Simple Baked Zucchini Recipe

Just want to write down this really simple healthy zucchini recipe. You just need zucchini (chopped into cubes about a half inch square) plus a fat (butter or oil) and a bit of flavor (even just a few shakes of salt and pepper). Chop the zucchini into small pieces, toss it with the oil, salt, and pepper -- maybe throw in some chopped onion or garlic, or sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top -- and bake for 15-20 minutes at about 375 degrees, until the zucchini pieces reach your desired tenderness. I like them to cook pretty much all the way through but not completely soggy. Use a decent amount of oil/butter/salt for a stronger flavor if you prefer. Use this little starter recipe with whatever else you want to throw in -- tomatoes, red peppers, fresh basil, etc...

chopped zucchini

tossed with oil, salt, pepper, and chopped onion

glass baking dish, about 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes

done, super easy, less than 5 ingredients, from the yarden to the table

served with steamed homegrown broccoli and a pizza from Donatelli's

Garden Update Video

Take a brief tour of JoeSoGarden in Pittsburgh's historic Bloomfield neighborhood. I took this video June 25, 2013, and have since harvested both those heads of broccoli. The second grew as large as my JoeSoHeady head.

JoeSoGarden Update -- Poppin' Off

The garden has really exploded over the last month. I need to reign in the tomatoes before they destroy the onions. The broccoli has sprouted nice, large, dense heads. The carrot row looks like a little forest, and the triangle plot got some transplants and a row of yellow and pink flowers. I've made mojitos twice with the mint. The cilantro has turned into coriander and the basil looks fantastic. Take a look!

broccoli head

broccoli plants

carrots

onions, crushed by tomato plants! 

cilantro, grown from seeds, very easy and fast

basil

cilantro from seedling that flowered into coriander (I guess?)

need to figure out how to handle those tomato plants in the middle/right...

the other little plot with some flowering plants

broccoli transplants from the other side ... need a splash of water

this will have yellow and orange flowers in the fall

mint for mojitos

JoeSoGarden Update: Red Pepper, Banana Pepper, and Tomatoes

I just want to check in with a quick Garden update. I put the rest of my seedlings in the ground a few days ago. I don't expect to see the temperature drop below 37, so, frost free. I had a hot banana pepper plant, a sweet red pepper plant, and a tomato plant (that had gotten knocked over and spilled during the dog napping incident). I also added a photo of the unknown leftover herb (I'm guessing). Can you recognize it? I threw in a bonus pic of the basil plant as well. The tomato plant refused to have its picture taken just yet (looking scraggly).

banana pepper -- love on pizza with pepperoni 

Red pepper! Love it grilled plain...

Basil

Mystery plant ... leftover in the garden from previous tenant
What is it??

Bonus shot of banana pepper plant