Meatless Monday

If, like me, you’ve woken from a meat-induced Superbowl coma this morning feeling groggy and still a little bloated from the night before, Meatless Monday might just be something that appeals to you. Not that I didn’t love those pulled pork nachos yesterday… but todays a new day.

Now, for all those Veggie-Fearing Folk: taking out the meat does not mean taking out the flavour – that’s what we have cheese for. Here is a vegetable substituted recipe for pizza snacks - quick, delicious, and easy to prepare.

Zucchini Pizza Rounds

You will need:
1 large zucchini
Homemade tomato sauce, which I have conveniently provided you with a recipe for! The Store bought stuff works too
Parmesan cheese, or the grated cheese of your choice
Any other pizza toppings you might enjoy. I used a finely cut red onion for a little sweetness, and finely cut spinach.

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 400

Slice zucchini into finger-width rounds (Look at those rounds, I found the zucchini at the produce store for like 50 cents! IGA… eat your heart out)

Add a dollop of tomato sauce to each round.
Finely chop whatever pizza toppings you want to include, and scatter over rounds.

Top each round off with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the parmesan is golden.
Let zucchini rounds cool for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Alternatively, you can make a great non-pizza zucchini snack. Douse zucchini rounds in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and top with parmesan cheese.

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Mom’s Zucchini Pie

I remember my Mom made this dish a lot when I was younger and I always insisted I hated it, until upon trying it I’d clear my plate every time. I think my kid-brain just didn’t like the idea of eating a vegetable “pie”; pie was supposed to be sweet, with oozing fruity goodness inside!

Carrots, Zucchini, Onion

As I and my taste evolved I admitted how good this vegetable “pie” really was; fresh zucchini, onions, carrots, grated cheese, all baked to a crispy golden perfection. Last week in thanks of my Mom’s help with moving I helped her prepare this dish for supper. At this stage in her culinary life she’s great with improvising, and at the last-minute we realized we had no oregano or basil, but thyme worked great in fact I think I liked it even better.

I love zucchini, they are the reason I enjoy this dish, but you can add or omit most any vegetable to your liking.

Mom’s Zucchini Pie

3 eggs
1/8 cup oil
2 tbsp butter
1 cup flour
Oregano/basil/thyme to taste
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 big zucchini
2 carrots
grated cheese

Grated Cheddar with pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Whisk together eggs and oil in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl mix flour, butter, seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Mix until crumbly, then add to eggs and oil.
In a food processor chop vegetables. Grate desired amount of cheese, then combine vegetables and cheese with other ingredients. Stir well.
Cook 45 minutes – 1 hour at 350° in a well-greased casserole dish.