Zucchini Tart and Quinoa Salad

So mr/miss peanut's due date is today, and it seems like it would never get here.  Who knows if this little one will actually show up today, so my MIL and myself having been doing all kinds of things here at the lake to keep busy, patiently (sometimes lol) waiting.  So far this week, we've frozen peas and beans from the garden, chopped cups and cups of rhubarb and frozen them for a later date, and we've been trying all kinds of new recipes.  I came accross one of these recipes in the August 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living.....Zucchini Tart, and the other that we tried, Quinoa salad, found over at http://alexandraroseboutique.blogspot.com. MMMMM they were both soo good, so I decided to share them with you....let me know what you think. 

Zucchini Tart

 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

9 sheets frozen phyllo douch

   (12 by 17 inches each) thawed

6 large eggs, lightly beaten

¾ cup heavy cream

¾ cup whole milk  (we used skim)

½ cup grated parmesan cheese  (we used ¾ cup)

1/3 cup fresh basil, cut into strips

    Course salt and freshly ground pepper

1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces)

     Very thinly sliced lengthwise

1.      Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and place an inverted baking sheet on the middle rack. 

 Brush a 10 – by – 15 inch      rimmed baking sheet with butter.

2.      Brush 1 phyllo sheet with butter, and fit into baking sheet, leaving a 1-inch overhang. ( keep remaining phylo sheets covered with plastic wrap as you work.)  Top with a second phyllo sheet in a slightly different position, and brush with butter.  Repeat with remaining phyllo and butter, creating a crust with a 1-inch overhang on all sides.  Fold edges under to double the thickness.  (Don’t worry if some pieces crack along the edge.)

3.      Whisk eggs, cream, milk, cheese, basil, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.

4.      Crumble 6 layers of foil into a rectangle the size of the tart, and fit into crust.  Bake crust, set on inverted sheet, until edges are golden, 7 to 8 minutes.  Remove foil.  Bake until surface is golden, 4 to 5 minutes.  Transfer crust to a wire rack, leaving inverted sheet in oven.

5.      Immediately pour custard carefully into crust (do not overfill).  Arrange zucchini over top, slightly overlapping.  Bake on inverted sheet until custard is set in center, 20 to 22 minutes.(we ended up making a tinfoil cover to go around the edges of the crust, so it didn’t burn)  Immediately slide tart onto wire rack, lifting from 1 end using a large, wide spatula.  Let cool 10 minutes before serving. 

Cold Quinoa Salad

Link to original Post

http://alexandraroseboutique.blogspot.com/2011/08/cold-quinoa-salad-perfect-for-summer.html

 

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked quinoa

large handful of cherry tomatoes

1 avocado

1 ear of corn

1 small carton of feta cheese {I used garlic herb}

approximately 1/2 cup of balsamic vinaigrette {you can use my recipe here, or store bought}

The first thing you'll want to do is read the package directions and cook your quiona.

I have fallen in love with my rice cooker, only for the reason that it cooks my quiona perfectly, so you could use your rice cooker as well.

Next, get the corn a 'cookin {or open a can, or heck, leave it out}.

tip for perfect corn: place shucked corn into a pot of cool water and put the pot on the stove on high. Once the water comes to a boil, set the timer for 4 minutes. Drain the water and enjoy your perfectly cooked corn.

The corn and quinoa take about the same amount of time to cook, which is pretty handy dandy. While you wait for the corn to cool enough to handle, chop up the rest of the ingredients.

I always tend to make this a teensy bit different each time,

but this time I used:

avocado, feta and cherry tomatoes

{in addition to the corn I cut off the cob once it was cooled}

 

If you try out the quinoa salad, please head over to Alexandra Rose Blog to give her your thanks, it's a great recipe.