Meatless Monday: Mini Frittatas and Shaved Zucchini Salad

I grow many of my own vegetables, and I also make a weekly trip to the farmers’ market to pick up the fresh produce that I did not grow, was not successful growing, or that is not ripe yet in my garden. Currently, tomatoes fall into the “not ripe yet” category. I have about 20 plants, and all the fruit is still green. Thank goodness my local farmers have greenhouses, because I just couldn’t imagine having to wait until mid-August to eat a fresh vine-ripened beauty!

Photograph © 2008 by Scott Dorrance,
excerpted from Dishing Up Vermont

I hope that you have ripened garden tomatoes or a good local produce source to purchase them. As I flipped through the pages of our cookbooks for recipes, this one jumped out at me. I can’t wait to give it a try (and I probably will after this coming weekend’s trip to the FM*).

The other featured vegetable is zucchini. My garden is producing two to four squash a week. I grew only two plants this year — plenty for my small family of three. However, many of my fellow gardeners have summer squash in overabundance right now.

Let’s get cooking!

Mini Frittatas with Zucchini, Goat Cheese, and Tomatoes
Recipe from Does’ Leap Farm

I made the frittata recipe for lunch yesterday.
They were moist, flavorful, and delicious!

Yield: 12 mini frittatas

1¾ cups grated zucchini
Salt
2 eggs
¼ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 2 ounces), or to taste
¼ cup seeded and minced ripe tomato (about half of one medium)
1½ tablespoons minced fresh basil

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Lightly oil and flour a mini muffin tin; set aside.

2. Place zucchini in a colander, and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place colander in a bowl, and set aside to drain for about 15 minutes. Place salted zucchini between double layers of paper towels, and gently press down to remove any excess water.

3. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl. Add zucchini, flour, cheddar cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Spoon mixture into each muffin cup, just even with the rim, and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese. Bake in the oven until the edges are crisp and brown and frittatas are set, about 12 minutes. Carefully remove from oven, and top evenly with tomatoes and basil. Return to oven, and bake until tomatoes have heated through, about 1 minute.

Recipe excerpted from Dishing Up Vermont by Tracy Medeiros © 2008. All rights reserved.

Shaved Zucchini and Basil Salad
with Gualjillo Chile Vinaigrette
Recipe from Chef Brendan Mahaney of Belly

Yield: 4–6 servings

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
¼ cup sherry vinegar
Salt
6 medium green and yellow zucchini (about 2 pounds)
1 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn
Parmesan cheese shavings, for garnish

1. Warm the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the chiles and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until the chiles are bright red and the garlic fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat.

2. Transfer the chiles to a blender with a slotted spoon. Set the olive oil and garlic aside to cool slightly.

3. Pulse the chiles in the blender until finely chopped. Blend in the vinegar and a pinch of salt until well combined. Add the olive oil and garlic, and blend until the vinaigrette is brick red and well combined. Strain the vinaigrette through a fine-mesh strainer. Discard the pulp. Salt to taste.

4. Trim the ends off the zucchini, and cut them in half lengthwise. Shave into long, thin ribbons using a mandolin. Discard any unusable scraps.

5. Toss the zucchini and basil with the vinaigrette until well combined. Divide the salad among four to six plates, and garnish with shavings of Parmesan before serving.

Recipe excerpted from Dishing Up Oregon by Ashley Gartland © 2011. All rights reserved.

*I wrote this post on Thursday, but amended it on Monday morning. As You can see from the photograph and accompanying caption, I did give the recipe a try using the tomatoes and eggs I bought at the farmer’s market.
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Meatless Monday posts are my effort to pitch the idea of eating meatless one day or one meal a week — for health, for the well-being of animals, and for the environment. I encourage you to give it a try. I also suggest trying variations of these recipes with the produce you have on hand. Additionally, if you are not yet ready to go a full day meat-free, try using these veggie-packed recipes as the focus of your meal.

Our Meatless Monday Archives:
Braised Chard Pizza and Farmhouse Salad