When I said I would cook for the apocalypse, you surely didn’t think I meant I would eat poorly, did you?
Of course not.
My first apocalyptic meal was zucchini stuffed with tomatoes, garlic, and chicken with a salad of roasted beets and mozzarella.
Yep. You want to spend the apocalypse with me, alright. While others will be fending off zombies/battling to death in the Thunderdome, I’ll be in my humble hovel, cooking all the deliciousness I can get my hands on.
I opted to use cast iron cookware, because it is super durable and pretty easy to use. Plus, you can use it as a weapon to beat your opponent in the Thunderdome. I peeled and chopped the beets, and tossed them in some oil in the cast iron skillet. FYI, beets look beautiful in cast iron:
To the left, the raw beets; to the left, the roasted ones.
I roasted them in the oven at 350. Again, I’ve got no access to outdoor space, so I’m simulating it inside with the crockpot and oven. In the real apocalypse, you’d stick your pan partway into the fire, but watch the heat – you don’t want to burn your tasty beets.
Let the beets return to room temperature, then toss them with some basil and some mozzarella you got from the enterprising guy who saved his cow from the doom. Eat with relish!
For the zucchini, toss some chopped garlic, two chopped Roma tomatoes, and the innards of 2 halved and scooped out zucchini with some thyme. Take two chicken thighs (or whatever chicken parts you have – it’d be okay to cook the whole thing this way) and toss them with oil and thyme and a little bit of your precious salt supply. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes in a Dutch oven over your fire (or in your 375 degree oven), then add the tomato mixture and the zucchini hulls to the pot. Cover and cook for 20 minutes more. Remove the hulls to a plate, and pull some of the chicken (you might save some for another meal, too). Mix the pulled chicken with the tomatoes, and fill the zucchini hulls with the mixture. Serve with a hearty portion of the beet salad and whatever moonshine you’ve managed to make in your still!
