Squeeze, Sauté, and Get Baked with Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Margaret 00:00:03 Welcome friends, to episode 315. Today we are going to be talking about Lemon Zucchini pasta. What happens when you take a love of food, a passion for culture, and a deep knowledge of cannabis and you toss them all into one bowl? You get Bite Me, the podcast that explores the intersection of food, culture and cannabis and helps cooks make great edibles at home. I'm your host, Margaret the Certified Ganjier Tsai Certified Cannabis Educator, and I believe your kitchen is the best dispensary you'll ever have. Together, we'll explore the stories, the science, and the sheer joy of making safe, effective, and unforgettable edibles at home. So preheat your oven and get ready for a great episode. Let's dive in, friends. So I just realized a few minutes ago I had recorded this entire episode and I forgot to hit record. that was a real moment. I was like, shit, I literally have to do this entire thing all over again. So, you know, hopefully the second time is better than the first anyway.

Margaret 00:01:03 But that is not a mistake I am in the habit of making, thank God, because I think that would probably drive me crazy. I even had a whole trivia question, which now I probably have to pick out a new one. But before we get into today's episode, I just want to say a big shout out to Danny from Maryland, who sent me a speak pipe message just to say hello and thanks for your work that you do for the podcast, and I really appreciate getting those kinds of messages for people letting me know where they're listening from and that they enjoy the show. So thank you for that, Danny of Maryland. And you can also leave your own speak pipe message if you wish. You can find it at all over the place. I think it's speak pipe slash Bite Me podcast or something like that. Speak pipe comm forward slash Bite Me podcast. But it's also at the end of every episode post on my website for sure. It's probably my Linktree on social media. It's all over the place, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Margaret 00:01:59 But I love getting those types of messages, so thanks for that. And, I'm a little, I'm a little hairy now that I realize what I've done by not hitting record. But if you're just tuning in for the first time today. Thank you. I'm glad you found the show. I would love to know how you found the show. Did somebody share it with you? Did you stumble upon it? Did you see something on the socials that is valuable information for independent podcasters like myself? And if you have been a long time listener, thanks for being here. I really appreciate you and the fact that you're tuning in each week and reaching out when you can, and joining the Buy Me Cannabis Club, too. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you wonderful folks listening each and every week. So now I have to find a new trivia question, because I obviously stuck the other one back into the deck. And yes, we are doing stoner trivia. Raised to 420 trivia card game. After smoking some weed, two stoners try to get to their favorite restaurant while encountering many obstacles along the way.

Margaret 00:03:10 Was the restaurant White Castle, Taco Bell or McDonald's? I have seen this movie and. What was it called again? I don't even remember. But if you answered White Castle, you would be correct. It's funny that the other question that I had that I did in my previous version of this same episode was also a movie question. And movie trivia is kind of fun sometimes. Might come in handy, you never know, but I would love to hear what your favorite cannabis movie is. I hate to say stoner movie because I. I also find that a lot of those movies really focus on those negative stoner stereotypes that were like, why won't these stereotypes ever die? And it's, well, some of these movies certainly don't help that fact because they always portray stoners in the exact same way. So I hate to say stoner, but what are your favorite cannabis films? We've been doing some watch parties inside the Bite Me Cannabis Club, which have been a lot of fun. And there are I wouldn't say there's any movies that every cannabis user must see, but we did watch Reefer Madness for the first one that I hosted.

Margaret 00:04:13 That movie is pretty bad. If you have an opportunity to watch it in like a watch party, it's definitely the preferred way to enjoy it. Or with a group of people, preferably while enjoying some cannabis because it is so ridiculous and the acting is also kind of shit. A lot of it's actually pretty shit, but let's not forget it was also filmed in like 1930 something in 1936, I think, and was dubbed and was lauded by critics as one of the worst movies of all time. And I think it was sort of after that it became a bit of a cult classic, but definitely worth watching with people otherwise not really worth watching at all. So, I mean, there's so much lore from that Reefer madness and that phrase that, you know, sometimes checking it out to see what it's about is, is kind of fun. But the movie itself not great. I'll leave it at that. The other one we did for the watch for watch parties was weed and wine, which I would recommend.

Margaret 00:05:10 I would recommend this one. This was an interesting film that covered two distinct families, one in France growing grapes for wine and one in Humboldt, California growing cannabis. And it was a really interesting look at these two different families, because obviously one was operating in a legal market and the other was mostly operating in the illegal market prior to legalization in California, although now they are experiencing different issues now that there is a legal market in California. Very interesting to watch the similarities between the two industries and the things that they have to go through. And fun fact Kevin, Jodi and his son are featured in the wine and the weed family. And Kevin is a huge cannabis advocate. He's been involved in the industry for a very long time, and he's also part of the Ganjier Council. So I had the opportunity to meet him in California when I went there to do my training. So that was a really cool connection. And then the third movie we did was Marijuana Moment. That one was about a woman who finds a vape pen that allows time travel, and that one was okay, I think I fell asleep and yeah.

Margaret 00:06:24 So anyway, I would love to hear what your favorite movies are. We will probably be doing more watch parties inside the Bite Me Cannabis Club upcoming as well, and your recommendations are always helpful. I've been making a lot of things recently, actually, because there's been so much bounty at the markets and in the stores and on my deck with the herbs that I planted because I feel like I need to use the mops. So I recently made some pesto, which was excellent, and I well, I shouldn't say it's excellent. I tasted some of it, of course, but I froze it in ice cube trays so that I could have some over the winter when my herbs on the deck are but a distant memory. I also made a plum torte, which I have covered on this show previously, probably a couple of years ago, and that recipe was generously donated by listener Terry, and I really appreciated that recipe. This is. I've made it a few times, but I got some lovely plums from the market and I wanted to use them.

Margaret 00:07:23 And because I because I made this confetti cake recently as well. So I'll back up a little bit. I infused this plum cake plum torte, which is just a cake that doesn't have a lot of flour in it, so it doesn't rise as much. But I made this, and I infused it with CBD because I wanted to be able to share it with my father because recently I made a confetti cake, So I had Wesley Holloway, founder of Benevolent Bakery, on the show last week. And if you haven't checked that out, I highly recommend that you do. I love what he's doing in the cannabis space as far as the product and his social mission as well. And he sent me a couple of boxes to try out myself, and I made the confetti cake, which is a UN infused cake mix. It's such a great idea, and I often recommend people who are just starting out that you start with like a cake mix to sort of practice. You don't have to worry about the baking, but this takes even more guesswork out of it.

Margaret 00:08:19 So I think it's a fun thing to have on hand if you're making a lot of edibles yourself. Sometimes you're just busy and you want to be able to whip up something quick, and this fits the bill, it would make a great gift. And of course, there's the social aspect where the proceeds from every sale go to a local nonprofit that is helping their local community. And I think that's a wonderful way for the cannabis community to give back. So I made this confetti cake for. For the Bite Me Cannabis club I was doing like a live cooking. Stream, I guess. And I made this confetti cake and it turned out really great. And of course my dad saw the finished product and he's like, ooh, what's this? Because I have this, like big tray of like, confetti cake in it. And I had to tell him like, that's infused. And you know, you're welcome to have some. But he's like, well, no, I don't think I'll be doing that.

Margaret 00:09:12 And I feel kind of bad. That man has quite a sweet tooth. That is the reason I have my sweet tooth. I know this because he goes through way more maple syrup than any human really ought to. But I understand it, of course, because maple syrup is fabulous. But he has a huge sweet tooth, so I felt bad that he was not going to indulge. And frankly, a lot of people have asked, like, do you think you'll ever get him to consume? And I, I don't know if I will and I'm not necessarily interested. I don't know what would happen if a man of 94 were to get high or even too high. Knowing that he's never consumed cannabis ever in his entire life. I just don't want that on my hands. They would make me way too paranoid, because sometimes when I get really high at night and I'll be like, just sort of in bed, ready to go to sleep or whatever, my mind will start to go. And I'm always just like, and this always happens only when I'm really high.

Margaret 00:10:06 Otherwise it never even crosses my mind. But I'm like, what if something happens? What if he gets up in the middle of the night and needs help? I think worst case scenario. And I'm like, and I'm like really stoned and I can't drive along. I don't know, I it's kind of ridiculous. So anyway, I made the plum torte infused with CBD so he could also enjoy it. Of course, I told him there was CBD in it, but he's far more accepting of that because it's not intoxicating and so it's much safer. So that's what I made. I also made the confetti cake, of course, and if you want to check that out, Wesley did offer a lovely discount using code Bite Me 20 at Shop Benevolent Bakery if you want to check it out for yourself and try them, you can get them in 250mg and 100mg baking mixes, and they have some new ones coming out. Oh, baked Brie. I made some baked Brie, so I have a guest that's coming on the show.

Margaret 00:10:54 I'll let you know at the end of the episode who it is. He shared a cooking video in the Bite Me Cannabis Club, and it is a baked Brie with a wrapped in phyllo dough and with pecans and rosemary. And I'm like, I have rosemary in my pocket. Check that I need to be using up. And it was fabulous. Sometimes cheese for dinner is acceptable and I don't feel guilty about that at all. I did not infuse that one. You easily can because there's a little bit of butter put in the sauce that you pour over the the baked Brie. You have to remember friends, a lot of these recipes, if you don't want to infuse them, you don't have to. You can infuse them or not infuse them. It's your choice. You're taking control of your high life. Sometimes it's not appropriate. And I'm also going to be making a hollandaise sauce by this same person who shared this recipe with me, and I'll be testing that out soon too. So we'll be seeing that coming up as well, because I'll be sharing that one on this very show.

Margaret 00:11:51 Lemon. Zucchini pasta. This one was so good. I will be making it again. I will be adding it to the repertoire because it was simple, used to simple ingredients, and was easy to dose. And those are all the things. They check all the boxes and it didn't take that long to make. I also prefer, you know, I also like recipes where you're not slaving over the stove, but you end up with something that's amazing. The recipe, as it was written, makes four servings. I found that we got more servings in that out of it. I think more like six. So that was also great. I love nothing better than a dish that you can make once and eat twice, potentially three times. I mean, that is I love leftovers. I know there's people out there who don't like them. Sometimes I wonder if those people cook when you have to feed a family, or feed a bunch of people, or feed yourself every single day. It's I love leftovers or a game changer, so I'll let you know sort of what you need for this recipe, because it is lovely.

Margaret 00:12:54 And I ended up finding it because I had gone to the market a few weeks ago, and I found this. I brought home this giant zucchini. I don't remember why I bought a giant zucchini, except I think the farmers stand that I went to only had seemingly large zucchinis. Otherwise, I do prefer small ones because I like to grill them, or I like to make them into stir fries. And I don't necessarily need this like giant zucchini. But it worked perfectly for this recipe because you need a £2 zucchini or summer squash, or 4 to 6 medium zucchinis. Well, I don't even know if I weighted. I just used the entire thing. You're going to need a small onion or a shallot, shallot, shallot, which isn't, I don't know. For large cloves of garlic you need extra virgin olive oil. Crushed red pepper flakes. Salt. Freshly ground black pepper. Your pasta. Spaghetti. Linguine. Mutiny. Whatever it is that you prefer, a lemon parmesan, lightly packed basil or mint leaves, or a combination of both.

Margaret 00:13:57 I used both because I happen to have both growing on my deck and heavy cream. So as you can see, a lot of people would have these ingredients already on hand. You might have to go out and actually get the zucchini. The ingredients in this particular recipe are simple, which is what lends itself so beautifully to this dish. And essentially, I'm just going to check to make sure I'm still recording. Yes, I am without going through all the details of the recipe, because I'll share it in the show notes as well, so you can just read it yourself. But the concept is that you're going to grate the zucchini and the onion and the garlic if you choose. I ended up grading the garlic separately or not grating. I ended up mincing it separately and just adding it to the pot. When I added the zucchini in the onion, but you put a clean kitchen towel over your work surface, and then you grate the zucchini and the onion together, and then you gather up the ends of the towel and you squeeze out as much water from the zucchini as possible.

Margaret 00:14:56 You squeeze it and squeeze in and squeeze it. That is literally the hardest part of this recipe. And it's good because it's probably helping you with your grip strength. And I have read that a good grip strength is associated with longevity. So there you go. This is helping you live longer as well as eating good food. And then you go through some steps, you know, you heat the olive oil and you add in your your zucchini, your grated zucchini and all these things. Like I said, I'm not going to really get into it, but that is the the thing that sort of makes this different. You're going to make your pasta, you're going to heat your olive oil and then add in your red pepper flakes and then let that cook and get fragrant. And then you add in your zucchini, onion and garlic. Well that's cooking. And while the pasta water is boiling, you're going to mince or not mince. You're going to roughly chop your basil and mint. Whatever it is that you're using, you're going to grate your parmesan.

Margaret 00:15:45 And I can say right here, unequivocally, I have never used a zest to grate parmesan or a a planer. What do they call a micro plane? And I'm like, why have I not done this before in my life? I don't understand it made the fluffiest pile of parmesan I've ever experienced in my entire life, and I was like, this is immensely useful. And another, another reason to use this micro planer, because I always used to think of it as a disaster. It was just to get the the zest off the rind of of citrus fruit. But no, it can be for so much more. I was very I was pleasantly surprised. And then you're also going to measure out your lemon juice. Now, I didn't actually use lemon juice like from a fresh lemon I just have bottled. I always have bottled organic lemon juice in my fridge, so I just use some of that. And so while that. While you're doing all that, you're going to add your, your pasta to the water.

Margaret 00:16:43 You're cooking up your zucchini mixture. And then once the pasta has done is done cooking to al dente, you're going to take out some of the pasta, water the cooking liquid and reserve that. You're not going to dump it all out. And then you're going to take tongs and put your pasta directly into the pot with the zucchini. And it's okay with some of the water clings to it. That's perfectly acceptable. And then you're going to cook that all together. Add a little bit of the pasta water. And this is where you add in some of your heavy cream along with the pasta water. You stir it up a little bit, and then you're going to be adding your cheese and maybe a little bit more pasta water, stirring it all up, making it nice and creamy, making it into a nice and creamy sauce that coats the pasta. Just before you remove the pasta from the heat, you're going to add in your lemon juice and your herbs as well. And then you're going to serve it.

Margaret 00:17:35 Top with some extra parmesan if you want. Salt and pepper. And it is a chef's kiss. I highly recommend this particular recipe. And it's a good one to have in the repertoire because it doesn't take too long to put together. Now you might be saying, but Margaret, how do you infuse this? Well, in this particular case, what I would do is I would drizzle some infused olive oil on the top. After serving, I would probably drizzle it on and then add a little bit of parmesan on the salt and pepper on top. And the reason for this is because you could add it when you're going to be cooking the zucchini and you're adding in the red pepper flakes. But then that's infusing the entire dish. And sometimes you want to have a little more control over your infusion process. And if you add it afterwards, that means you can serve it to a wider group of people. I can serve them to my dad. I can serve them to other people who might be coming over that a different tolerance level than me.

Margaret 00:18:28 There's a lot of reasons why you might want to do that. It also means that if you have leftovers and you want to take them to work for lunch tomorrow or something to that effect, you don't have to worry about getting high while you're at work, because I don't know about you, but most workplaces I've been in kind of frown on that. So it's just a way to take control of your high life, to be able to infuse per dish, per tolerance. And it's really easy to do, and it lends itself beautifully to this kind of recipe. So that's what I would recommend. Yes, you can add infused olive oil when you're cooking up the zucchini and stuff, but I think you're going to get more precise dosing and a better experience if you add the olive oil as a drizzle on the top. If you try it out, let me know how you love it. Let me know how you adapted it to make it your own if you add it or detracted anything. Because the ability to modify recipes I think is fun and really helps you enjoy what you're cooking and eating as well.

Margaret 00:19:24 So let me know if you've tried it out and if you modified it in any way. Now, as far as next week goes, the guess I'll be having on is Adam Vander Mey of your Cana chef. Been a long time listener of Bite Me, the show about edibles, and he is also contributing cooking videos to the Bite Me Cannabis Club, which have been incredible. I'm having him on the show to talk about his journey, because he started your Cana chef a little while ago. He's going all in on it right now, and he is doing some really cool stuff in the cannabis space, and he's an incredible chef as well, so you can look forward to that next week. And of course, the invitation to join the Bite Me Cannabis Club is always open, and I hope you will consider joining the fine folks over there. I'm really proud of the space that we've co-created, myself and the members, and I think you would enjoy it too. It's a really safe and supportive space to talk about all things cannabis without my friends.

Margaret 00:20:20 I will love you and leave you. I am your host, Margaret. And until next time, stay high.