For the Love of Vegetables...

I am not the hugest fan of vegetables.  My mom (aka The Queen Mother) can attest to this.  Like any good mom, she served balanced meals with lots of green vegetables.  My brother, sister and I had to eat what was served.  If we did not, we were not allowed to get up from the table and we were most certainly not allowed to have dessert, or even a snack. 

Due to my disdain for anything green, this resulted in many an argument.  The worst punishment of all time was being banned from watching "Full House" unless I finished my vegetables!  It was torture.  WHAT!?  No Stephanie Tanner?!  What was I going to talk about with my friends the next day?  Certainly not the cold lump of something green on my plate.  Somehow, I survived that ordeal-the scurvy from my lack of vegetable eating, a missed episode chalk full of Tanner family values, and I still love the Queen Mother. 

But here's the shocker...I now actually enjoy eating my vegetables...most of the time.  Especially this dish.  Please ignore that it is contains butter and cheese which are capable of making any dish taste good.  It is still me eating vegetables- a miracle.  As far as I know, it was created by the Queen Mother herself and has quickly found it's way into my heart (and is currently in my belly).  I suggest it also find it's way into your belly.

Here is the line up (the lemons are decoration...and plastic):

Layer all of the ingredients in an oven-proof dish:

 Top with cheese:

 Bake.  And this is what it looks like when it comes out of the oven:

 

The Queen Mother's Zucchini Casserole:

• Zucchini (I went with 3 green, 2 yellow)
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 tomato sliced (I used grape tomatoes because I had them)
• 1/2 stick of butter (cut into tiny pieces)
• Cheese (I like provolone, but really any cheese will do)
• Salt and Pepper

1.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray your oven-proof dish with non-stick spray.

2.  Layer zucchini, tomatoes, onion, some tiny pats of butter, salt and pepper.  Top it off with some of the cheese.  Continue layering (and remember it will sink down as it cooks so the more layers the better!).

3.  Top with extra cheese and cover the dish in foil.

4.  Cook until the zucchini is tender.  Remove the foil and allow to cook 15 minutes longer to allow the cheese to get nice and crispy.

5.  Enjoy!