Empanadas!! (deserve two exclamation points)

Grace: Penn, what do you want me to make with this ground beef?

Penn: The only good thing to make with ground beef is a burger.

Grace: The only good burger is on a grill.

Penn: (googlegoogleepicurioussmittenkitchen) Let's make these.

Grace: (the night before a 15,000 word report is due) Okay!

Dipped in creamy cilantro sauce. Best use of frozen shortcrust EVER.

Italian Overload

I just got back to England from Italy. Needless to say, I'm a bit culinarily depressed. To abate this, I've been filling the kitchen with a LOT of Italian scents since I got home. Tonight it was this:

Zucchini Rice Gratin.

The recipe was taken directly from here, and I made virtually no change to it (little extra cheese here, some generous drizzles of olive oil there). Unfortunately, I was running around the kitchen too dramatically to take pictures of the process. I can almost guarantee, however, that you will have all the ingredients in your fridge on most average days of the week.

So, Penn and I had a vegetarian dinner that felt like nothing of the sort! The wedges of gratin were accompanied by a massive plate of Caprese scattered with olives of various kinds. And this American girl couldn't live without a bit of garlic bread to add some carbs to this delightfully Mediterranean meal.

A long, drool-worthy blog about Bologna food coming up soon!

No-Fry Zucchini Fries

Here in England, fries (aka chips) are sold under the category 'Frozen Vegetables' in the grocery store. I know this because I buy my groceries online for delivery to our flat (free delivery is great) and, in that case, one shops by clickable category instead of walkable aisle. This is all to say, as much as I love me some deep fried potatoes, their nutritional value isn't up to snuff.

So, I asked myself, "Self? What is it you like about french-fried potatoes?" The answer was simple:

Salt

and

Grease

When I looked a bit deeper, I also realized that I like the crunchy texture they add alongside my burger. I like dipping them in sauces. I just like.

Tonight's goal, then, was to get a zucchini:

to accomplish the task of a tater. A real veg for a fake one. If we're aiming for nutrition, I also had to give up the grease. No potato, no grease, but I can keep the rest. The result was very pleasing.

Homemade No-Fry Zucchini Fries take more time to assemble than tossing some frozen Ore-Idas onto a baking sheet, but they do not disappoint.

To get started you'll need:

3 medium zucchini (courgettes in the UK)

1 cup plain bread crumbs (I made my own for the first time! Really easy and embarrassing to admit)

3/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs (you may get away with one, so you can start with that)