• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Food Charmer

Make every bite count: adventures in food, recipes, eating out & love

  • About
  • Recipes
  • Drinks
  • Food & Dining
  • Wine
  • Travel
  • Healthy Eating
  • Newsletter
You are here: Home / Archives for zucchini

zucchini

Summer Meals: Grilled Vegetables, Smoked Salmon Pops & Lemon Cupcakes

Summer Meals: Grilled Vegetables, Smoked Salmon Pops & Lemon Cupcakes

by liz · Jun 8, 2018

The best summer meals are inspired not only by the seasonal produce freshly picked from the fields, but also the smells and tastes of long, hot days and vacations. Lazy sunny days at the shore and thirst-quenching fruit and citrus and herb gardens baking in the sun all influence what we’re eating. As these dishes start popping up in restaurants and backyards across the country, all you have to do is find the right wine, then sit down and dig in.

Summer meals: Grilled vegetables from Trattoria Uliveto

I love this grilled Mediterranean vegetable plate above from Trattoria Uliveto in Orcutt, California. A great vegetarian summer meal.

Summer meals: Mussels & clams from Trattoria Uliveto

The taste of the sea, perfect for a summer meal: mussels + clams from Trattoria Uliveto.

Summer meals: Tomatoes & salami from Trattoria Uliveto

I ♥ tomatoes: cherry tomatoes with olive oil + cured pork plate above from Trattoria Uliveto.

Summer meals: Salmon pops from Blacklake Resort catering

Food pops are everywhere! These are salmon pops above, also known as smoked salmon lollipops.

Smoked Salmon Lollipop Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3 oz sour cream
  • lollipop sticks
  • smoked salmon, cut into medium slices
  • caviar (or black sea salt)
  • chives, chopped

Whip cream cheese and sour cream (or crème fraîche) together, form into little balls and push the stick in. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, wrap each one in smoked salmon, dip in caviar and top with chopped chives. If you can’t find caviar, you could try black sea salt to get the same look and level of saltiness.

Print
Smoked Salmon Pops
Author: Liz Dodder
Recipe type: Appetiser
Prep time:  15 mins
Total time:  15 mins
 
Food pops are everywhere! These are salmon pops above, also known as smoked salmon lollipops.
Ingredients
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3 oz sour cream
  • lollipop sticks
  • smoked salmon, cut into medium slices
  • caviar (or black sea salt)
  • chives, chopped
Instructions
  1. Whip cream cheese and sour cream (or crème fraîche) together, form into little balls and push the stick in. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, wrap each one in smoked salmon, dip in caviar and top with chopped chives. If you can't find caviar, try black sea salt to get the same look and level of saltiness.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe
3.5.3208

Summer meals: Lemon Rosemary cupcakes from Central City Market

Lemon goes so well with herbs in summer desserts! Try these Lemon Rosemary cupcakes from A Classic Twist.

Don’t forget the rosé to perfectly complement your summer meal and enjoy those hot days, late sunlight and great vacations!

Filed Under: Outdoor, Recipes, Restaurants, Summer Tagged With: cupcake, grilled vegetables, Lemon, Market Driven, Peppers, salmon pop, Seafood, smoked salmon lollipop, summer meal, tomatoes, Trattoria Uliveto, Vegetable, zucchini

The New Zucchini Bread: Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

The New Zucchini Bread: Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

by liz · Apr 23, 2012

Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
Photo by Meals.com

I know you’ve been making Zucchini Bread all summer, so now I’m going to give you a much better alternative for fall: Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies! Yes folks, zucchini does belong in brownies – it gives the brownies moisture and weight as well as vitamins and other health benefits. In fact, you can use any light-tasting squash in this recipe.

Last fall, my home garden sprouted several squash/pumpkin/zucchini-looking plants all on its own, which threatened to overtake all the vegetables I had actually planted! I kept them in check by picking and cooking as many blossoms as I could, but I still had a lot of green, striped and orangeish squash to eat during fall and winter. So they almost all went into brownies (but click the link to see squash risotto).

Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies recipe

Dark chocolate morsels make the flavor rich while adding antioxidants and whole wheat flour works beautifully, making these brownies a little cake-like. And I love encountering the surprise bites of salty-sweet afforded by the coarse sea salt. This brownie recipe is so good; it’s the only one I use now.

Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies – adapted from Meals.com

Ingredients for 16 servings:

  • 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 regular-size package dark chocolate morsels
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 3 medium)

Directions:

1. PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Line 9-inch-square baking pan with foil.
2. COMBINE flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
3. MELT 1 cup morsels in large, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg whites and vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture; fold in zucchini. Spread into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining morsels over top + a little more coarse sea salt (I like to use the black lava kind on top).

4. BAKE for 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Lift brownies from pan; cut into 16 squares. Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.

Whole-Wheat Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies recipe
Photo by Meals.com

Filed Under: Fall, Healthy Stuff, Recipes, Summer, Sweets Tagged With: baking, brownie, Chocolate, chocolate chip, Dessert, healthy brownies, healthy cooking, whole wheat, zucchini

Copyright © 2021 · No Sidebar Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Cali Coast Wine Country