I spent some time in a friend's community garden patch yesterday, helping her harvest string beans, several handfuls of basil, some tomatoes and a whole mess of squash. She didn't plant any traditional zucchini this year which means I've had to get my zucchini fix from my farm share and the farmers market. However, there's nothing that says summer to me quite like zucchini and these four freshly picked ones are gorgeous examples of the season's bounty.
Thanks to Ataradrac for adding this pic to the pool!
I honestly didn't think it would happen this quickly. I mean, it's not even the middle of July, and already the stream of zucchini and other summer squash coming my way is a bit more than I can consume in a given week. Part of the problem stems from the fact that my boyfriend won't touch the stuff and so I am responsible for eating our half of the CSA zucchini and yellow crookneck squash that arrives each week. Add to that the fact that I have some lovely friends who planted pattypan squash in their community garden plot primarily because they know I like it, and it's a lot of squash.
Don't take this as a complaint though, as the flood of summer squash is motivating me to look to new sources for recipe inspiration. This week, our CSA newsletter pointed me in the direction of The Green Earth Institute, an organization out of Illinois that runs a CSA, as well as programs for kids and teens about locally grown foods, nutrition and how to eat well. They have an immense archive of recipes that are sorted by ingredient (in my case, I clicked on the zucchini section) and they are all fairly healthy and many sound like they'd be appealing to kids and families. I think I'm going to take some of our zucchini and make this Squash and Cheddar Cheese Casserole. Maybe if I cover it in enough cheese, bacon and eggs, even Scott will find a way to enjoy zucchini.
Most of the United States will be springing an hour early this Sunday morning, and so in honor of this early arrival of spring, I thought I'd post a yummy-looking picture of a salad that seems appropriate for the season. Prepared, photographed and I'm assuming eaten by Flickr user ccharmon, this is a salad I see myself recreating at some point down the line.
If your cooking is taking a turn for the spring-like, why don't you take some pictures and share them with us over on the Slashfood Flickr page. Go on, tempt us with your delicious creations.
For most of my life I ate zucchini one of two ways. It was always sliced into rounds and then was either steamed or pan fried in a little bit of olive oil. Occasionally it was cut lengthwise and grilled, but mostly that happened at the hands of cooks other than my mother, so it was very infrequent. I was 22 before I discovered that zucchini could be cooked down to a creamy consistency over low heat or that it could be finely chopped and quickly sauteed.
Once my eyes were opened to a world of zucchini cooking options I started playing around. A while back, I hit upon a way of mimicking spaghetti noodles with zucchini that has become one of my favorite ways to prepare it. I use the fine matchstick blade on my mandoline (Amazon has some for under $10 that would do the job nicely) and slice the zuck lengthwise, so that I come away with long strings of squash that look like squared off spaghetti (don't use the inner seeded area, as it just shreds).
I heat a little olive oil in a nonstick pan, mince a couple of cloves of garlic and toss it all together over medium heat until the zucchini softens but isn't mushy. I like to eat it just like that, a sort of "pasta" alio olio that's a bit healthier than the traditional one due to the use of veg instead of starch. You could also top it with pasta sauce or toss other veggies in for a primavera. Play around, anything goes as long at it tastes good.
It's been a couple of day since I posted a zucchini recipe, so it seemed like it was time. This one is a tasty to take to a summer potluck because while it's essentially a side dish, it brings along some cheesy protein, which makes it a nice choice for your veggie friends in the crowd (sadly, the vegans will have to sit this one out).
Put a medium sized pot of water on to boil. Cut up two medium or one large zucchini into half inch slices. When the water comes to a boil, put the slices of zucchini in. You want to boil them for about 5 minutes, so that they soften but still have some structure. Drain them well and spread them out messily in a glass baking (use whatever size works best for the amount of zucchini you have, this recipe expands and contracts easily). Now that the zucs are cooked, you make a cheese sauce. There are many recipes for cheese sauces out there. Mine happens to be after the jump.
My cousin Jeremy grew up in a small town in Vermont. It was a friendly sort of place, where people looked out for each other and kids could leave their bikes on the front porch without any fear of them disappearing. In fact, the only time people would lock their car doors in that town was during the height of the summer growing season. If you left a door unlocked, you'd return to a front seat overflowing with zucchini.
I've recently experienced a similar level of "Vermont" generosity from friends with gardens. That, coupled with the inability to resist a good farmers' market bargain has left me with an overflowing vegetable bin of zucchini. I'm now on a mission to use them up before they get bad, and so created a whole wheat zucchini walnut muffin. These suckers are so good that I'm having trouble resisting them. But since they're made with mostly healthy ingredients, I don't feel too bad.
For most of yesterday, it was sort of chilly and overcast in Philly (it got sunny and warm in the late afternoon). The cool breeze that came through my window all morning made me thinking longingly of fall and want to put on a sweater. It also inspired me to make soup. However, since it is still summer, I wanted something that wasn't long-simmering or heavy. So I flipped to a soup that my mom made a lot when I was growing up, although back in those days, I always turned my nose up at it. These days, I can't get enough of it, especially when I had a weekend that was chock full off barbecue, desserts and beer.
All across the country, zucchini and other summer squashes are taking over garden patches. They double in size overnight, leaving home cooks pondering new ways to use them up so that their families don't say to them, "You mean we're having squash? Again?"
The following recipe has captured my attention as a terrific way to use a lot of your zucchini. It fancies up your basic grilled squash, and, coupled with a protein and a grain salad, would make a terrific meal. The grilling of the squash could be done outside, on a stove-top grill pan or even on a large George Foreman.
One of the things with which I have fallen in love in recent history is squash blossoms. When I first encountered these, I was slightly turned off by the idea of eating such giant flowers, even though I wasn't unfamiliar with edible flowers. It's just that the edible flowers I've eaten in the past have been small things that have been tossed in with salads.
For some reason, this picture of squash blossoms over on food blog Big City, Little Kitchen makes me want to sit out on a sunny deck with a glass of lightly chilled wine and a plate of these things, as prepared in the recipe for Fried Squash Blossoms in the post. The cool thing is that the recipe, though uses the standard stuffing of ricotta cheese, uses cornmeal as the breading.
Since it's Friday, I was thinking that a double-dose of food porn may be just the thing to get us in the mood for the weekend. In my recent quest of searching for fresh, Spring-worthy dishes, I came across this delicious-looking recipe by Haalo at Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once.
The zucchini, salmon, and parsley alone are enough to inspire an array of appetizers, but with the addition of whatever pasta you happen to have on hand, the dish is hearty enough to serve as a main course. Fresh, simple, delicious - perfect for Spring.
It's only October, but that doesn't mean you can't have Thanksgiving in a Pan. Though it's turkey mixed with brussel sprouts and onions...does that really make it Thanksgiving-ish?
I have never been much of a zucchini fan, so I thought I'd just incorporate it into some comfort food. Since zucchinis are in season and I had a couple handy, I thought, "How about chocolate zucchini cake?" It's been done many times before, but how about a pseudo-healthy muffin? Well, the zucchini is a versatile veggie...I used a cake recipe from this slashfood page and fiddled with it a little.
Soup is supposed to be winter food, warming you up on a cold day. I know it's summer and I know it's hot, but this bowl of Kitchen Sink Minestrone from Vegancore looks unbelievably good. Besides - eating hot food is supposed to make you feel cooler, isn't it? The soup is easy to make and, as if the name isn't a giveaway, it has a lot of ingredients: zucchini, carrots, peppers, garlic, potato, green beans, onions, kidney beans, tomatoes and pasta. I'm sure I left out a few ingredients there, but the point is that all these are either summer vegetables or pantry staples. Hot or not, it makes a tasty dinner and the leftovers are just as good - especially because leftovers mean that you won't have to heat up the kitchen by cooking anything else.
Even though it is only midway through the summer season, if you plant zucchini, you probably already have a glut of it in your garden. Zucchini ( also known as courgettes) are a delicious summer squash, but are notorious for their fast, aggressive growth. Their season starts in the lat spring and continues on until summer, though they are available year round in most places since they grow easily in hothouses. The two easiest things to do with zucchini are chop them up and toss them in a stir fry, or grill them. Both cooking methods take no instruction beyond "cook until tender." But they get boring. Here are eight more interesting (and delicious) ways to use up some of summer's bounty, courtesy of some very creative food bloggers. Some are desserts, some are sides and the last two can serve as main courses - although we won't tell if you eat a piece of the cake first.
A jar of honey can become a sticky mess. Next time you're adding honey to another dish or a mug of tea, use a honey dipper to prevent a thick gooey layer from spreading.
Mini foods
I have never been much of a zucchini fan, so I thought I'd just incorporate it into some comfort food. Since zucchinis are in season and I had a couple handy, I thought, "How about chocolate zucchini cake?" It's been done many times before, but how about a pseudo-healthy muffin? Well, the zucchini is a versatile veggie...I used a 
Even though it is only midway through the summer season, if you plant zucchini, you probably already have a glut of it in your garden. Zucchini ( also known as courgettes) are a delicious summer squash, but are notorious for their fast, aggressive growth. Their season starts in the lat spring and continues on until summer, though they are available year round in most places since they grow easily in hothouses. The two easiest things to do with zucchini are chop them up and toss them in a stir fry, or grill them. Both cooking methods take no instruction beyond "cook until tender." But they get boring. Here are eight more interesting (and delicious) ways to use up some of summer's bounty, courtesy of some very creative food bloggers. Some are desserts, some are sides and the last two can serve as main courses - although we won't tell if you eat a piece of the cake first. 
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
