raw zucchini "pasta" with an avocado & pea pesto // raw, vegan

I probably wouldn’t describe myself as someone with a green thumb.  It’s not that I am not one with nature, or have no instincts when it comes to plants, it’s probably more because I approach growing things the same way I approach cooking. I prefer to go in blindly with little direction and see what works and what does not.

I planted my first garden this summer and it was very apparent that this approach probably does not work as well in the garden as it does in the kitchen.  Or maybe it does, depends on how you look at it. I did make a lot of mistakes, and I learned some key lessons from those mistakes, so maybe that will make my garden next year that much better? I sure do hope so.

Last summer I volunteered one day a week at The Stone Barns Center for Agriculture in their dooryard garden hoping to learn a little from the experts: the passionate farmers and gardeners who work there. I did learn to make a killer trellis from found objects, and I learned about all kinds of plants and vegetables that I had never heard of, but most of all I learned that I had a lot to learn. 

It was kind of overwhelming, especially for someone with very little knowledge of gardening.  So when it came time to build and plant my garden this summer, I decided that I was not going to try and learn everything. I was just going to plant some seeds, give it some love, and see what happened.

The result? An out of control amount of zucchini, cucumbers that are popping up in and around my grape tomatoes, and enough pumpkins to charge for hay rides and pumpkin picking in my backyard this October. As well as a bunch of lettuce that never surfaced, and carrots and scallions that I’m certain were eaten by some sneaky little creatures.

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zucchini, red bean & quinoa cakes

I have a savory tooth. Is that even an expression? Well it is now. 

If you placed a piece of vanilla cake with vanilla frosting in front of me and a zucchini red bean and quinoa cake and said pick one, I'd no doubt go for the zucchini red bean quinoa cake. 

Then I'd ask nicely if I can have the vanilla cake back for dessert. 

I feel that most people would be able to define themselves as either a savory person or a sweet person.  Don't you? It does not mean that you do not enjoy both, it just means that if given the choice between the two, you'd opt for one over the other.

Since I'm a savory gal, I love savory cakes of all shapes and sizes. These little cakes, however, are my new fav. They're a combination of a couple of different cake recipes we have made recently in class. Zucchini cooks up nicely with the red beans, and the quinoa and millet are used to hold everything together (and make them super awesome). 

Oh, and in case you didn't know, quinoa cakes are all the rage right now amongst savory and sweet people alike.  If you haven't tried one, you need to go and make these now and find out why. 

 
zucchini & red bean cakes

{Inspired by a few differnt recipes I have made in class at The Natural Kitchen Cooking School}

Makes
About 6-8 cakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup of zucchini, grated (unpeeled)
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of onion, minced 
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of red beans (kidney beans)
1/2 cup of quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup of millet, cooked
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt & pepper

a couple of tablespoons of grapeseed oil

optional garnishes: lemon, parsley, sesame seeds

Directions

• Place the grated zucchini into a strainer in the sink or over a bowl and rub the 1/2 teaspoon of salt into it. Let it drain for about 20 minutes. 
• While the zucchini is draining, sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until they are browned. 
• Then, in a large bowl, smash the red beans with a fork until they form a thick paste. Then add in the other ingredients for the cakes: zucchini, onion, garlic, quinoa, millet, and lemon juice, and then season with salt and pepper. 
• Once all of your ingredients are combined, form the mixture into small patties. 
• To cook the patties, heat up a couple of tablespoons of the grapeseed oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat.  Add the cakes, as many as will fit comfortably in the pan, and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side (until they are browned).  Be careful when you're flipping the cakes, they can fall apart easily if you're not gentle with them.  
• When they're cooked on both side, transfer to a plate and garish with the optional lemon juice, parsley, or sesame seeds. Serve warm. 

Enjoy.

 

zucchini carpaccio with quinoa, chickpeas, parmesan, & basil

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