Chocolate Zucchini Bread

John's favorite quick bread ever is chocolate zucchini bread. This recipe from Crazy Plates, by Janet and Greta Podleski, is very tasty. There's applesauce in place of a lot of oil, and there's no milk (much to the delight of the lactose intolerant 12 year old). Just make sure to use dark chocolate chips, then. Mmm! What a fun way to eat veggies!

The biggest bonus? It's chocolaty, moist, and delicious. So much so that this recipe makes 2 loaves. You'll need them.

Adapted from Crazy Plates

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups packed, grated zucchini
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 F and butter two 8x4 inch loaf pans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine four, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, applesauce, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Stir in the zucchini. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out fairly clean (some melted chocolate from the chips is okay). Cool 5 minutes in the pans before you turn them out and let cool on a rack.

Makes 2 loaves.

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Greek Prawns with Feta

Plump prawns in a herby tomato sauce, with hunks of salty feta make for a delicious meal over rice or orzo pasta. Sometimes I serve it with hot buttered egg noodles, salad, and a good bread to soak up bits of sauce. When I made it this week Jake and Hubs didn't say a word through the entire dinner-they were too busy eating!

Original recipe from The Easy Gourmet, published by Safeway Canada.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, slivered
2 1/2 cups fresh Roma tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup dry white wine (you can substitute chicken broth)
1 1 /2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp (approx) tomato paste
1 1/2 lbs (750 g) prawns, deveined and shelled (you can leave the tails on for show)
8 oz feta cheese, drained and crumbled
3 tbsp snipped fresh basil leaves
lemon wedges

Saute onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add garlic and continue to saute until pale golden. Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes and sugar. Cook until the tomatoes release and then start to reabsorb their juices. Stir in the white wine, oregano, salt and pepper.

Cover skillet, turn down the heat to low, and simmer for about 25 minutes. The tomatoes should break down to create a thick sauce. I found it a bit runny so I took the lid off and continued to simmer it for about 5 minutes longer, adding the tomato paste and breaking up the bits of of tomato with a wooden spoon. It did come together and make a wonderfully rich tomato sauce.

Heat oven to 400 F. Pour sauce into a shallow, oiled baking dish. Arrange the prawns on top.
Sprinkle with crumbled feta. Bake in the center of the oven for about 10-12 minutes, just until prawns are cooked pink and the feta is beginning to melt. (**I find that I do need to stir it a bit so that all the prawns cook, and I almost always end up turning the broiler on and standing right by the stove to watch them cook...otherwise at 400F it takes MUCH longer then 10-12 minutes).

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the fresh basil. Serve with hot orzo (rice shaped pasta). Yum! Serve with fresh lemon wedges to squeeze over top.

**To peel tomatoes: Fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water and allow them to cook until the skin splits, then remove and plunge into cold water. The skin should them peel right off quite easily.

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Chocolate Fondue

Also known as...."How to Make Your Family Worship the Ground you Walk on"

1. Melt 8 oz of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until smooth.

2. Add 1/3 cup of whipping cream, 3 Tbsp of Bailey's Irish Cream, and stir.

3. Continue stirring until smooth and warm

Serve with sliced strawberries, pineapple, apples, bananas, and pretzels. Each family member gets a fork to dip the fruit into the warm chocolate.

(okay, skip the Irish cream if you have little kids, but Jake is 12 so we okayed it)

If you have leftovers (which we did), you can put it in the fridge to re-heat later. To re-heat, put in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds at a time, stirring and heating until until melted and warm.

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Carrot Banana Bread

This is a tasty way to use up those leftover bananas on the counter! I like quick breads because they can be sliced, each sliced wrapped in plastic wrap, then they are ready to just pull from the freezer and pop into a lunch box. You can also make a "snack sandwich" by taking two thin-ish and spreading peanut butter, cream cheese, or even Nutella (as a treat) in the middle.

Adapted From Food to Grow On by Susan and Rena Mendelson

3/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed banana (about 3)
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup grated carrots
1 tsp vanilla

Extra sugar to sprinkle over top.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, and continue to mix until fluffy. Stir in the mashed banana.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Add to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the grated carrots and walnuts, if using.

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and pour in the batter, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and bake at 350 F for about 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let rest for 15 minutes before removing from pan and allow to cool on rack before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf, about 10 slices.

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Chicken and Bean Quesidillas with Home made Tortillas

Can you make your own tortillas and filling for this? You betcha. I worked in a Foods class once where a bunch of teens made this totally on their own. They were absolutely a family favourite when I re-created the dish at home. This recipe is a bit work intensive-if you don't want to make your own tortillas, you can just substitute some store bought 6 inch tortillas and I promise I won't tell. I've been known to do that myself on busy nights.

Our secret!

The recipe is from a Foods class that I work in, and I don't know the source exactly....whoever it is, they are brilliant.

Makes 6 six inch Quesidillas

2 full chicken breasts (4 breast halves)..cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 jalapeño pepper (if you like spicy)
1 small diced onion
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp chili powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
*optional add-ins...black olives or corn to your liking...

1 can (398 ml) re-fried beans
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Make home made tortillas (see below). They really aren't that hard, and are so much better for this recipe!

Saute chicken in a small amount of oil until no longer pink. Transfer to plate, cool, and shred. In the same pan, saute onion, jalapeño (if using), and garlic until translucent. Add the chili powder, cumin, and cardamom and continue to cook for about 30 seconds. Stir into the chicken mixture.

Lay six of the tortillas onto baking sheets. Divide the beans among them, smearing the mixture right out to the edges. Top with chicken mixture, and then with cheese and lay a tortilla on top of each. Brush the tops lightly with oil.

Bake at 425 F for about 8-10 minutes (watching closely) until cheese is melted and it's hot. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole!

*The original recipe says that you can gently fry the quesidillas in a lightly oiled non stick pan, which can be tasty but I find this way less greasy.


Home made Tortillas (makes 12 six inch tortillas)

300 ml whole wheat flour
450 ml all purpose flour
6 ml salt
90 ml margarine
90 ml warm water

Mix everything together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until it all comes together. Turn out on a floured counter and knead for 5 minutes. Then divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, cover with a tea towel and set in a warm spot to rest for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 450 F. (can't believe I forgot this line! Ack!)

Roll each ball of dough into a 6 inch round tortilla and place on an upside down cookie sheet. (really! The bottom! I know this is weird, and I have no idea why this is, but it works. Strange.)

Cook for 3 minutes, then cool on rack before proceeding to topping with the quesidilla fillings.

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Scattered Mom's Tater wedges

Our family doesn't do fries. When we have a hankering for something tater-y, we make potato wedges..less fat, less chemical junk from the packaged stuff, and they are very yummy! These don't cook up especially crispy like fries, but they are a very nice alternative.

The measurements here aren't exact, but try to play along. Go on, you can do it!

Some potatoes...depends on how many people you have. I like white potatoes best for these, because then you don't have to peel them. The nugget sized ones work well. Not tiny, not large, but about the size of a kiwi.

About 1 tbsp of olive oil..just enough to coat them.

A good sprinkle of Montreal Chicken Spice

Turn your oven on to 425 F.

The potatoes get sliced in 1/2, and then each 1/2 is cut into 4 wedges. In a bowl, drizzle them with the olive oil and then toss with a liberal sprinkle of the spice mix.

Put a baking sheet in the oven all by it's lonesome for about 3 minutes to get nice and hot. This is a trick I learned in a cooking class...the potatoes don't stick then! Who would've known that?!

Take the hot pan out and toss on your prepped taters. They should be in a single layer. Put them back in the oven for about 17-20 minutes. Stir, shake, toss occasionally to keep them from only cooking on one side.

Serve immediately with ketchup.

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