Stuffed Greek-Style Zucchini

1 cup instant brown rice
3 large zucchini, ends cut off and halved lengthwise
1 Tbs olive oil
10oz white mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried dill
2 Tbs chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta

1) Cook rice according to package directions.  Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 375F.  Scoop out centers of zucchini (the seeds and fleshy white part), leaving the non-seed containing part intact.  Ensure that the ends are not scooped, essentially making the zucchini halves into bowls.  Discard the centers.
3) Warm oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms and garlic; saute for 4 minutes.  Stir in cooked rice, dill and mint; cook for 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper, and remove from heat.
4) Spread tomatoes in a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Fill zucchini with rice mixture and place in baking dish.  Top with feta.  Bake until zucchini is tender, about 40 minutes.

Review:  My garden has received a TREMENDOUS amount of rain.  Despite my frequent harvests, I still managed to have two gigantic zucchinis:

These aren't good for your average dish, as the seeds get too big and the squash can be too hard.  Many people grind these up for use in zucchini bread.  However, I have a difficult time baking goodies when we're trying so hard to eat healthy.  Therefore, I remembered a past co-worker talking about stuffing them and I looked through my recipe collection for inspiration.  I tweaked the one I found and this was the end result.  My two zucchinis were too big to fit all four halves into one pan, so I made a pan for the last piece out of aluminum foil.  That should have been an indicator that they there were actually too big to eat.  :(  The skin was too tough and was quite squeaky when chewing.  The filling was absolutely delicious, so we ate that and ditched the zucchini.  The taste with the zucchini was pretty tasty, so it will be made again using zucchini that's smaller than these monsters!

White Wine Sangria

1 green apple
1 pear
1 orange
1 cup pineapple
1 plum
1 cup watermelon
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs agave nectar
1 bottle sauvignon blanc

1) Dice fruit.
2) Add all ingredients to wine in a pitcher or punch bowl.
3) Fill wine glasses with ice and pour.
4) Garnish with orange slices.

Review:  This was a recipe I've had on hand for several years.  Notably, the recipe gave instructions on where to find agave nectar, which is now widely available in every store!!  I did tweak this recipe by slicing the oranges and placing it into the pitcher, instead of using it as garnish.  I served it at my housewarming party and it was a HUGE hit.

Housewarming Pasta

I made a very basic pasta salad for my housewarming party tonight.  I had to share a pic of just the pasta, as it was my first experience in cooking shaped pasta.  It was soooo cute, with it's little houses and hearts.  :)