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While I don't normally start clearing out my garden beds until May, an act of nature forced me to get an early start on it this year. Allison and I were in the basement when we heard a loud crash. "The heck was that!?" I yelled to Allison. "I don't know, but the neighbor boy is running into our back yard," she yelled back. We have some very old and very large oak trees in our back yard, and even though we recently had them assessed, a limb the size of a small tree snapped right off of our largest oak tree and came crashing through our picket fence, the middle of our girl's very large wooden swing set, and some of my garden beds. Thankfully we only need to replace 6 pickets on the fence, the play set we were going to tear down anyway, and the weather has been nice enough that an early spring project wasn't going to be the end of the world for me. I haven't thought about what veggies and herbs I'll be planting this year, but I do know that we'll be doing tomatoes and zucchini again since they are such low maintenance plants, and with my summertime schedule, I don't need more on my plate than necessary. The thing that I love about zucchini is how much payoff you get for such a small investment. At the end of the season we are swimming in zucchini we end up giving so much of it away. It also leaves me with looking for new and interesting recipes to keep the veggie exciting all summer long. I had saved this Mediterranean Zucchini with Carrots and Golden Raisins recipe from Golden Blossom Honey to make for Easter this year, but since my mom took care of the side dishes, it went back into the save for later pile. Until this week when I caught a good sale on both carrots and zucchini that I decided that it didn't need to wait until I had my own abundance popping up before trying the recipe.
While I had earmarked this as a holiday side dish, I quickly decided that it would make for an amazing summer time lunch option. I had never thought to mix raisins with carrots or zucchini, but somehow it just all worked together. I liked the extra sweetness that the raisins provided and the added texture and crunch that the almonds offered. Often times when I find a new recipe like this, I like to start thinking of ways to switch it up the next time I make it, but this one was absolutely perfect as is. I'd honestly not change a single thing about it. This is a dish that you need to have on hand for summertime side dishes or picnic and holiday gatherings throughout the season. It's light and refreshing and an amazing garden fresh dish if there ever was one!
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
6 cups zucchini, grated
1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
3/4 cup carrots, grated
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
3/4 cup golden raisins
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Have you ever had property damage from falling trees or their limbs?
Good thing nobody was under the tree when the limb fell! We always have a lot of smaller branches thrown around when we have wind storms, so I always have to sweep them all away after the storm.
ReplyDeleteI've never had me raw zucchini, are they tasty like that?
They are a lot like cucumbers but not as sweet nor flavorful. A little firmer, too. I like to eat them raw, but many here don't. They are best grated or chopped and sauteed in a little olive oil.
DeleteI’m sorry that happened, but glad it wasn’t your house that got damaged! We had a tree fall on our deck and break our patio umbrella a few years back, but that’s been the worst of it. We’ve been lucky because our house is surrounded by trees. Wind storms worry me!
ReplyDeleteI forgot that you live in a heavy tree area, too. 2 of my neighbors have had big limbs fall through their roofs in the past few years, but we've been lucky. I have a few over our house that I worry about as well when the storms come. I really need to see about having those cut back.
DeleteNothing to change makes it a win indeed. Zucchinis sure do grow like weeds. Yep. Been there with a branch coming down and taking out a fence panel. Thankfully wasn't too much of a pain in the butt to fix either.
ReplyDeleteKnock on wood that fences are all we have to worry about. Roofs are an expensive fix!
DeleteI love that you put raisins in here. I think this is the perfect dish to feature them!! We are big zucchini fans here and this dish makes me happy. Glad that Oak limb didn't take out the wrong things (though I know there are never any 'right' things). We had a tree snap in the woods behind our house years ago, and my kids and I always were in the woods playing, especially that time of year when there were no leaves so we could run and play and still see everything (I was scared of animals when the leaves were in and there was no visibility lol). That particular day though, I was doing yard work and my smallest son had JUST been playing in those woods (I could easily see and reach him). That was the last time I let him go out there, you can bet. Falling trees are no joke.
ReplyDeleteThat's scary! Glad he was out of the woods before tragedy struck! It really is alarming how quickly those branches can snap and come crashing down with no warning. My next house will have a few small decorative trees and nothing else. For almost 20 years I've worried about the trees in our yard, but they usually want 3-4,000 $ to remove each one (and there are 5-6 that should come down) and we've never had that kind of money up front to take care of them :(
DeleteI would definitely eat this. Sounds like it would be good and mostly low carb. I could leave out the honey. I've never had property damage from falling trees.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness! Those palms you showed the other day look like they could cause some serious damage in a storm though!
DeleteGracias por la receta. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome :)
DeleteGreat blog
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete