Cheesy Zucchini Thyme Casserole

Today we harvested our first zucchini of the season. As I was standing in the garden, checking the tomatoes, I could smell the thyme on my hands from weeding around it. Hmmmmm..... zucchini, thyme, and a craving for something melty and cheesy gave me an idea.

Ingredients:

Zucchini-medium sized

4 oz (1/2 bar package) cream cheese

Garden Herb Triscuits or whatever flavor you like

Shredded cheese--I used Mexican, not the kind with the taco seasoning added, just the plain, it melts really well

Fresh Thyme

Butter

Half and Half or cream

First I sliced the zucchini into slices--about 1/8 inch thick

I cooked this in salted boiling water just until it was getting tender, not mushy and not completely cooked. Only a few minutes. Drain in strainer.

While the zucchini was boiling, to a saucepan I added 1 tbs butter, 4 oz cream cheese, 4 tbs half and half, and 2 handfuls (about a cup) of shredded cheese. Over medium heat, stir until melted.Add leaves from a few sprigs of thyme and salt and pepper to taste. At this point, I added a little more half and half to make it more of a nacho cheese consistency.

Butter baking dish, I used a smaller casserole dish. Then add 1/3 zucchini slices, add cheese and continue layers until finished. 

Crumble a generous handful of triscuits for a nice crunchy topping.

Add lid or foil and place into oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes, then remove lid and bake for another 10 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and triscuits are browned.

We added fresh sweet corn as a side and paired this with bbq chicken---YUM!! Super simple, not a ton of ingredients, and definitely satisfied my urge for something melty and cheesy. A summer side I will be making again for sure. Not sure if I will use the thyme again, it was good, but I may try something different next time. OOOOOHHHHHH, maybe I may try some sliced tomatoes layered with the zucchini, maybe even an egg noodle layer or two--kind of a veggie lasagna type dish...mmmmmm, I may have to try that later this week ! Hope you enjoy:)