Tupelo Rice of Santa Barbara

1 pkg of Zatarain's yellow rice, prepared as directed
about 1 cup of corn
1 can of kidney beans (or other bean)
several handfuls or so of fresh spinach
2 tomatoes
1 large yellow onion
oil, salt, pepper, garlic for sauteing
fresh parsley

1. Cook rice according to package.
2. Saute corn in a bit of oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic, until it gets a little brown.  Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Follow step 2 for the remaining items.
4. Combine all ingredients together and gently mix.  Sprinkle with Parmesan, Romano, or mozzarella cheese.
5. Garnish with fresh parsley

*Make note that you can add other ingredients to your liking, such as sauteed zucchini

creamy ravioli with squash, lemon, and chives

I made this for dinner, and will make it again.  The lemon zest made this recipe, for sure.  Gave it a nice, fresh taste!

From Real Simple Magazine

Serves 4

16-18 oz cheese ravioli
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
3 summer squash (green or yellow; about 1 1/2 lbs), thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup grated percorino or Parmesan (2 oz) plus more for serving
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
*Don't forget to save some pasta water

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water; drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3-4 minutes.  Add the squash and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper to the skillet.  Cook, tossing often, until the vegetables are just beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.  Add the cream and lemon zest and cook until the vegetables are tender and the cream is slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the squash mixture, percorino, 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pasta and toss gently to coat (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry).  Serve sprinkled with the chives and additional percorino.

Vegetable Frittata

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes
Vegetables (I used ½ an onion, 1 zucchini, and a little eggplant)
8 eggs
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheese (optional)

Directions:
1 - Boil potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain out water and let cool.
2 - Sautee vegetables until fully cooked, salt them as well.
3 - Peel potatoes, and shred into a well-oiled nonstick-skillet (I used a 12” one, if you wanted it thicker it could be smaller, but I wouldn’t go bigger). Cook shredded potatoes for 5-10 minutes on a high heat. If they are sticking to the pan, add more oil.
4 - In a bowl, mix eggs and milk.
5 - Once the potatoes have browned a little, spread them out evenly across the pan, as to create a bottom-crust. Reduce heat to medium-low.
6 - Pour egg mixture over potatoes (make sure the pan has cooled a little from the last step so that the eggs don’t fry immediately), and then place your sautéed vegetables on top. Cover skillet and let cook, until the eggs are cooked through (about 10 minutes). If the eggs on top are taking too long to cook, turn oven on to broil, and place skillet in the oven (it cooks quickly so don’t worry about damaging your skillet).

*You could sprinkle cheese on top and place it back in the broiler for a minute, or you could mix shredded cheese in with the egg mixture. I like it best with sour cream on the side. You could also do a meat version of this with ham or bacon or sausage or whatever floats your boat. This dish refrigerates well.