Saturday, July 10, 2010

Summer-Thyme Lemon Roasted Zucchinis & Tomatoes


 
This spring my husband and I decided to plant about 6 vegetables with no expectations of them growing and producing. We picked up a large planter box and planted 1 banana pepper, 1 eggplant, 3 red pepper plants and one zucchini.  When I lived in Hayward, zucchini was a big deal.  In fact the Zucchini Festival is an annual event in Hayward, CA and I remember going as a kid and watching people filled with pride holding up their gigantic zucchinis as they hoisted them over the heads like the heisman trophy.  Zucchini grew very well in Hayward and I loved picking it.

My husband is in charge of the planting, watering and tending to the vegetables and I am in charge of flowers and herbs. He did a great job because when our zucchini started to grow, it grew by leaps and bounds almost crowding the other plants.  I'd go back in our yard and visit the plant, touch the leaves and smell my hands.  The smell took me right back to zucchini picking in Hayward.

We have had an intense heat wave the past week in the tri-state and the squirrels in our backyard are quite thirsty.  They pick off our neighbor's green tomatoes and bite into them eating about half just to get some water.  And they are quite civilized these squirrels...  they actually carry the tomatoes to our patio table and eat them there leaving the skin and the half eaten tomato for us to clean up.  Not only are they eating the tomatoes but they chewed almost all the way through the roots of our zucchini plant. Thank you squirrels.  I began to cut off the leaves to clean up the mess and was happy to find 3 decent zucchinis.  I guess you know where I am going with this.  Yes, it was zucchini for dinner.



Summer-Thyme Lemon Roasted Zucchinis &Tomatoes

3 zucchinis sliced diagonally
4 vine ripened tomatoes quartered
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large handful of fresh thyme sprigs
zest of one lemon
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

1)  Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2)  Line 2 cookie sheets with foil
3)  Toss sliced zucchini with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, lemon zest, and 1/2 handful of fresh thyme sprigs and scatter on cookie sheet
4)  Toss quartered tomatoes with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper and 1/2 handful of fresh thyme sprigs and scatter on cookie sheet
5)  Roast in oven for about 20-30 minutes (depending on oven)
6)  Serve over rice for a delicious & light vegetarian, gluten-free meal


6 comments:

  1. Thanks Aubree! Glad you like it! It's delicious!

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  2. Thanks for posting this! I have a large organic zucchini from the CSA and some grape tomatoes on the tomato plant in my garden. This is just the recipe I was looking for--easy and delicious.

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  3. Looks so fresh and delicious! We have some thyme going now, just waiting on tomatoes!

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  4. That is so awesome that Hayward has a Zucchini Festival!

    I adore zucchini and tomatoes. This looks delicious!

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  5. I'm always clueless with what to do with zucchini. seriously clueless. I love the simplicity of this recipe and yet it's packed with flavor.

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  6. This looks amazing!! I am SUCH a huge fan of zucchini...I eat it all the time. And with rosemary too :) Thanks for some wonderful ideas! :)

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