Zucchini Burger

Zucchini - the delectable summer squash. All my life I have desecrated this beautiful vegetable by tossing it into stir-fry, letting it get all soft and soggy... The secret to unlocking its true potential is to grill it!
Zucchini has a wonderfully subtle, sweet flavor and is loaded with water. Like mushrooms, you might have noticed that it releases a lot of liquid when heated. The key is to cook out those juices in order to intensify their flavor.

Zucchini Burger - grilled in the pan!

1 Zucchini
1 Red Onion
dry thyme
1 tsp extra Virgin Olive Oil or Butter (or a mix of both)
Your choice of salt - I recommend Kosher or Pink
1 Tomato, ripe
1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce
Mayonnaise - I recommend Kyuupi Mayonnaise
(You can find this at most Asian food stores)

CUT full-length slices of zucchini 1/4 inch thick, same with the red onion and tomatoes. Set aside the tomatoes for assembly later.

HEAT your pan with either olive oil or butter over medium/low heat. Lay out the zucchini and onion slices (intact like they do at In&Out) and sprinkle over a pinch of salt. The salt will draw out the liquid from the vegetables. The key here is low and slow - if it's too hot, the food will burn. You'll know when it's ready to flip them over by the sweet smell. The sugars in the vegetables will start to caramelize and give the veggies a beautiful color and aroma. When they're gorgeous on both sides, sprinkle a bit of thyme, and give both sides an extra 30 sec to 1 minute to allow the herbs to open up in the oils left in the pan. Set the veggies aside on a plate for assembly.

TOAST your favorite bun or roll in the same pan. Add a bit of butter or oil to the pan if you need - there is usually enough residual oils left so I don't bother. When it's got that golden crispy crust, turn off the heat.

Start assembly from the bottom bun.

Step 1: Spread the mayo on the bottom bun - this acts as a fatty shield to keep your crispy bun from getting soggy.

Step 2: Lay out your zucchini first, then your red onion. I add a smidgen of a sprinkling of salt here. The key point is to bring out the sweetness in the vegetables - do not go overboard and make this into a salty mess.

Step 3: Tomatoes. I think that's pretty self-explanatory.

Step 4: Iceberg lettuce... lots of it! It is in my opinion that a heaping of iceberg lettuce is most harmonious for this recipe. Its crispy and refreshing - and it won't fight the wonderful flavors that come with the grilled zucchini and onion. Go ahead and try your romaine, alfalfa, or even arugula... but once, just once try it with the iceberg.

Enjoy!

Pictures

I'm sorry about the lack of pictures. It's just that I find it extremely tortuous to take a photo of yummy food and drink when it's ready to be consumed... I don't want to spend that extra 10 minutes setting up the shot when all I want to do is put it in my mouth.

Anyhow, I'll try to be better about bringing you more photos in the future.

The New Tuna Noodle Casserole

As I may have mentioned, I've been on a healthy eating kick. Luckily for you, that doesn't mean compromising taste. You know me!!!

How excited was I to discover that tuna noodle casserole is - dare I say - more delicious with a tomato base?!?!?! I know, I couldn't believe it either! Here is the breakdown:

Ingredients:
1 can of tuna (2 oz.)
1 can of tomato sauce (8 0z.)
1/2 cup green beans, freshly steamed
1/2 cup corn, canned or fresh
1/2 red onion, diced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Shredded parmesan cheese for topping, optional
Salt to taste
Dash of olive oil

1 cup whole grain pasta of your choice
(I recommend pasta shells)

Equipment:
Frying Pan
Sauce Pan
Colander
9 inch pie dish or casserole dish

This is super easy!

BOIL pasta according to directions, drain, set aside. Be sure it's al dente - or you'll have mushy casserole on your hands.

FRY the diced red onion in a smidgen of olive oil over medium-high heat. The purpose of the frying pan is not to cook or color our veggies, but to steam away the excess water keeping our casserole flavorlicious. Set aside in pie dish and spread evenly. Throw in the green beans and corn into the same pan and sprinkle with a dash of salt. Watch for whisps of steam to rise. The salt will draw the water out and enhance the sweetness of the fresh vegetables. When that stops - about 5 min later - transfer the veggies to the pie dish. The reason why we do the green beans and corn separately is because they have significantly higher moisture content than the onions. It would be steamed soggy city if we tried to do it all at once - as they say, three's a crowd.

DRAIN the canned tuna and throw it in the pan for 30 seconds. If you don't want to torture your cats or family with the smell of tuna wafting down your halls, you can skip this step. Personally, I don't mind it, but it's no biggie if you forgo it. Crumble tuna across the veggies.

POUR the canned tomato sauce across your veggie tuna mix, but save about 2 Tbsp or so. Salt to taste*

SPRINKLE dried herbs over the dish. Mix the remaining tomato sauce with the pasta and spoon over pie dish - the tomato sauce will help keep the pasta from drying out. Top with parmesan cheese.

COVER the dish lightly with foil and bake at 325°F for 30 min. Remove the foil and finish in the broiler in mere minutes - DO NOT WALK AWAY UNLESS YOU WANT CHARRED CASSEROLE!!!

*A word of caution about salting. There are two very important purchases that affect the salt content of this dish. First is your tuna - some tunas packed in olive oil overseas are also salted. Genova brand tuna is extremely salty. I would stick to solid white albacore packed in water. Second is your canned tomato sauce. Hunts has a sauce that comes pre-seasoned. It's actually pretty tasty, but it is pre-salted as well. If you want to have total control over your sodium, I recommend sticking with the all natural line.

I've made this dish despite it being summer... like... at least 5 times in the last month. It's so tasty and good for you. Enjoy!