Cooking Class, check!

I've wanted to take a cooking class for a while now so I put it on my To Do list.  I took some classes while I was studying abroad in Paris several years ago and learned so much.  There is so much to learn about cooking.  Plus it is nice to try recipes that I wouldn't necessarily try on my own.  

This evening I went to a cooking class at Healthy Living Market with two of my aunts.  I've been looking forward to is and wasn't disappointed.  The class was called Squash Overload.  We cooked (and ate) lots of zucchini and summer squash.  We even did a little bit of baking and I picked up some tips for that too.  The three of us were the only ones in the class so it was like having a personal cooking class.  We cooked/baked and then at the end we ate what we made at the end.  It was so yummy!  I am still so full.  I will definitely be taking another class soon!

Here are two of the recipes that we made:

Beef and Bulgur Stuffed Zucchini

serves 6 (large portions)
This is super healthy and yummy!  It uses several ingredients that I don't usually cook with which is one of the reasons I am so excited about this dish.  (Sorry that the picture doesn't do it justice.)


6 medium zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small chopped onion (about 1 cup)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/2 pound lean ground beef (at least 90 percent lean)

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 (14.5 ounce) can no-salt added diced tomatoes, strained and juice reserved

1 cup cooked bulgur (1/3 cup cooked)

3 tablespoons dried currants

3 tablespoons pine nuts (or walnuts), toasted in a dry skillet over low heat for 2 minutes

1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

1/2 cup low-sodium tomato sause

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut each zucchini in half crosswise.  Using a melon baller or teaspoon, carefully scoop out zucchini flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch of flesh intact on all sides and leaving zucchini closed at the bottom of each half.  (Reserve zucchini flesh for another use or discard.)  Put aside the zucchini half.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook, stirring, until they are soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add ground beef, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes and cook until meat is just done and no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes.  Add cooked bulgur, diced tomatoes (without juice), currants, and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in pine nuts and parsley.  Let mixture cook slightly, about 5 minutes.  Stuff zucchini halves with beef-mixture.

Place zucchini halves in a 13x9 glass baking dish.  Combine reserved tomato juice, tomato sauce, and salt.  Pour over zucchini.  Cover tightly with foil and place in oven.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven, uncover, and rotate zucchini.  Recover, return dish to oven, and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until zucchini is cooked through but still slightly firm.  Place 2 zucchini halves on a plate and serve with tomato sauce.  

Whole Wheat Zucchini-Nut Bread

makes 1 loaf

The molasses is definitely what makes this recipe stand out.  The whole wheat flour doesn't make the bread taste weird at all.  

2 large eggs

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup shredded zucchini (1 small to medium)

3/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a standard loaf pan.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, molasses, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.  In  a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.  Stir in the zucchini, raisins, and walnuts.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the loaf tests done.  Remove the bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pan and returning to the rack to cool completely.