I really like to experiment with vegetables and spices and see what I can cook up. I had some zucchini in the crisper (which weren’t getting any crisper), so I decided to make fries out of them. I served this with spaghetti and they tasted extra yummy dipped in the spaghetti sauce.

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium zucchini, cut into long wedges
1/2 C plain bread crumbs
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/8-1/4 C toasted sesame seeds
1/8 C vegetable oil
1/4 C lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil. Combine lemon juice and oil in a small bowl. In another bowl, combine bread crumbs, sesame seeds, paprika, and garlic salt. Coat zucchini slices in the lemon juice mixture and then coat them in the bread crumb mixture. Place on baking sheet.

Bake for about 25-30 mins until they start to brown. The toasted sesame seeds really add a nice flavor. Like I said, I served these with spaghetti, so I ladled a little extra sauce in small bowls for dipping, and they were even more delicious!
Since it was just boring, ol’ spaghetti, I wanted to spice it up, so I sauteed about 10 sliced mushrooms in olive oil and Burgundy cooking wine.

Once sauteed until tender, I added them to the warmed sauce. It just gives it a bit more flavor and then it’s not just boring old spaghetti anymore.

This is my favorite red cooking wine. It’s actually just a really cheap table wine, and for 4 whopping liters of it, it’s only about $12! It is great for sauteeing, adding to soups and pretty much anything requiring red cooking wine–but I won’t attempt to drink it though! There’s a particular “gourmet” dried soup mix I get at my favorite kitchen store–Hungarian Mishroom–and I always add a couple splashes of this wine to it and it is the perfect addition! Anyhow, I thought I’d share it with everyone.