Zucchini alla Puttanesca

Zucchini alla Puttanesca is a great dish - hot, fast, saucy and spicy, just like its namesake; "puttanesca" is Italian for, ahem, prostitute.

Just 15 minutes is all you need - 5 for prep, 10 for cooking - and you have an amazingly fragrant and fabulous dish. It can be spooned over rice or pasta, stirred into soup, placed into tortillas, served as a side dish ... the choice is yours.

Tom and I found some of the vegetables we needed for this zesty dish at the Wednesday evening Farmers Market, which offers a wide variety of vendors (farmers, bakers, pizza and tamales) and even live music.

Avalon Housing's Edible Avalon program had a table there, which was absolutely laden with gorgeous produce! Everything had been lovingly tended in a Project Grow garden plot, and was being sold to benefit the non-profit and its residents.

The various area farmers' markets are offering an abundance of beautiful vegetables now, and this dish is an ideal way to put them to good use!

Zucchini alla Puttanesca [ah-lah pooh-tahn-ESS-kah]

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
several splashes of cayenne pepper sauce
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup white wine (I used Flip Flop Wines Riesling, a most generous marketing gift!)
1 fat 8" zucchini, cut into 1/2" cubes
8 Kalamata olives, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped

In a large skillet, heat oil, vinegar, and cayenne pepper sauce over medium heat; add garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, salt and wine; cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is just starting to boil. Add zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add olives and tomato; cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Serves 2-4.

Edible Avalon

Okay, it's Mitzvah Day again here on ye olde blog! Remember, a mitzvah [MITZ-vuh] is literally translated from the Hebrew as "commandment," but it's taken to mean "good deed."

And this is an easy mitzvah to perform: please vote for one of my very favorite non-profit organizations -- Ann Arbor's own Avalon Housing, which provides homes for those with extremely low incomes who often have mental/physical disabilities further complicating their lives -- to receive an orchard to help feed its residents.

Here's a summary of what you need to do, with many thanks to Jude from Avalon for letting me borrow her very succinct phrasing for this explanation. (We all know that I'm usually found way, way over on the opposite end of that spectrum, long past "verbose!") Unfortunately, it's not just a "one click"-er, but it's still not too much trouble:

Please go to: CommunitiesTakeRoot.com.

After you have logged in or registered, click the "Vote Now" link. Select the "List By State" tab at the top of the map that appears. Scroll down to "Michigan" and you'll see us listed as Edible Avalon. Just click to plant your vote!

You can vote every day, and help us win an orchard of 20 fruit trees. In just a few years, the trees will produce enough fresh fruit to distribute amongst our tenants, helping to stabilize their food security with tree fruits - in addition to the many vegetables and fruits already grown through the Edible Avalon program.


According to Avalon's website:

If we win, we'll select 20 fruit trees & shrubs to plant around our Carrot Way Apartments. In just a few years, the orchard will produce fresh fruit for our tenants, to be distributed through our network of Community Centers and Food Pantries. You can help us transform our one lonely peach tree into a full orchard!

The orchard space will also enhance the community, providing a picnic and meeting spot, and acting as an outdoor classroom!

Please vote every day until May 31, and pass this along to all your loved ones, as well!!! This means a very great deal to me, as Avalon Housing is a cause very near and dear to my heart ... :)