Pinwheel flank steak

1 1/2 lb - 2 lb flank steak, butterflied

For Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup agave
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice

For steak filling:
1 cup fresh or frozen spinach (if frozen, thaw and pat dry)
1 cup mushrooms
3-4 bacon strips (thick cut is better)
4 slices Swiss cheese

Overnight: Make marinade in a large plastic baggie and marinade the butterflied steak overnight in the fridge, if possible.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Open steak up with the grain of the meat going from left to right. Lay the cheese on the steak. Then, keeping with the grain of the meat, lay the bacon, mushrooms and spinach one after another so they look like a layered rainbow of fillings on top of the meat. Roll towards your body and tie with kitchen twine to keep together.

Bake steak for one hour, or until internal temperature reaches 145 F. Remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing into pinwheels.

Pasta Primavera with Fish

2 fish fillets
seasonal vegetables:
I used:
1 small zucchini (julienne)
1 small summer squash (julienne)
3-4 carrots (sliced into circles)
Herbs: savory and thyme (or any combination you like)
Pasta (I used a combination, but any pasta will do)

For tomato sauce:
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red pepper

Cook and flake the fish. Set aside.

Boil the water and cook the noodles. Keep warm in the water if finishing up other steps.

To make the sauce, put all ingredients together in a food processor and puree. Cook (do not boil) over medium heat until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Saute the cut up vegetables with the herbs, in 1 tbsp olive oil.

Toss the warm pasta with the tomato sauce in a large bowl. Place the pasta in a serving dish and top with flaked fish and vegetables. Enjoy with a bread on the side.

Summer Veggie Breakfast

These recipes are a great way to use up some of your summer vegetable and fruit harvest. I used up some summer squash, zucchini, cucumber, potatoes and peaches. I also cooked up some maple sausage links to add protein to the meal.

Crispy potato-vegetable cakes

1 1/2-2 cups potatoes peeled and shredded
1 cup zucchini, shredded
1 cup cucumber, shredded
3/4 tsp table salt (more or less to taste)
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp dried onions
2 Tbsp uncooked cornmeal
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp black pepper (more or less to taste)
2 Tbsp olive oil

Toss the potatoes, zucchini, cucumber and salt in a medium bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Squeeze out the liquids and discard. Stir in the egg, salt, onions , cornmeal, rosemary, and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop 1/4 cup of the potato mixture (rolled into a loose ball) and flatten with a spatula. Cook until lightly browned, about 12 minutes, turning halfway through cooking. Repeat with the remaining potato mixture.

Summer Squash Pancakes with Peach Topping

2 cups summer squash, grated (zucchini could be used as well)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 cup biscuit mix
2 Tbsp ground flax (can be omitted)
milk, as needed

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add enough milk as necessary to make a thin pancake-like batter. Drop onto skillet or griddle. Turn over when bottom is golden and cook until browned on both sides.

2 large peaches (thinly sliced)
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients into a skillet and heat on medium high until peaches are cooked through and sugar/butter mixture forms a glaze on the peaches. Top pancakes with peaches and sauce. (you could also substitute other fruits if you had them).

Sauteed Vegetables with honey glaze

Vegetables of your choice
I used: zucchini, yellow squash and broccoli
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp olive oil
herbs of your choice
I used: cinnamon basil

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Saute the vegetables and herbs until tender.
Melt the butter and mix with the honey.
Pour over vegetables and serve.

Chicken and Biscuits

Whole chicken (cut up)
Can of refrigerated biscuits
Onion (chopped)
1/4 bulb and fronds of fennel (Chopped)
celeriac (celery root) or celery diced
1 bag frozen vegetables (any you have on hand)
2 cans of cream of whatever soup (I used chicken and mushroom)
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
6 Tbsp butter

Put chicken and vegetables into crockpot.

In a separate bowl, whisk the soup, milk and broth together. Pour over chicken and vegetables. Put butter in crockpot (I just put it in as a stick). Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

One hour before serving, remove chicken pieces from crockpot. Remove bones and shred the chicken. Open can of biscuits (you can also use homemade biscuit dough) and place biscuits on top of chicken mixture. Cook on high for one hour, biscuits will be golden on top when done.

*You can put in pretty much any vegetables you have on hand for this. If you don't have fennel, use any herbs you have on hand.

Chocolate zucchini muffins

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (I used one large zucchini)
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1 1/2 cups wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. Pour into grease or paper lined muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy! Top with mini chocolate chips or chopped walnuts, if desired.

Easy Stir Fry

Make with any vegetables you have available. This is what I used:

2 heads baby bok choy
2 carrots cut into matchsticks
1/4 C. cabbage chopped
1 medium zucchini
1 summer squash (I used a sunburst squash)
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 lb steak (I used filet but you can use any cut you want) or chicken (or tofu)
soy sauce
peanut oil (or canola oil)
sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds
rice

Heat the peanut oil (about 2 Tbsp) in a wok (or large saute pan). Add green vegetables first (bok choy, cabbage, green onion), stir fry for 1-2 minutes, add carrots or other root vegetables, stir fry for another 1-2 minutes, add remaining vegetables. Stir fry all veggies for aobut 5-7 more minutes. Add chopped meat or tofu and stir fry with 2 Tbsp soy sauce until meat is cooked through or about 5-7 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp sesame oil and 2 Tbsp sesame seeds, stir and serve over rice.