Tuesday, July 1

Call for Recipes: Zucchini!

Remember my friend Natalee's crazy zucchini? She seriously has zucchini coming out of her ears, which means I now have zucchini coming out of MY ears.


Natalee is out of town and I'm in charge of watering her garden. Which means I get to eat as much zucchini as I want. Here's where you come into the picture...what shall I do with all this zucchini?!?!

Please share your favorite zucchini recipes! I definitely want a good bread recipe, but anything else you have is of course welcome!

(PS - How pretty is that zucchini plant? I never knew! I should mention...it's also huge. If you've never planted zucchini and you plan to at some point, it gets HUGE. You've been warned.)

14 comments:

elise said...

Here is a great recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread:

3 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
3 C sugar
1 1/2 C vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 C grated zucchini (squeeze water out)
1/2 C sour cream
1 C chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt chocolate and let cool. Sift dry ingredients. Beat eggs, add in sugar, oil, chocolate, and extracts. Fold in dry ingredients. Fold in zucchini, sour cream, and nuts. Bake in poled bundt or 10" tube pan for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Jessica said...

I LOVE Zucchini! Here are some of my favorites.

Roasted Zucchini w/ Thyme
Zucchini Quesadillas
Zucchini Muffins/Cupcakes
Penne w/ Zucchini & Feta
Zucchini Parmesan
Zucchini & Yellow Squash Gratin
Bolognese Pie

soybeanlover said...

I LOVE Zucchini, I stick it in everything, spaghetti sauce, minestrone soup, zucchini carrot muffins, lentil soup, zucchini corn cakes(I need to find where I buried that recipe!), but the one that I've been craving the most lately is this
Ratatouille

I'll try to find some of those other recipes if I can.

jane maynard said...

everything sounds AWESOME...I'm so excited (and I know natalee will be too!)

soybeanlover...definitely come back if you find those recipes!

ellen said...

Grandma Pitchforth's Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
2 cups of grated zucchini (not skinned)
1 cup of oil
3 cups flour
1 cup nuts
1/2 t powder
1 T vanilla
1 t salt
1 t soda
1 T spices (combination of nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon)

Beat eggs. Add sugar, oil, zucchini, vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients which have been sifted together. Mix to blend. Add nuts. Pour into greased, floured pans. Bake one hour at 325 degrees.

kim said...

My grandma made up a recipe to use up all the extra zucchini and tomatoes that she grew each summer. No exact amounts here--you can add what you have.

Zucchini Skillet

ground beef
onion
grated zucchini
diced tomato
1 or 2 eggs
grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste

brown the ground beef and onion. Add zucchini and cook. Add tomatoes and then drain off the liquid (it gets pretty runny if the zucchini is fresh). Make a space in the center of your skillet and crack and egg (or more if you made a lot) into the center and then stir it into the mixture. Finally, add shredded cheese and let melt.

I've also made this as a side-dish and left out the ground beef.

Christy said...

This is our favorite zucchini dish. It makes a nice dinner or breakfast. Also note that this recipe only serves 2, so I usually quadruple it and bake it in a 9x13 pan.

Zippy Zucchini

1 egg
1 TBLS canola oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 TBLS chopped seeded jalapeno pepper (When cutting & seeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves to protect you hands. Avoid touching your face)
1 TBLS finely chopped onion
1/3 cup biscuit/baking mix
2 TBLS cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, beat the egg, oil, salt and pepper. Add the zucchini, jalapeno and onion; stir to coat. Stir in biscuit mix and cheese.
Pour into a 15 oz. baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 375^ for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Yield: 2 servings.

Liz said...

I like to throw mine on the BBQ. Just slice it in half lengthwise and then again. Toss in olive oil and salt and pepper. Place it on the grill for 7-10 minutes, turning occasionally. Pretty good!

Also, I sometimes shred up zucchini and then add it to things like meatloaf or meatballs, and because it is shredded, my kids don't know they are eating it! Score!

Rebekah said...

my favorite way to eat zucchini is just to cut it into strips and add some onion that has also been cut into strips in a shallow pan with a little bit of oil. Sautee' until tender. Add just a tiny bit of soy sauce and enjoy!!

jane maynard said...

does anyone have a good technique for squeezing the water out of shredded zucchini?

Kristen said...

I just have to say that I love your recipes!! Great photography as well! keep 'em coming!

One of my favorite's

zucchini (sliced)
mushrooms ( sliced)
onions (optional)
butter or margarine
garlic
saute in a pan! delicious!

I grew up eating this-
cut zucchini in circles batter in egg and then flour and fry in frying pan-good with yellow squash too! salt and pepper

Kristen said...

This is for cold weather- this was made for my husband when he lived in West Virginia for two years during the freezing cold winters. He always wants me to make it!

Zucchini Soup

1 lb. Italian Sausage
1tsp. Italian seasoning
2C. Celery
1 tsp. salt
2 zucchini (I always add more)
1 tsp. basil
1 quart of stewed tomatoes 1tsp. Oregano
2 green peppers
2 1/2 TBS.sugar
2 cloves garlic or onion if desired
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Fry sausage w/ celery, garlic & onion. Drain. add tomatoes, salt, & spices cook for 5 minutes. Add everything else, zucchini last and cook until tender

Melissa said...

I don't know if you've already seen this, but smitten kitchen has a recipe for Zucchini Strand Spaghetti, that looks amazing!!

kristina said...

I totally understand your friend's predicament! I have zucchinis the size of small logs taking over my kitchen counter. The joys of growing zucchini are that you can always count of them to produce... which makes you feel like a successful gardener (and everyone likes encouragement!), the perils include eating zucchini with EVERY meal for weeks on end.

Needless to say, I've also gotten a bit creative with my squash.

Carrot-Zucchini Cupcakes!

And a super simple side...

Zucchini (sliced into 1/2 moons)
1-2 T butter or olive oil
Big bunch of basil leaves
fresh oregano
salt
pepper

Saute zuchinni in butter/olive oil with salt and pepper until soft (personal preference really, i like mine a little al dente)
Turn off the heat. Add basil leaves and oregano and toss with zucchini until the herbs soften. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

yum.