More Zucchini

Wow, I'm playing catch up from almost 3 weeks ago! Yeesh! I was unexpectedly sent to St. Louis last week, so I didn't get a chance to either blog or cook really. But I'm back! And I want to tell all about the food I made the week before that because I made a lot of food. And it was all so good. I did a Mexican-but-not-really theme with lots of Mexican flavors like salsa, peppers, and cheese, but with more veggies and less starches because that's just how I roll. Here's what I ate a million weeks ago:

• Chicken Picadillo, courtesy of Cooking Light. I might have to start subscribing to this magazine if all their recipes are this magically delicious while still being healthy. Really, just looking at the ingredients, it sounded kind of boring. Chicken with some salsa and a spice or two, big deal. But it was so moist and flavorful and delicious. And I don't even really like chicken! I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco and used some of that shredded up in this dish. So I just cooked the onion and garlic, added the chicken, spices, and salsa, and just let it come together for a few minutes, and then poof! All done! I left out the almonds because, well, I completely forgot about them. And I left out the raisins because ew! This is a keeper. Easy, fast, and delicious.
• Tex-Mex summer squash casserole, courtesy of Food Network. Yum. This was another one that sounded kind of hum-ho but ended up really fantastic. It's super healthy because it's mostly just zucchini, but the jalapenos and green chiles add so much flavor. And the cheesy top gives it a bit of creaminess that brings it together. I also added a can of black beans, which I thought it was a good addition. Yum yum yum. Husband and I were both loving this one. It made a huge casserole dish worth of food, but since it was mostly veggies, we went through it alarmingly fast.
• Summer squash griddle cakes, courtesy of Broke Ass Gourmet. Yep, more zucchini. I couldn't get enough! I've seen recipes for zucchini pancake-type things all over. Don't know why I landed on this recipe in particular. I think it was just in the right place at the right time. I love the idea of this dish, and it tasted great, but it just wasn't quite there. The batter wouldn't hold together at all, so I ended up with fried zucchini bits. Don't get me wrong, I was loving the bits. But I would have liked that pancake, and I would have prefered less fuss. I would definitely make these again, but I would try out a different recipe. What possessed me to go with something other than the Pioneer Woman's recipe, I don't know. I'll right it the next time I have a hankering for zucchini!
• Spinach rice casserole, courtesy of Cheap Healthy Good. So simple, so good. This one didn't blow me out of the water, but I definitely enjoyed cutting it up into small squares and having one or two as a side dish for dinner each night. I would make it again for sure. The rice gave it a good amount of substance, which it would have been lacking if it had been just spinach, cheese, and eggs. It felt very balanced.

Can you believe all that food barely even lasted the week? Husband and I were scrounging on the last day. I think we ended up actually making our emergency frozen pizza! Speaking of which, holy moly those CPK frozen pizzas are yummy!

You know what I realized the day I made all that food? That my Cuisinart does more than just chop. It shreds. Who knew? I shredded 4lbs of zucchini in minutes. Seriously! I was watching Food Network a few weeks ago and I saw someone use some kind of crazy contraption on their food processor that shredded something or other and I thought to myself "hey, does mine have one of those?" Really, when I got my Cuisinart I kept the big blade in the base and stowed all the rest of the attachments away, never again to see the light of day. I was so surprised to see there was one of the handy shredder attachments that had come with mine as well! Husband saw me using it and asked "Have we seriously had this the whole time??" Yes, dear. I'm an idiot. Thanks. But at least now we know. From now on I am julo, master of shredded vegetables!