CJ and I several years ago fishing up in Alaska
Hey UC’ers,
So here’s the deal. My friend CJ Hammer is a chef at a pretty sweet restaurant in Palo Alto, California called St. Michael’s Alley. And I visit him often and help him out when I have spare time in the kitchen. If you’re ever over there, walk back to the kitchen and tell him you know me, and I’ll guarantee he’ll send you out a free appetizer, just don’t make it a daily habit or he might not be my friend anymore. Either way, he’s the most impressive chef I know, and my oldest friend. Actually, he’s my very first friend, not too crazy since his family lived across the street from us. But the bottom line is he kicks serious butt in the kitchen, enough that when Chelsea Clinton (who some of you may know) graduated from Stanford University, she brought her parents to his restaurant for her graduation dinner.
Anyways, the other day, I was helping him out (which means snapping off the ends of some green beans) and I noticed something that looked incredible. There was a full tray of lasagna, or so I thought. Actually, what it was was a side dish for the entrees that night, and instead of lasagna which it looked like, it was filled with zucchini instead. BAAAAAM! I can eat zucchini, but not the noodles since noodles aren’t down with SCD right! So, when Michaela came to pick me up, CJ gave us a piece of his creation in a little to-go container, and off we went.
Well…we for sure didn’t make it to the car before it was an empty container, and it was a fight for the one plastic fork if you know what I mean.
Later that week, I told Michaela, we’ve got to make some of that stuff up ourselves. And that’s just what we did. Last week, we cranked some out, and it came up super tasty, maybe not as good as CJ’s, but friggin incredible none the less and I’m sure a whole bunch of you will think the same as well.
I’ll put it to you this way:
- You will find it easy as hell to make
- You’re going to have fun making it
- If you are dating someone or married, or trying to impress someone with your kitchen skills…YOU WILL knock their socks off FOR SURE! And then who knows what will happen next, you might even be naming your next child Zucchi… I don’t know
- If you follow the SCD eating rules, or if you want to give them a try, you’re all set
- If you are scared off by the “Vegetarian” part, well, pull your head out of your meat grinder and read the recipe
I’m going to give you the recipe that we used here, but believe me, there’s a ton of modifications you can make to it if you like. I’m midway through cranking it out tonight and Michaela said to me, “Do you want to put some of the left-over pesto sauce in it too?”. Didn’t end up doing that tonight, but I like her thinking right?
Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (in picture format below):
Serves 2-3 people
Ingredients:
- 4-5 small zucchini
- 1 big fat ripe tomato
- Parmesan cheese grated (you’ll see the picture below to get an idea of the grating and how much)
- Asiago cheese
- Fresh Oregano
- Fresh Basil (don’t be a wussy, get yourself some fresh herbs, but either way, but even if that’s not possible, you’re still gonna love it)
- Olive Oil (maybe a tablespoon is all you need, unless you really love that stuff)
- Salt – just a tiny bit since the cheese is salty
- THAT IS IT!
Instructions:
This works real well, a small 1-1/2QT Pyrex Loaf Dish
. I put down a few specs of salt on the very bottom, not sure exactly why, but CJ told me to do it, enough said.
Slice Up the Zucchini real thin lengthwise. If you have a Mandolin Slicer
you’ll want to get it out. Otherwise you need to be much more careful with the cutting.
Those two little twigs are FRESH OREGANO. Peel off the tiny leaves, and chop them up! Put them in a small container or just let the chopped herbs sit on the side, we’ll be using them soon. No need to use the stem, or at least that’s what Michaela says…
Those are basil leaves. They make this dish SCREAM YUMMY. Even if you have to ask your neighbor who has an herb garden for some, try to get the fresh stuff, you’ll be super happy and it tastes/smells super good. Chop the basil up and like the oregano, put it to the side, its going to be used in just a moment.
We had some Parmesan and Asiago cheese leftover from when we made this last week, and guess what, it holds pretty well in the fridge, and we used up some more…And guess what…the rest is going back in the fridge to see if it can last until next week’s zucchini lasagna. My body can’t handle loads and loads of cheese, so I don’t dump on as much as CJ does, but a little goes a long way. And the little bit of burnt cheese when its all done…YUM YUM. Just grate up the cheese, if you’re using two or three types, that’s fine, just mix it all together in a bowl and get ready to use it in a moment as well.
We just used one tomato this time. And I think 1 is all you need. CJ uses sun-dried tomato at his restaurant, but I like the fresh ones better. The dish gets a little layer of juice at the bottom of the pan, but when you scoop out your serving, its stays there too. So don’t trip out on the juices you see when its all done because cooked veggies lose their water right… This picture is what everything looks like when you’re about to get the party started with putting together the lasagna.
This is what it starts to look like when you begin putting it together. A layer of sliced zucchini, some tomato slices, add some of the chopped herbs, and then some cheese. I also drizzle a tiny tiny bit of olive oil in there too.
Here is another layer of zucchini, new game of Tetris
This is the top layer before adding the cheese and maybe a few drips of olive oil for some more nice tastes. Looking pretty nice right!
hey, even got some leftover cheese for the dog (or cat)
Nice profile shot before it goes in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees. (Everyone’s oven is different, so check back on your creation a few times. If things are turning brown, probably time to take it out. But at 350, that should not happen for a while.
After you popped it in the oven, don’t forget (like I often do) to do the cleanup. You’ll win points with the you know who…
Here it is, with some baked chicken to the left.
So these aren’t ordinary recipe instructions right, but I hope that you get the idea, and the fact is, I’m no expert chef. Just another average guy, who has been cooking some pretty tasty things at home, especially since diet is such a huge part of how I’m getting past UC. One thing is for sure, you don’t need to go to Chef school for several years, you don’t need some fancy kitchen, and you definitely don’t need alot of money to crank out this dish. AND, if you have leftovers, go grab some container and stick the rest in the fridge and pull it out in a few days and it will taste just as good if not better. And again, the way I made it above is only 1 of probably thousands of variations you could do. There’s all sorts of things you could add to change it up if you like.
For those of you who ordered my ebooks and wanted some more vegetarian foods in the cookbook, this will be in the updated versions you will all receive in the future.
I really hope everyone who tries this recipe, or your own sub-version of it, enjoys it as much as Michaela and I have.
Best of luck with your UC, and much more to come soon,
-Adam Scheuer
I started site shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).
For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms. Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful. But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.
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