Summer Squash Tart

Last year I planted my first garden in our new house. The deer devoured the peas and beans, the weeds overtook the tomatoes, and the zucchini and yellow squash never pollinated.

This year is only slightly better. The deer have devoured the peas, beans, AND tomatoes, but they left the squash alone and I actually have one from the garden! I put it to immediate use in this pizza-style veggie tart.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cups cut up squash, such as pattypan, yellow summer squash, or zucchini
• 2 red and/or yellow sweet peppers, cut into wide strips
• 1 large sweet onion and/or fennel bulb, cut into wedges
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• Salt or salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 oz. Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 of a 17.3-oz. pkg. frozen puff pastry sheets (1 sheet), thawed (or, um, a pizza crust if you didn't pay attention well enough to the ingredients and purchased a refrigerated pizza crust from Wegman's. Yeah, that works too.)
  
• 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. snipped fresh thyme
• 1 cup purchased refrigerated creamy Parmesan dressing
• 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat sides and bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread squash, sweet peppers, and onion wedges in pan. Toss with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered, 20 to 25 minutes or until tender, stirring once.
2. Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, cut Parmesan cheese in thin strips. Set aside. On lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry to 13x9-inch rectangle. Remove baking pan from oven. Add tomatoes to pan. Toss vegetables with balsamic vinegar and half the Parmesan cheese. Spread vegetables evenly in pan. Lay pastry over vegetables, tucking in edges. Return pan to oven; bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.
3. Remove pan from oven; cool 5 minutes. Invert a 15x10x1-inch baking pan over pan with pastry. Carefully invert pans together; remove 13x9 pan. Transfer any vegetables that stick to finished tart. Sprinkle tart evenly with remaining cheese and 2 teaspoons of the thyme. In small bowl stir together dressing, chopped onion, and remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Cut in squares. Serve tart warm or at room temperature with dressing.

VERDICT

What a great summer dish! I think I may throw on some mushrooms next time, but the taste was great and I used my first ever garden-grown squash! Yeah!

Nutrition Info:
Calories277 * Total Fat (g)23 * Saturated Fat (g)3, * Monounsaturated Fat (g)2, * Polyunsaturated Fat (g)0, * Cholesterol (mg)7, * Sodium (mg)256, * Carbohydrate (g)15, * Total Sugar (g)4, * Fiber (g)2, * Protein (g)4, * Vitamin A (DV%)0, * Vitamin C (DV%)101, * Calcium (DV%)8, * Iron (DV%)3, *

Chili-Rubbed Steaks with Pan Salsa

Yes, yes, I know it's been a long time since the last post. Let's not belabor the point, ok?

Now then, it's summer time, the local sweetcorn is finally ready, and there's nothing like a steak on the grill.

Unfortunately this recipe was intended to be made in a skillet. No worries, I'll just grill it anyways.

And it was intended to be chili-rubbed. Which I realized I was out of after the first shake of the spice container.

Sigh.

But it was still a steak, and there was still sweetcorn, so we had a good dinner regardless of my failings to follow this recipe.
We will attempt it again in the fall. So here is the recipe in case you are better at following directions than I am:

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces 1/2-inch-thick steaks, such as rib-eye, trimmed of fat and cut into 2 portions
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. Sprinkle both sides of steak with chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook, turning once, 1 to 2 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a plate, cover with foil and let rest while you make the salsa.
2. Add tomatoes, lime juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to the pan and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes soften, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and any accumulated juices from the steaks. Serve the steaks topped with the salsa.

VERDICT

Like I said, I didn't follow the directions very well. So there wasn't much chili-flavor. And I added the garlic to the tomatoes (seriously, how can you not?). It was still a good meal, but I imagine it's much better with the chili-rub to complement the tomatoes.

Nutrition Info:
Per serving: 192 calories; 8 g fat (2 g saturated fat, 4 g mono unsaturated fat); 52 mg cholesterol; 4 g carbohydrates; 26 g protein; 1 g fiber; 350 mg sodium; 514 mg potassium