanese Spinach with Sesame Dressing

from New York Times, Recipes for Health

This appetizer/side dish is very simple and very delicious. The dressing pulls the spinach together and turns what would have been an unappealing "healthy" alternative to fries into something you'll be getting requests for over and over again.
Ingredients

2 6-oz. bags baby spinach (or 1 1/2 pounds, stemmed and washed)
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake (can be omitted)
1 tablespoon water (more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Blanch the spinach for 10 to 20 seconds in the boiling water and transfer to the ice water using a deep-fry skimmer. Drain and gently squeeze out water. Chop coarsely.
2. Make the dressing. If your sesame seeds have not been toasted, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the sesame seeds. Stir and shake the pan constantly, and as soon as the seeds turn golden and smell nutty, transfer to a suribachi mortar and pestle or to a spice mill. Allow to cool. Grind the seeds just until crushed.
3. Combine the soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the sake and water, then stir in the ground sesame seeds. Thin out with water. Toss with the spinach and stir together until the dressing infuses the spinach. Be careful not to bruise the spinach leaves. Divide into four small bunches and place in the middle of four small plates or bowls. Drizzle on a few drops of sesame oil. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: Four small servings
Advance preparation: You can blanch the spinach up to a day in advance. The dish can be assembled and refrigerated several hours before serving.