Farmers Market Summer Squash & Zucchini = Veggie Delight!

Last night, I made two more fantastic vegetarian meals using fresh veggies from the City Hall Farmers Market. Both recipes, I read off Debs Smitten Kitchen Blog. I adapted both but she has some amazing ideas and I was really excited to make both of these recipes. The first was a Pizza using the fresh ingredients below- squash and zucchini.


Summer Squash & Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:
-1/2 of store bought pizza dough for the thin pizza
-1 lemon
-4 ounces of herbed goat cheese, at room temperture
-1 medium zucchini, VERY thinly sliced
-1.5 summer squashes, thinly sliced (see pic above- I don't have a Mandoline, but if you did, you could go for 1/8 thick)
-Couple Drizzles of Olive Oil
-Lots of S &P
-Feta Cheese to crumble on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out dough into a thin 12-inch circle and dust it with flour. In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese with 1/2 the lemon juice and season it with lots of S & P. Then use a spatula to spread it over your pizza. Next arrange zucchini coins over the goat cheese in circle, overlapping each internal circle, alternating colors so it looks prrrreeetty. Then season with salt and pepper and a couple drizzles of olive oil. I also added some sprinkled feta cheese and baked in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

This is what it looked like pre-baking....

And this is what it looked like after...

Along with the pizza, I made Kale Chips (also fresh from the Farmer's Market) by roasting them in the oven (it was screeching hot so I didn't put it in there very long) with EVOO, Salt and Pepper and Red Pepper Flakes. AND... I also decided to make Zucchini and Summer Squash Soup. We are going away this weekend, so I wanted to use up the veggies I had and I saw a similar soup on Debs website so I wanted to try it. Her recipe called for buttermilk, and I had buttermilk, but when I got home I noticed it was past its prime, so instead I used cream. So good, you guys gotta try this!

Creamy Summer Squash and Zucchini Soup with Kale

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon of EVOO with 1 tablespoon of butter
-1/2 a red onion, diced (use shallots if you have it, but I didn't have one)
-couple pinches of salt
-pinch of red pepper flakes
-1.5 summer squash diced
-1.5 green zucchini, diced
-2 rustic potatoes (also from the Farmers Market) diced
-3 garlic coves, minced
-3 cups of veggie stock or enough to cover the vegetables
-2/3 cup of cream
-some crumbled feta to garnish
-a couple handfulls of kale

Heat olive oil/butter in large thick-bottomed pan over medium heat. Stir in the onions, salt, red pepper flakes. Saute until onions are tender - a couple minutes. Stir in the squash and potatoes, and cook until the squash starts a little tender - a few minutes. Stir in the garlic, and then add the stock to the pot to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.


Puree with a hand blender. (THIS IS MY FAVORITE KITCHEN GADGET!!!) I didn't puree completely- I liked it a bit chunkier. At this point, I also added in the kale. Slowly whisk in the cream, taste, and adjust the seasoning - adding more salt if needed. Then serve and add some feta cheese and more kale.

Our serving plate:

Pizza, Kale and Soup.

And my plate:
I'm gearing up run at the gym soon. I wanted to go early this morning but couldn't get up. On tap is 6 miles as fast as I can. Then I get to eat these leftovers for lunch!