Zucchini

Zucchini is not in season in March, but, thankfully, I had grated and frozen some this summer. Perfect for Barbara Kingsolver's disappearing zucchini orzo. Even with the vegetable frozen, our supper cooked faster than Bella's super porridge! While the orzo boils, chop and saute a little onion and garlic in olive oil. Add the zucchini. (I didn't bother to thaw it; just cooked it on high to evaporate the extra liquid.) When the orzo is al dente, drain, and toss with the zucchini mixture, salt, pepper, a little Italian seasoning (or fresh herbs), and grated Parmesan. Bella enjoyed it almost as much as we did!

In the same section of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle there's also a recipe for zucchini chocolate chip cookies. Haven't tried it, but I'll bet they're pretty tasty. On the subject of healthy chocolate chip cookies, there's a recipe in the February issue of Vegetarian Times for "The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World"-- seriously, that's the name of the recipe. Nick has become fascinated with the concept of vegan baking, so he made some the other night. They are yummy! (They're also so rich that I can only eat one at a time.) We didn't use vegan chocolate, so, technically, ours weren't vegan, but we did use dark chocolate chips, so they're still heart-healthy.

Recipes and links:
www.AnimalVegetableMiracle.com

The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World makes 30 cookies
(the recipe hasn't been posted to the VT website yet, so I'll type it out for you)
2 c walnuts
3 T canola oil
1 c light brown sugar
2 ts vanilla extract
1 1/2 c oat flour
1 ts baking soda
1 ts salt
1/4 ts ground cinnamon
2 c rolled oats
3 3.5-oz bars bittersweet vegan chocolate, chopped, or 1 1/2 c vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment.
Blend walnuts in food processor 30 seconds, or until ground into a fine meal. Add canola oil, and blend 2-3 mins more, or until mixture has the consistency of natural peanut butter, scraping down sides of food processor occasionally. Transfer to bowl.
Whisk together brown sugar and 1/2 c water in small saucepan, and bring mixture to a boil. Pour brown sugar mixture over ground walnut butter, add vanilla extract, and stir until no lumps remain.
Whisk together oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Stir oat flour mixture into walnut mixture. Cool 10 mins. You can skip the cooling step, but some of your chocolate will melt into the cookie. If that doesn't bother you, go ahead. Fold in oats, then chocolate chips.
Shape cookie dough into 2-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten cookies with bottom of drinking glass dipped in water. Bake 8-10 mins, or until cookies begin to brown and tops look dry. Do not overbake! Cool 3 mins on baking sheets, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.