Showing posts with label zucchini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zucchini. Show all posts

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Z for zucchini for #AtoZChallenge: zucchini bok choy stir-fry recipe

Zucchini, also known as courgette / 夏南瓜, is a summer squash. A funny poem about zucchini and summer entitled Attack of the Squash People by Marge Piercy goes:
"And thus the people every year
in the valley of humid July
did sacrifice themselves to the long green phallic god
and eat and eat and eat.
They're coming, they're on us,
the long striped gourds,
the silky babies, the hairy adolescents,
the lumpy vast adults like the trunks of green elephants.

Recite fifty zucchini recipes!
Zucchini tempura; creamed soup;
sauté with olive oil and cumin,
tomatoes, onion; frittata;
casserole of lamb; baked topped with cheese;
marinated; stuffed; stewed;
driven through the heart like a stake.

Get rid of old friends:
they too have gardens and full trunks.
Look for newcomers:
befriend them in the post office,
unload on them and run.
Stop tourists in the street.
Take truckloads to Boston.
Give to your Red Cross.
Beg on the highway:
please take my zucchini,
I have a crippled mother at home with heartburn.

Sneak out before dawn to drop them in other people's gardens,
in baby buggies at church doors.
Shot, smuggling zucchini into mailboxes, a federal offense.
With a suave reptilian glitter
you bask among your raspy fronds sudden and huge as alligators.
You give and give too much, like summer days limp with heat,
thunderstorms bursting their bags on our heads,
as we salt and freeze and pickle for the too little to come."

Zucchini contains useful amounts of folate / folic acid (24 μg/100 g), potassium (280 mg/100 g) and vitamin A (384 IU [115 μg]/100 g). 

While looking for star anise (for sea cucumber recipe) at Bishan NTUC Fairprice Finest, I came across yellow zucchini - products of Malaysia. Since it has been produced regionally, I asked myself, "why not try a new dish with zucchini?"

zucchini bok choy stir-fry recipe by ServicefromHeart

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 30 Wed, I lovingly present a recipe of zucchini bok choy stir-fry.

zucchini bok choy stir-fry recipe by ServicefromHeart
 
Dear loves it, he describes zucchini as being slightly similar to aubergine / eggplant.

Servings: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes or until crispy tender

Ingredients:
♥ 1 zucchini (夏南瓜), washed & julienned
♥ 2 bok choy (小白菜), washed & cut
♥ 5 cherry tomatoes (樱桃番茄)
♥ 1 tbsp olive oil (橄榄油)
♥ 1 tbsp peanut butter (花生酱)
♥ 1 knob ginger (), minced
♥ 5 cloves garlic (蒜头), minced
♥ 1 tsp dried shrimp (虾米), minced
♥ 1 tsp DOM Bénédictine (法国廊酒)
♥ pepper (胡椒粉) to taste

Directions:
1. Wash & cut zucchini & bok choy.
2. Sautee ginger, garlic, dried shrimp with heated olive oil until fragrant.
3. Add zucchini, peanut butter, DOM, pepper.
4. Add bok choy & stir-fry until cooked.
5. Garnish with cherry tomatoes.

zucchini bok choy stir-fry recipe by ServicefromHeart



Tips:
♥ If you buy green color zucchini, Choose bright green color one with a max length of 25-30 cm. Larger ones may be bitter.
♥ May I also suggest an easy recipe of zucchini soup with meatballs?

zucchini bok choy stir-fry recipe by ServicefromHeart

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.


With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140430

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs

Meatballs, also known as bakso in Indonesian, often bring back happy memories. A childhood song "Abang tukang bakso, mari mari sini, aku mau beli. Abang tukang bakso, cepat donk kemari, sudah tak tahan lagi" - echoes in my mind.

It literally means "meatballs seller brother, please come, please come here, I wanna buy! Meatball seller brother! Please come her quick, I cannot hold it anymore!"

A bowl of bakso was sold for Rp200 and later Rp500 when I was a primary school student! Today, a US$ is ~ about Rp11,400.

Listening to the song sung by Melisa inspired me to design a simple breakfast of easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs / 夏南瓜莲藕肉圆汤.

easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs by ServicefromHeart

Serving: 1-2
Preparation time: 5* + 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

* I mix the meat ball ingredients the night before.

Ingredients:
♥ 1 zucchini (夏南瓜), sliced
♥ 1 tsp anchovies (凤尾鱼)
♥ 1 tsp wolfberries / Goji berries (枸杞子), washed & soaked
♥ 1 tbsp parsley (香菜), chopped
♥ 300 ml water, () filtered if possible
for meat balls / meat coins:
♥ 1 tbsp meat (), grounded & blanched
♥ 3 tbsp sweet potato flour (薯粉)
♥ 1 tsp lotus root powder (莲藕粉)
♥ 1 tsp oat (燕麦)
♥ 2 cloves garlic (大蒜), minced
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 0.5 tsp pepper (胡椒粉), grounded
♥ 0.5 tsp sugar ()
♥ 0.5 tsp light soy sauce / kecap asin


Directions:
1. Mix ingredients for meat balls in a bowl. Leave in a fridge overnight to marinade or you can use it immediately.
2. Boil anchovies in a pot of water.
3. Shape meat mixture into balls & dump into the anchovies stock when it boils.
4. Add zucchini & wolfberries.
5. Once cooked, turn off the heat & add parsley. Enjoy!

easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs by ServicefromHeart

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140327