What to do with zucchini?
Crystal, do you, or does anyone else have any great zuchinni recipes? We have SO many coming from our garden right now!! I have a zuchinni relish and a zucchini bread recipe, but I would love to try anything new!! Thank you!!
Long, long ago, my family moved out to the country and we decided we would do what all good country folks do - plant a garden. We'd always had a little garden when we lived in the city, but now that we were "bona fide living-in-the-country people," no measly garden would do - we needed a massive garden.
Not knowing any better, we planted a number of zucchini plants. I can't remember the exact count, I just know it was TOO many! We had zucchini running out of our ears. We gave as many away as we could, shredded and froze bags upon bags of that stuff, ate zucchini with scrambled eggs and tomatoes and cheese for breakfast, zucchini stir-fry for lunch, zucchini fries for snack, and zucchini casserole for dinner. We still could not get rid of it; everytime we turned around, it seemed that ten new monstrous green things were ready for picking.
So, what did we do? We got really creative... ala zucchini muffins, zucchini cookies, zucchini cupcakes. The winner by far (and a recipe we can all still eat!) is Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake. The best part of all is that you can't even taste the zucchini in it!
Did you know that you can use zucchini instead of apples and make a mock apple pie?
Here's a whole list of zucchini recipes. And another. And another. And a final list of 200 recipes.
We didn't go quite this far, but if you get desperate you can always try this recipe.
Anyone else want to share your solutions for abundant zucchini?
posted by Crystal Paine at 4:35 PM
21 Comments:
Well, after looking at the three links you posted for zucchini recipes, I'd have to say, nope...no recipes that you haven't covered! ;) And that's the truth about zucchini...same goes for chives. Once you grow them, you ALWAYS have them, plethoras and plethoras of them! Don't know if that is truly a blessing or a curse.... ;) Happy baking!
New to our family - Tomato-Basil Zucchini Tart
One pillsbury pizza crust
One zucchini sliced
Four roma tomatoes sliced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Shredded mozzarella
1 tsp extravirgin olive oil
chopped fresh basil
Spread the crust in a pan lined with parchment paper. Layer on tomatoes and zucchini within an inch of the edges. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Curl the edges of the crust up over the veggies. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
Sprinkle on some cheese - however much you want. (it doesn't need much) Bake for five more minutes.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with basil.
YUM!
This is our family's very favorite zucchini recipe - zucchini pie. It is not a dinner recipe, but rather, a desert very similar to pumpkin or custard pie in texture. It has a cinnamony flavor, and is very good. We also freeze bags of sliced, peeled zucchini for use later in the year. Another idea is slicing them, soaking in marinade, and barbequeing - great side with hamburgers.
Zucchini Pie
2 1/2 c sliced, peeled zucchini
3 1/2 T flour
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 c sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 c evaporated milk
Cook zucchini in microwave until done. Drain and put into a blender. Add remaining ingredients and blend; pour into unbaked pie crust. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar mixture on top. Bake 20 minutes at 300 and then 25 minutes at 350. Test done with knife inserted. Serve cool with whip cream on top.
ironically i was just given a bunch of Zukes (we call them here and cucumbers Cukes) and was going to search google for choc. chip zuke cake and I was blogging and checked your blog and WALLA, here it is! THanks so much! Well, maybe not, i will be eating most of it!
xoxox
homemakerang
You can make them into pickels! They will keep for a long time! Not as crisp as a cucumber but still good!
-Lela
That makes me long for summer! We're in the middle of winter and vegetables are very expensive, particulary after a bad storm about three weeks ago. Broccoli was up to $4 a head! Needless to say, we've been eating frozen and canned veggies, along with root vegetables which are still inexpensive.
My favourite zuke recipe is a Chocolate Zucchini Cake, which is so most and you barely know there is Zucchini in it.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake (from Alison Holst's "Meals Without Meat")
125 g butter (just less than 1/2 c)
1 c brown sugar
1/2 white sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c yogurt
1/4 c cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp salt
3 c grated zucchini (up to 4 c is okay)
Mix it all together, pour into greased 9 x 13 pan, bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. YUM!
Sorry for the long post :)
Haha... I guess I'm not really surprised that other people are having our problem too - zucchini plants just put out a lot of zucchinis!! Thanks so much for the recipes, Crystal. I'll have to look through them and try some. I've been having some problems with too many zucchinis too! Thankfully we have some friends who enjoy them and are happy to take some off our hands.
One of the things I do to use up my zucchinis is make a yummy, healthy zucchini bread recipe that I'll put below in case anyone would care to try it. Most zucchini bread is extremely delicious but also quite unhealthy, so I tried to change our recipe around a bit (as I'm known for doing :-) ) to make it healthy. I also have made some delicious zucchini sandwiches! I love them!
The best one I've had was with zucchini - sliced, salted, peppered, and grilled - put on Italian bread with fresh basil, fresh tomato slices, real mozzarella cheese, and some sort of Italian dressing drizzled on that. Or you could drizzle olive oil on it and it would give about the same taste. And then put the sandwich in the oven for a few minutes to get it toasted.... enjoy!!
I've also done grilled cheese and zucchini, which was delicious and easy! Do grilled cheese just like normal but add slices of already cooked zucchini in the sandwich! YUM! To cook my zucchini and add a little flavor, I slice them and stick them in a skillet on medium and cook them till tender in a little bit of tomato or spaghetti sauce. Or you could just put them in the skillet with some water or oil if that sounds too odd :-).
Healthier zucchini bread:
1 c oil
4 eggs
1 c honey or a little less (for a slightly different taste, make half of that molasses)
1/4 c brown sugar
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c corn meal
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
cinnamon to taste (I like lots!!)
about 4 c or maybe a little less of grated zucchini (that's about 2 zucchinis, but way depending on the size!)
1-2 t vanilla
Beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Combine dry ingredients. Add alternately with zucchini to eggs/oil/sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 mins. Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing. I use this recipe to make 2 loaves plus maybe a half dozen to a dozen muffins.
Had it for breakfast just this morning:
Blueberry Zucchini Bread
1 egg
1/3 vegatable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 white sugar
2/3 shredded zucchini
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup blueberries
preheat oven to 350
grease 4 mini loaf pans
beat eggs, oil, vanilla, & sugar. fold in zucchini. beat in rest ingredients, folding in blueberries last.
transfer to mini loaf pans
bake 50 mins, cool 20 mins
Thank you for the zucchini recipes!! I'm planning on trying a couple of them this afternoon! I had done a web search for zucchini recipes, but we usually enjoy recipes so much better when they come from someone else's favorites!! We have lived out in the country for 3 1/2 yrs. now and every year our zucchini plants after bearing 2-3 zucchinis apiece have gotten taken over by the Squash Bug. So we plant lots of them knowing they won't produce that many. HOWEVER, this year, the Squash Bug didn't attack so we are happily picking LOTS of zucchinis. Thanks so much!
We always us to make zucchini pickles. We'd also grate up the zucchini and add to spaghetti, meatloaf, sloppy joes, hamburger patties, pretty much any meat stuff like that. My kids like them raw with lemon juice or vinegar and salt (kind of like pickles). I'm pretty sure my mom made zucchini jelly at one time :). Breads, muffins, and pretty much any baked goods. We ALWAYS had tons of them! Mom use to puree them and add them to soups to thicken it.
I stew them in boiling water for about 10 minutes with an onion, chopped. Then I drain, put in a casserole dish. Top with butter, cheese, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Sometimes I add squash too.
We always freeze our extra zucchini! We cut it up in pieces, put it in the food processor until it is chunky, then scoop it into freezer bags by the two-cupful. (Our favorite bread recipe uses two cups of chopped zucchini.) Then, all year long, we can thaw a bag of zucchini, dump in the other ingredients, and it tastes like fresh-from-the-garden-zucchini bread!
Zuchini Burgers - just got this recipe this week and I love them. I added black beans to the recipe and can't wait to try to make it for a meat loaf type of meal!
I wish we could have some of them. = ) Our garden just got planted since it has been so wet here. One of our favorite things to do with zucchini is to slice is, marinade it in Italian salad dressing and grill it. Yum! Zucchini ins't my favorite, but I love this! ~ Ruth
People think we're crazy, but my family likes "zucchini shrimp." Peel (I think), cut lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and slice. Then dip in cocktail sauce. Mmm ...
The last recipe really had our family laughing! It reminded us of Pop-Pop Vin... my grandfather who lived in his garden this time of year! He used to come early in the morning before we were awake and drop off zukes (and cukes, and tomatoes, and yellow squash, and peppers, and...). He thought he was being sneaky, but we knew who the culprit was!
You waited too long! (lol)
My favorite way to solve the zucchini issue is to grill them while they are still attached to the blossom...
They are so little and tender - there's no way you can keep up with them, but you don't end up with a glut at the end of summer and you get to start eating them earlier.
;-)
We know what is like to have zucchini coming out your ears!! Last year was filled tons of zucchini and canning and baking and trying out new recipies, it was pretty busy around here. We made the best of it though and had "peeling parties" where my siblings and I would sit around a big bowl and peel while laughing, talking, singing, and well, just having fun!! We loved eating zucchini cake, zucchini hotdish, zucchini bread, zucchini cupcakes, etc. We are still looking for that zucchini beverage! :)
Crystal,
this is random but i wanted to thank you for the awesome burrito recipe you have posted...I found it somewhere in your blog....I made it last week and it was fast, frugal, and very yummy....I made a whole recipe but wrapped half of the recipe up and threw it in the freezer for an easy lunch.....thanks so much!
Heather from Pennsylvania!
another winner! Crystal, My children and I made the chocolate chip zucchini cake this morning and it is absolutely delicious!
Two things I enjoy zucchini in:
Lasagna-slice it and layer it in your favorite recipe
Cake- We live in Kutztown, Pa which is known for it's abundance of wonderful Mennonite farmers and for every mennonite farmer is a wonderful mennonite woman/cook!!!!...here's one of my favorite mennonite cake recipes!
Zucchini Cake
Beat together until fluffy:
3eggs(well beaten)
2C. sugar
1C. veg. oil
2t. vanilla
Blend in:
2C. grated,raw zucchini
Sift together and add to zucchini mixture:
3C. flour
1t. baking soda
1t.baking powder
1t. salt
1t. cinnamon
1/2t. nutmeg
Fold in:
1C. undrained crushed pineapple
1/2C. nuts(I prefer walnuts)
1/2C. raisins(golden raisins are great!)
Pour into greased/floured 9x13 cake pan for 35-40minutes.
mmm mmm good!!!!!
Love, Heather
There are some days we've been having zucchini 2 or even 3 times a day! Wow, huh? Good thing it's so versatile!
I have been trying so many new recipes and I like them all.
Thank you Ruth, for your suggestion of marinating it in Italian dressing and grilling it. Sounds so yummy!
~Samantha
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