A Tale of Two Zucchinis

Whew - it feels good to post a blog again! October simply flew past me at record speed as I have been so busy at work. Speaking of work, I have more to do yet tonight so let's get down to business... Today I made a great recipe given to me by my friend Jen when she thoughtfully made dinner for my family during a time when I really needed an extra hand. Jen is one of my cooking gurus. She always has a good, wholesome recipe in mind if you bring up a random ingredient - like zucchini.

Many of us have just put our gardens to bed and if you're like me you had a few extra zucchini laying around (and we didn't even have a plant! Thanks, neighbors, for sharing!) Here's a great recipe to put them to use:

Zucchini Moussaka
2 T olive oil
2 large or 3 medium zucchinis, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 large onion sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 clove garlic minced
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Step one: slice the zucchini and onion.

Step two: saute the zucchini and onion in the olive oil until slightly limp - then pour into the bottom of a casserole dish.

Step three: brown the meat.

HEALTHY HINT: In a heart healthy cookbook we purchased for my FIL after he had a triple bypass, I learned about rinsing ground meat after you brown it. Rinse in super hot water in a colander and you can watch the extra fat rinse right off! I was worried about also rinsing flavor, but this isn't a problem, at least not that I've noticed. 

Step four: return the meat to the pan and add the tomato sauce, garlic, salt and cinnamon. Stir together, then pour over the zucchini/onion mixture. 

Step five: combine the cottage cheese and egg, then spread over the top of the other layers and sprinkle with parmesan.

Finally - bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I prepared mine this afternoon and stored in the fridge until ready to bake tonight, which was handy. Jen did the same when she brought to me as a gift. 

This is a delicious recipe (we ate it so fast I forgot to take an "after" picture!) and one I hope you enjoy! Any other creative uses for zucchini? Would love your hints.