We keep getting zucchini from our CSA.  We like to eat it grilled, roasted, in a pasta dish, as a pancake, but we needed a new idea…  I found a photo on Pinterest that we totally took and made our own for Tomato Mozzarella Baked Zucchini, it was SO good!  We sort of winged it and didn’t use a recipe, but here’s what we did…

Tomato Mozzarella Baked Zucchini

Zucchini, halved, with the seeds scraped out
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Grape tomatoes, halved
Parmesan cheese
Bread crumbs
s&p
Olive oil
Fresh basil leaves

Boil your halved, scooped zucchinis for a few minutes to soften and to cut baking time down later.  In the scooped section, sprinkle mozzarella and top with halved grape tomatoes.  Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, s&p and then drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Bake for about 15 minutes, broil for maybe 3 to 5 to get a nice crust on top. Then, sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is an awesome dessert, especially for the summer.  I actually think all fruity desserts (with the exception of Holiday Fruitcake) are great for summer.  We went to visit my parents this past weekend and decided PUDC would be a great end to our meal of grilled chicken and orzo salad.  Plus, it’s one of my dad’s favorite desserts.  Best of all, PUDC is SO easy to make!  We used canned pineapple and a really great go-to yellow cake mix from Trader Joe’s.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 C dark brown sugar
1 20 oz. can pineapples in juice
Maraschino Cherries (optional, we opted out)
Yellow Cake mix and required ingredients

Melt butter and pour into the bottom of a 9″ round cake pan.  Sprinkle dark brown sugar over butter and then place your pineapple rounds on top. Squeeze as many as you can in there!  You can also put a little maraschino cherry inside each pineapple round, but I don’t really like them so we omitted.  Then, just prepare the cake mix according to the box instructions, substituting pineapple juice from your canned pineapple in place of the water.  Pour batter over pineapples.  Bake according to your box instructions, let cool completely, flip onto a serving platter and voila!

Enjoy!

We had a great, summery meal Friday night that I wanted to share.  We made a pizza with mozzarella and prosciutto and once cooked, a salad of arugula and light lemon vinaigrette dressing on top – it was tasty!

But, the best part, is we randomly decided it was time to drink the delicious rosé wine we brought back from our honeymoon 3 years ago.  Rosé is perfect for a hot, summer night – exactly what last Friday night was!  We got the wine in Tavel in the South of France in the middle of a long ride.  The wine luckily survived the plane ride home tucked in my suitcase and has been sitting in our wine rack ever since.

Back to Friday night…we put the baby to bed, ate and drank on the back deck, and reminisced about our wonderful honeymoon – a perfect hot, summer night!