Almond Flour Zucchini Bread Pancakes

It’s that season! Yes, the time of year when zucchini are the size of baseball bats, big enough to serve a crowd. Perhaps you’re swimming in zucchini, or maybe you found a really good deal on some oversized zukes at the farmers market— either way, zucchini bread pancakes are the way to go! 

I’ve never heard anyone complain about pancakes for breakfast, and these pancakes are extra special. Just like zucchini bread, these pancakes are spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, making them feel extra cozy, especially when slathered with butter and drizzled with maple syrup. 

There are thousands of recipes for zucchini bread on the internet -- some call for walnuts, while others call for chocolate chips. But why choose? This recipe is absolutely delicious with both, bites of nutty crunch and melty chocolate. And yeah, it feels a little bit like dessert for breakfast but there is zucchini in there.

This recipe calls for almond flour, which makes for a satisfying pancake but is also the reason why I highly recommend using a non-stick pan. I tried a few in a enameled cast iron (Le Creuset) because we own very few non-stick pans, and the results was no good. So, avoid frustration, and use a true non-stick pan! You'll be flipping pancakes like a pro. 

Almond Flour Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Published July 19, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 90 minutes

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Ingredients:

9 ounces shredded zucchini

1-1/2 cups almond flour

1/4 cup arrowroot starch (tapioca flour can also be used)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for cooking and serving

2 tablespoons maple syrup plus more for serving

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup chocolate chips or finely diced walnuts (feel free to do half chocolate chips and half walnuts, too!)

Directions:

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine: almond flour, arrowroot starch, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine: 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 3/4 cup milk, 2 eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until frothy, and then fold in the shredded zucchini.
2. Add half of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, stirring to combine, and then add in the other half of the dry mixture to create a loose batter. Fold in walnuts/chocolate chips.
3. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle on the stove over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of butter.
4. Spoon batter into hot pan, making pancakes that are 4-5 inches wide. Cook on one side until you start to see bubbles on the top and edges begin to turn golden brown. Flip pancake to second side, and cook until golden. Move pancake to plate. Repeat until all of batter has been used.
5. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup. Optionally, add additional walnuts on top for garnish.

No-Noodle Lasagna

The first lasagna recipe I published on this blog called for twenty ingredients. TWENTY! That is not a typo. (I'm embarrassed to even link to that recipe, oh how much I've learned since 2015!)

Lasagna is one of those things that just has a lot of components, but I was on a mission with this one: Simplify. Because some weeks, even just having twenty ingredients on your shopping list is stressful. Right??

This version has less than half that number of ingredients. That said, it still needs to bake for 50 minutes, so if you are trying to serve this on a weeknight, doing all the prep ahead of time will help you out.

This one is about the essentials:

• A good marinara sauce. I used store bought, but you can also use this 20-minute recipe. I'm all for homemade but some times you have to cut yourself a break! 
• Ricotta cheese. Any excuse to use ricotta cheese is welcome, if you ask me. But it's also the creamy layer in lasagna, and arguably the best part. 
• Mozzarella! You might be thinking, two different kinds of cheese? Yes! (And a third, if you keep reading). Mozzarella adds the gooey, stringy cheese texture to the top of the casserole. And that third cheese? Parmesan, which I mostly added for good measure, and also it's flavor.
• Meat. In this case, Italian Sausage. I love the flavor of hot Italian sausage, but you could easily use ground beef if you prefer. Many chefs choose to mix the two, in fact, but again simple was the name of the game here.
• Noodles -- but in this case, actually eggplant sliced thin and used in place of noodles. Eggplant goes so well with lasagna flavors. Bring on the veggies!

What is not essential to lasagna is the spinach layer, but I added it in because if I'm going to be cooking a lasagna, I may as well cover all of my bases instead of also making a side salad. 

No-Noodle Lasagna

Published July 12, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 8   |    Active Time: 90 minutes

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Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups marinara sauce (choose one that has basil or garlic, or make your own )

1-2 eggplants (1 large or 2 medium)

16 ounces ricotta

16 ounces hot Italian sausage, ground

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded parmesan, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon olive oil

Optional: minced parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F, and slice eggplants in thin, long strips — about 1/4-inch thick. Spread slices out in a single layer on a sheet pan, and brush with olive oil. Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes, until eggplant begins to soften.
2. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a skillet over medium heat. Once cooked, set aside.
3. Place thawed spinach in a strainer, and squeeze out as much extra water as possible.
4. Make the lasagna: spread 1/2 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x16-inch baking dish. Arrange half of the eggplant strips as “noodles” in a single layer. Spread ricotta cheese over eggplant, and then top with sausage crumbles. Next, spread the spinach in a layer. Spread 1/2 cup sauce over top, and then layer the remaining eggplant in a second layer. Top with another 1/2 cup of sauce, and then top with shredded mozzarella and 1/2 cup parmesan.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F, and bake lasagna covered for 25 minutes, and then uncovered for 25 minutes.
6. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and then top with minced parsley. Slice and serve. Top with parmesan if desired.

Raspberry Pistachio Fool (Sweetened with honey!)

A simple dessert such as this one hardly needs a full blog post to go with it — soft folds of whipped cream, fresh raspberries accentuated with just a touch of honey and lemon, bits of slightly salty pistachio. That ingredients list alone will do. 🤤

The last several months have left me at a loss for words (a serious case of brain-fry). But with something as fresh and beautiful as this, there is no need to grasp at the threads of what could become a blog post: a dessert this simply good doesn’t need all of those words. It just works. And it’s perfect for this time of year, too. The raspberry bush I planted last year is producing it’s first round of berries right now (a miracle really, because the backyard is basically a jungle of weeds). There are only a few berries and they’re not quite ripe yet, so I used store bought for this recipe and they were perfectly. Use whatever you have access to! In a pinch, frozen berries would work — just thaw the berries before macerating.

Lastly, if you're looking for something you could eat for breakfast, you could swamp the whipped cream in this recipe for your favorite Greek-style yogurt and make a parfait. (Or, you know, just treat yourself to a freakin' awesome Raspberry Fool breakfast!) 

And now, onwards, because there’s really nothing better than tasting this one for yourself. 

Raspberry Pistachio Fool (Sweetened with honey!)

Published July 3, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 3   |    Active Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

10 ounces fresh raspberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2-3 teaspoons honey, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup crushed pistachios

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine 8 ounces of raspberries with lemon juice and 1 teaspoon honey. Set remaining raspberries aside. Using a fork, mash the 8 ounces of raspberries with the lemon and honey. The mixture should resemble a jam or compote. Set aside.
2. In a second mixing bowl, whip cream to soft peaks using an electric mixer. Add in vanilla and 1-2 teaspoons of honey, depending on your tastes, and continue to whip cream for another minute to incorporate.
3. In three serving glasses or bowls make alternating layers of whipped cream and the raspberry mixture. Place reserved fresh raspberries on top, and sprinkle with crusted pistachios. Serve immediately.