Yakima Valley Pie

There are lots of tomato and zucchini pie recipes floating around out there. But if you use this recipe, you'll be able to taste the hospitality of the Yakima Valley, home of don't-leave-church-without-some-shared-produce. Thanks for the great recipe, Sandi E.! 

1 lb. ground beef                                      

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 & 1/2 cup sliced zucchini

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 tsp. dill seed

1/4 tsp. salt

2 T. butter

1 (8 oz.) can crescent rolls

1 cup cheddar cheese

tomato slices, enough to cover pie

serve with (optional): sour cream, alfalfa sprouts 

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain.  Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper; set aside.  Saute zucchini and green pepper in butter for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Stir in dill seed and the 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place triangles in ungreased 9 inch pie pan;  press over bottom and up sides to form a crust. Spoon meat  mixture over crust. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded cheese over meat mixture.  Spread zucchini mixture evenly over meat; top with tomato slices.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese over tomatoes;  return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.  Garnish with sour cream and alfalfa sprouts (or lettuce). Cut into wedges to serve 6  (if you're lucky!) 

P.S. I didn't actually follow the recipe for this picture. I used a sourdough pizza-type dough for the crust, and an extra-big pie pan to fit in a few more veggies.

Coconut Yogurt Popsicles

These popsicles were inspired by creamy sweet Mexican coconut popsicles and coconut cream pie or pudding. I also give inspiration credit to the large amounts of plain yogurt I had in my fridge and my two voracious popsicle testers.

1 c. plain yogurt

1 T. honey (warm to soften if needed)

4 drops vanilla stevia sweetener

1/2 c. shredded coconut

Stir, freeze, serve.

This was a small batch and only filled 3 of the 4 popsicle slots in my mold. Other than that, it was a hit. It had a hint of yogurt tartness so if you want it sweeter and more ice-cream-like you could start with vanilla yogurt or something already sweetened. There are also non-dairy coconut milk yogurts that might taste great as popsicles. I'd love to hear what variations you come up with!