Baked Zucchini Fries

Baked Zucchini Fries
recipe and image from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS:
About 1 lb. zucchini
1/2-1 cup Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the crumbly stuff, not shreds)
2 eggs

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Set aside. (If you don't have or can't find any Italian-style panko bread crumbs, just add 1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp. onion powder to plain panko bread crumbs and you'll be good to go.)
3. Whisk 2 eggs together in a shallow pie plate and set aside.
4. Cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut the zucchini in half so you have two short, stubby pieces. Set one piece on its end and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut that half in half, making 2 planks. Repeat with the remaining halves.
5. Stack 2 planks on top of each other and cut into strips. Thicker strips will yield "meatier" fries with more zucchini flavor while thin strips will be crispy and taste virtually nothing like zucchini. When all the fries are cut, blot the pieces with a paper towel or put all cut zucchini in a plastic bag with flour and shake. The flour will help the bread crumbs stick better.
6. Working with a small handful at a time, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg, shake them to remove any excess, and then roll them in about 2-3 tablespoons of bread crumbs at a time, adding more as needed; you just don't want to work with all the bread crumbs at once because they'll soak up moisture from the egg and won't stick to the zucchini.
7. Place the coated strips on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the zucchini strips have been coated. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the prepared oven then remove from oven, flip the fries, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is not soggy and the coating is crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately with pizza sauce or ranch. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

*These were really yummy! We served them as a side dish with Grilled Turkey Sandwiches, yum!! I actually gave them to my kids with fry sauce and they liked them!

Fruit Salsa

Fruit Salsa
from Kaboose.com

INGREDIENTS:
1 Fuji apple - peeled, cored and diced
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, mix together Fuji apple, strawberries, kiwis, bananas, lime juice, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
2. Cover and chill in the refrigerator approximately 20 minutes.
3. Serve with Baked Cinnamon Chips.

Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple

Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple
from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup white rice, cooked
2 TB real butter
Juice from 1 large lime
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
½ - ¾ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook rice.
2. As soon as it’s done, toss in the butter and stir to melt. Add lime juice, pineapple, and cilantro. Stir to combine, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
* You’ll want to serve this right away, if you don’t, the flavors tend to mellow a bit and you’ll probably need to add more lime juice because the rice kind of sucks it up. If you’re not quite ready to eat when your rice finishes cooking, just toss in the butter and keep a lid on it so it stays warm. Then right before you serve it, toss it all together.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Crash Hot Potatoes
recipe and image from Pioneer Woman

INGREDIENTS:
small, round potatoes (I used red)
olive oil
salt
pepper
rosemary

DIRECTIONS:
1. Boil potatoes until soft.
2. Preheat oven to 450.
3. Drizzle olive oil on baking sheet.
4. Place potatoes out on pan, with lots of space in between.
5. Take potato masher and mash potatoes.
6. Brush olive oil on potatoes. Cover with spices.
7. Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Black Beans

Black Beans
recipe and image from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS:
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 TB olive oil
2/3 cup diced onion
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lime, juiced

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a saucepan on the stove, heat the olive oil to med-high heat.
2. Saute onions for about three minutes or until they just start to become tanslucent.
3. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds.
4. Add beans, broth, and remaining seasonings and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about seven minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. When they are done cooking, remove from heat and add in a few squeezes of lime juice.

* I only used one can of beans but the same amount of seasonings.

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing
from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS:
1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
ignore directions on the packet
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup milk
1 lime, juiced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 cup green salsa
hot sauce, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender. Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2 TB juice. Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa. Blend all of it together.
2. Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.
3. Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Cilantro Lime Rice
from RecipeZaar

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups hot cooked rice
2 small limes, juiced
1 lime, zest of
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Once rice is cooked, fluff with a fork.
2. Add lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, and salt to rice.
3. Stir well.

Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice

*I used the rice cooker for this recipe. I used this instead of the sweet coconut rice recipe because I didn't want it to be too sweet and overpowering.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup water
2 tsp brown sugar

Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice
from Becca Nelson

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cup rice
1/2 can tomato sauce (4 oz.)
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Saute onion and garlic in oil, until fragrant and translucent.
3. Add rice and cook until browned.
4. Add tomato sauce, water, and spices.
5. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until rice is soft.

Sweet Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice
from Michelle Tucker

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Jasmine Rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse rice with cold water until water runs clear.
2. Add all ingredients in a saucepan.
3. Bring to a boil then turn to low, cover and cook 25-35 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes--don't let it overboil. Serve warm.