Hello Fellow Foodies!
I hope you all are enjoying your summers and with that—your summer garden vegetables!
Growing up, my family always had a garden. Eating wholesome meals with fresh foods (no preservatives, additives, etc.) was something my father always stressed to my sister and me. Needless to say, this month’s theme of “From the Garden to the Table” was right up my alley! I figured, what better way to celebrate than by preparing a delicious summer appetizer, full of fresh veggies.
To begin, I raided our garden…
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Here is everything you will need:
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Ingredients:
I large zucchini (mine was XXL, so I used half)
1 Tbsp salt
Olive oil to drizzle
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
A dash of Italian seasoning (optional)
Pepper to taste
4 small-medium tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion
1 Tbsp fresh oregano
2 tsp fresh parsley
1 tsp fresh basil
1 small package of fresh mozzarella
Servings: 6
Total Time: approx 50 min
Directions
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1. After you have pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees, slice the zucchini into ¼ inch thick rounds. Since my zucchini was so large, I only sliced half—which was 12 rounds.
2. Salt the zucchini rounds to get out any excess moisture. If your zucchini is very moist, you may want to let it sit in the salt for 20 minutes prior to preparing.
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3. Combine the panko and Parmesan in a bowl and toss with hands. I used both shredded and grated Parmesan to get a nice mixture of textures. Then I added a dash of pepper and sodium-free Italian seasoning.
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4. After brushing the zucchini rounds with olive oil, toss them in the Parmesan-panko mixture. Once they are all coated, top with the extra mixture and place in the oven to bake (25 min).
While the zucchini crisps are baking, make the bruschetta topping.
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5. Dice the tomatoes and half of the onion and place in a bowl.
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6. Chop the parsley, basil and oregano and add to mixture.
*Tip for chopping oregano: Pluck or slide leaves off of the stem before chopping—the stems are very hard and not pleasant to chew.
*Note: If the mixture seems too watery from the tomato juices, use a flour sifter to strain the excess liquid. You don’t want it to be too wet or it will make your zucchini crisps soggy.
7. Now that the bruschetta topping is ready, it’s time to slice the fresh mozzarella. I chose to use the kind that rolls out into a sheet so that it was easy to cut and in nice thin slices (as not to overwhelm the dish).
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Once those beautiful golden crisps come out of the oven they should look something like this…
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8. Top the zucchini crisps with a spoonful of bruschetta and a slice of fresh mozzarella. I like to put the mozzarella on the top because its not only out-of-this-world delicious, but it also helps hold all the tiny pieces of the bruschetta onto the crisp.
9. Finally, pop the crisps back into the oven so that the cheese melts (approx. 5 min) and ENJOY!
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From my garden to yours, happy August, Foodies!
Lauren J
Please don’t forget to share with us how you prepare your favorite garden goodies!