Pages

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Using up the Zucchini

After all that garden talk, it's time to share a few recipes showing how we're using our bounty. Okay, so "bounty" is probably overstating things a bit, but it sounds good......

Zucchini and Cucumbers

So far it's mostly been zucchini and cucumbers coming from the garden. I'm definitely lacking in cucumber recipes (and I'd better find some soon as we're about to be overrun), but there seem to be infinite ways to use zucchini. I only planted one zucchini plant, so I don't think we'll be totally inundated. And that's probably a good thing seeing as how none of us actually love zucchini. So why the heck did I plant it? I guess because everyone always seems to be trying to get rid of their zucchini and it's always super abundant at the farmer's market, so I figured it must be easy to grow. I suppose I just wanted a sure bet.

Even though none of us are crazy about zucchini on its own, it's very easy to disguise and or fit (or is it hide?) into other tasty dishes. Like zucchini bread. My son wrinkled up his nose and said "EW!" when I mentioned zucchini bread, but then I reminded him of how tasty carrot cake is and that helped him keep an open mind.

Zucchini-Pecan Saute
But before I go on to the zucchini bread, the first zucchini I picked I used in one of our favorite savory zucchini dishes - Zucchini-Pecan Sauté. A really simple dish that, for whatever reason, really elevates zucchini from just "meh" to "yum".

I'm sure there are lots of great zucchini bread recipes out there, but for some reason I've never strayed from this one from Jane Brody's Good Food Book (she calls it "Grate" Zucchini Bread). I like that it uses half whole wheat flour and she tries to keep the oil and sugar to a minimum. Even though it's fairly healthful, it is still quite moist and delicious.

Zucchini Bread
My two zucchini were a lot bigger than I thought, so even though I had planned on making two loaves, I still ended up with a lot of grated zucchini left. Stay tuned for some yummy vegetable pancakes I made to use up the rest of the grated zucchini.........

If you have some zucchini that you need to use up, check out these other zucchini recipes we've tried.
Posted by at

5 comments:

  1. Kelli2:47 PM

    Thank bread looks yummy and moist. Must try the recipe soon because zucs are always the last veggie to go in my house. ~ksp

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laura9:38 PM

    I love zucchini--precisely because it has no flavor but great texture so you can put it in anything. Some unusual uses for your cukes which will also use up the zucchini are to put them in a lot of SE Asian dishes--like green curry for example. Or Thai sweet and sour, just make sure to add the cukes last.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alysha8:58 AM

    Laura - There is just something about squash that doesn't sit right sometimes - both flavor and texture - it has to be cooked just right. But yes, curry is a great way to disguise just about any vegetable. I can usually get my kids to eat just about anything if I make something strong like a curry.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alysha8:59 AM

    Kelli - We have more to use up..I might try a chocolate zucchini bread one of these days....mmmm......

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous11:26 AM

    Now here's something I've yet to make, Zucchini Bread! It looks gorgeous and golden, perfect for the cool Fall months :).

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)