Pineapple Salsa (raw *and* vegan!)

Confession: I have a Pinterest board just for tacos. And taco related recipes. And probably taco related merchandise. My last Instagram was even a taco, as of this posting. I like tacos as much as I like bloody marys, which reminds me, anyone want to help me concoct a bloody mary with mini tacos and shredded queso as the garnish? I say it's possible. We could use the Sriracha flavored UV. Or I think there's a jalapeno flavored one out there somewhere. Besides, who doesn't put tomatoes on their tacos? Anyone? I don't know you. Ahem.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here is a recipe that I tried a month ago and then proceeded to not share it. Oops. Still new at this blog-more-than-once-a-month thing. I'm getting there, I promise. Lots of goodies coming your way. But for now, pineapple salsaaaaaaa! It's not as weird as it sounds. In fact, it's oodles better than it sounds.

I discovered this recipe through Pinterest while searching for good vegan recipes for summer. Disclaimer: I am not a vegan and most likely never will be, but I love vegetables and fruit and it's often the vegan recipes that inspire me. So I was directed to a blog called The Glowing Fridge, which has many other amazing posts and you should check it out if that's your thing. And quite frankly, I never thought pineapple in salsa could be good. It's a fruit, for heaven's sake. Buuuut I had all the ingredients, I had just made tortilla chips, and I desperately wanted salsa. And it doesn't take more than 10 minutes to put together. Unless, of course, you're me, and you can't chop up pineapple to save your life. That was an adventure.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh pineapple, diced small (about 1/2 one fruit)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 red onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• juice from one lime
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (I may or may not have used closer to 1 full cup...)
• 1/4 piece of a jalapeno, finely diced
• sea salt, to taste

Instructions

     Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and enjoy! Leftovers can be refrigerated for a few days. Also, the original recipe says the jalapeno is optional, but it really won't be as tasty if you leave it out. Really.

I really wish the batch I made had lasted long enough for me to put on black bean and rice tacos because that would have been da bomb. Oh well, it's incentive to make it again before the summer is over!

Zucchini Pie

If you purchase your milk in glass bottles, make sure you don't put it in front of the beer in the garage fridge to save room in the house. It just might get accidentally knocked onto the garage floor and break and go everywhere. And then you won't have any milk for the crustless zucchini pie you planned on baking the next day. Of course, this is where evaporated milk comes in handy.

Not that this happened to me, or anything.

At any rate, Google is my friend in situations like not having any milk. Pillsbury has a nice page on emergency baking substitutions on their website, I had a can of evaporated milk in the cupboard, and all was back on track in a jiffy. I can't say I am in desperation to use an ample supply of zucchini or anything, but I stumbled across this lovely sounding crustless recipe the other day while on Pinterest and decided it was a necessary recipe. Cheese, shallots, chives? I'm so in. I could have easily made a pie that didn't even have zucchini in it. But I digress.

Given that I was already making the milk substitution, I couldn't help but change up a few other things as well. Besides, there wasn't nearly enough cheese in the recipe. Or chives, for that matter. So here is my version.


Crustless Zucchini Pie


Ingredients:

• 10 oz shredded zucchini, all liquid squeezed out (about one medium zucchini; I used a cheesecloth to squeeze the liquid out) 
• 1/2 cup shallots, chopped 
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh chives, chopped 
• 2/3 cup whole milk mozzarella 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 2/3 cup whole milk 
• 1 tsp olive oil 
• 2 large eggs, beaten 
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt 
• black pepper to taste 
• cooking spray (I used coconut oil spray) 
• 2 heaping tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (or more, even; definitely more) 

Directions:


Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray a pie dish with cooking spray. Combine zucchini, shallots, chives, and mozzarella in a bowl. Sift flour and baking powder in a separate medium bowl; add remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix till well blended. Pour batter over the zucchini mixture, combine well, and pour into pie dish. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and bake for 30-35 minutes until knife/toothpick comes out clean in the center.











It's a seriously delicious pie and also ripe for added flavors. I'm already considering what other spices or herbs I can add when I make it again. Obviously. Because I can't leave a recipe alone. Also zucchini doesn't look like a word anymore.


Peace out,
Elisabeth