Frosted Orange Sugar Cookies AND a Gluten-free Pasta Entree

Remember the cookie mixes I recently put together? I pulled one sugar cookie mix packet out yesterday morning to make a treat for a meeting today.


FROSTED ORANGE SUGAR COOKIES

Following the instructions, I added one stick (1/2 cup) of softened butter and one egg to the dry ingredients. In place of the 1/2 tsp. vanilla, I substituted 1/2 tsp. orange extract and finely grated zest from one medium orange. The result was a light sugar cookie with a hint of orange.

I thawed leftover buttercream icing from the freezer and added just enough orange juice to reach a suitable spreading consistency. Oh, yes, I added one “drop” of no-taste red coloring and one “drop” of yellow searching for a common orange color but ending up with a rather pleasing “creamsicle” look.

After topping each cookie with white and orange decorative candies, I plated them. Normally, I’d leave them out on a counter, but it was hot and humid yesterday so I stored them in the refrigerator.






CORN PASTA WITH SQUASH STRIPS



One of the food blogs that I follow featured a pasta dish that included wide, colorful strips of zucchini and yellow summer squash.

I loved the look of the squashes and decided to create my own meal using what I had on hand.

* Gluten-free corn pasta (cooked according to directions on package)

* Olive oil in a large fry pan with chopped onion and a handful of fresh parsley from the garden. (The parsley is delicious when it crisps up.)

Look ~ another use for your supply of zucchini!
* After the onion cooked, I added strips of zucchini and yellow summer squash (used a vegetable peeler to make the strips), garlic powder, leftover Canadian bacon--diced, leftover chicken breast--diced, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

* Only took a few minutes for the squashes to cook and the meats to warm up.

* Drained the pasta and added it to the vegetable/meat mixture.

This was so tasty especially when served with fresh, young salad greens from my garden, topped with a new salad dressing I’m trying out: Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Fat Free Balsamic Dressing (no high fructose corn syrup and it’s gluten-free).




Really good! Especially when followed by a couple of Frosted Orange Sugar Cookies.


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Monday schedule...



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A Zillion Zucchini

It’s still early in the season (here in New York State) for zucchini, but if you grow it yourself or have friends, relatives or neighbors who grow it, you need to start planning now. Contributions will be forthcoming. One little seed will produce numerous (maybe a zillion!) zucchini. Such a prolific plant!

Continuing my quest for great recipes from those I’ve saved on Pinterest, I found Grilled Zucchini Pizza Slices which tastes yummy with Zucchini as the “crust” even if you are not on a gluten-free diet. My other successful find was a recipe for Zucchini Bread. So many of those on Pinterest, so I read through several and settled on one which I changed up a bit and I must confess, it is absolutely delicious.

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GRILLED ZUCCHINI PIZZA SLICES
Go to Kalyn’s Kitchen for the recipe

*Instead of canned or bottled pizza sauce, I make my own. I simmer tomato paste with water to thin it to the consistency I wanted, then added (fresh/dried) herbs.
Try this or vary herbs according to your tastes:
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 3 ounces water
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- light shake of garlic powder (my stomach reacts badly to fresh garlic)
- a tiny pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- pinch of salt (optional).
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer, lower heat and let cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until reaches desired consistency.

*Use 3 times as much fresh herbs as dried. For example, if you usually add 1 teaspoon of dried oregano to a recipe, add three teaspoons of fresh.

*This time I used veggie pepperoni and Six Cheese Shredded Italian.

*Grilled Zucchini Pizza Slices can be made on a grill. Since I don't have an outdoor grill, I used a George Foreman tabletop grill for the initial grilling of 3/4-inch zucchini slices brushed with EVOO. After adding toppings, I put them under the oven broiler for few minutes.

*Very large zucchini (not uncommon in home gardens) work best. However, if want to serve as appetizers, go for the smaller ones, approximately 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

CHOCOLATE CHIP-WALNUT ZUCCHINI BREAD
(based on a recipe from Savoring Life with Anna Costa)

Ingredients...

1 cup all-purpose white flour
1/2-cup whole wheat flour
1/2-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2-teaspoon baking soda
1/2-teaspoon salt
1/4-teaspoon baking powder
1/4-teaspoon nutmeg (even better when you grate your own from whole nutmegs)
1 beaten egg
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup grated zucchini, unpeeled (do not squeeze out excess liquid)
1/4-cup cooking oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4-cup chopped walnuts

Directions...

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit. Grease bottoms and sides of a loaf pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flours, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg.

3. In another bowl, combine egg, sugar, zucchini and oil.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

5. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

6. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake 50-60 minutes, until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. You may see melted chocolate on the pick. As long as there is no batter, the bread is done.

8. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

9. Wrap securely and store in refrigerator.

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