Something New: Beautiful Baked Squash

If you remember, in mid July I announced that I would start a new routine in honor of the upcoming movie, Julie&Julia. I planned on making one new meal or rather, one new recipe per week and post them (the good, bad, and the ugly) on Verbal Vomit. My goal in introducing this change was two fold: a) that I become more comfortable with cooking by stepping outside of my normal box of recipes and b) that my hubby will get a new (hopefully tasty) treat once a week.

I started off strong and began my adventure with a tasty Red Beans and Rice recipe that proved to be successful. The following week I successfully completed my Happy Meal Dessert that received multiple raves. However the following week my routine was halted due to our amazing trip to Bermuda (see the beginning of August posts for full details on that), and since that time, I hadn't gotten back into the routine. Thanks to UFrank, I was reminded of my plan and goal, and have a new entry to share.

Firstly, I did have the opportunity of seeing Julie&Julia with my dear Observations of the Ordinary friend. I liked it. It was definitely a chick flick (not many men would enjoy it) and it's focused strictly on character development and dialogue. No action here. But I liked it anyway.


Now on to the recipe. This go around I attempted Beautiful Baked Squash. On a whim I took this recipe and GASP.... I changed it up and experimented. Oh my! For those that know me well, you know that this is quite shocking. Seriously. I'm a by the book kind of gal when it comes to recipes. Every measurement, every ingredients, I have to have it all to attempt it. I, however am learning to just go with the flow on cooking a bit and doing my best to exercise that lesson. So I tried on this one.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 pound Zucchini
• 1 pound Yellow Squash
• 4 whole Roma Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• 2 teaspoons Fresh Thyme Leaves
• 5 Tablespoons Chicken Stock
• 2 cups Fresh Bread Crumbs
• 3 Tablespoons Melted Butter

Preparation Instructions

Slice squash, zucchini and tomatoes into 1/8 - 1/4 inch rounds. Arrange in an overlapping pattern in a quiche dish or 1 1/2 qt. casserole. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle on the Lawry’s and 1 t. of the thyme. Pour the chicken stock over. Mix the bread, melted butter and rest of the thyme. Sprinkle bread mixture on the veggies. Bake 45 minutes at 350.

And here is how I changed it up:
I replaced the tomatoes with onions (my fav). I cut the recipe in half, using a 1/2 pound of squash and a 1/2 pound of zucchini plus 1/2 of a large sweet onion. I only had 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, so I used what was available. For the chicken stock I actually used the water/mixture from the chicken I was boiling at the time for another recipe.


I cooked it all and it turned out very well. Yum. Yum. The only thing I would have changed is that some of the veggies ended up getting a bit soggy due to the many mixtures within the dish. Later I saw (online, because it did not print out on the printed version) that the recipe also states, "You may want to do a “poke” test on the veggies, beginning at 30 minutes baking time. You know, to avoid the whole soggy-mushy-slimey thing." Next time I'll follow that hint along the way. Great smelling and tasty side dish. Mmmm Mmmm.

bon appetit!