A Twist on Paella

If you've never had the opportunity to try paella, you really should find a Spanish restaurant and order it. Famous in the coastal regions of Spain (particularly Barcelona) the seafood and rice dish can easily fill you with a single helping. But, one of the main ingredients in paella is saffron... Between the $20 jar of saffron, paella rice, and the mix of seafood, you can easily spend $60 making paella for a family dinner. This variation uses sage instead of saffron, wild and brown rice instead of paella rice, and meat from land animals instead of seafood. 

Stuffed Zucchini

Every summer, we plant zucchini.  And every summer, we are up to our eyeballs in zucchini.  Last year, all that we knew to do with it was sliced in pasta sauce, grilled or in zucchini bread.  Being so abundant in Northern California, we figured there had to be more ways to utilize this delicious summer squash.  And there are!  This recipe is best with slightly bigger and fatter zucchini than what you'd find at the grocery store.  Homegrown zucchini that were left to grow a day too long are perfect. If you use smaller ones, you'll probably need more of them.  Or use smaller ones as a side dish.

Meatless Pizza

I'm not usually a fan of veggie pizza. But when you're selective about about your veggies, it can actually be quite delicious. Using zucchini, other summer squash, and sweet basil (all from my garden), plus Monterey Jack cheese, I made a delicious pizza. Add some fresh or sun dried tomatoes, olives and artichoke hearts and it's simply heaven!