Gardening

A neighbor of ours was nice enough to let us use some of their gardeing space this summer to plant our own garden. It's been quite the experience. We have finally gotten to the point where our garden is getting the type of attention it should be getting. While we could be doing better, things are going well. Inspite and because of the lack of attention it got at the beginning some plants are doing well while others I'm not sure of. The green bean planter box is always the last to be weeded, and by that time the kids are running out of patience, so for this summer I don't know how much vegetables we'll see from them this season. On the other hand the zucchini and cherry tomatoes have done well, and we are starting to see our cantaloup and watermelon start to grow. We have learned a few things so hopefully next year will be a better success.
We have had probably 10 zucchini so far and more to come. With that I've done some looking around and experimenting on new ways to use it. So with that said, I'm going to share with you the new recipe I have found and we LOVE. I have done some tinkering with it, and have added some sausage to it, which is great, and also we love this served up with spaghetti with my homemade red sauce (which I will do later, it's good, it's easy and even turned a friend of mine that wasn't a red sauce fan into one, or at least of fan of this one).

Baked Stuffed Zucchini

A side dish for four, a vegetarian main dish for two. These can be made hours ahead of time, and just stored in the fridge until ready to bake.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Halve lengthwise:
2 medium zucchini
With a small spoon, carefully scrape out the pulp, leaving a 3/8 inch thick shell. Steam the shells cut side down for 5 minutes. Coasrsely chop the pulp. Heat in a small skillet until softened, about 3 minutes:
2 tsp olive oil or butter
3 TBS finely chopped onion
Meanwhile, squeeze the moisture out of the chopped zucchini, then add it to the pan along with:
1 clove garlic, minced
Cook for 2 minutes more. Turn into a bowl and compbine with:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp chopped marjoram, tarragon, basil, or thyme
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
salt and blake pepper to taste
Spoon the filling into the zucchini shells and set them in a baking dish. Drizzle the tops with:
olive oil
Add water to come 1/8 inch up the sides of the shells. Bake until zucchini is tenter and the top is browned, about 30 minutes. Let cook a few minutes before serving.