I was super thrilled when we started picking great big zucchini in May from this giant volunteer plant.
Sadly I have to report that it's already gone. Squash bugs and something that bored into our main vines took out my huge zucchini plant in the blink of an eye. I was still picking in Sept last year, but this year I'll be relying on farmers markets.....or anyone who beat the bugs and wants to share!! Katie was super impressed with this giant I picked up from a local farmer.
In addition to making sure I have at least 10 cups of shreds in the freezer for the winter, I'm making all kinds of yummy recipes. Some are favorites from last year and some are new! I did spoil myself and get a new shredder. (I used a coupon, of course!) My old one was about to break and this baby is so much easier to use.
Now on to the recipes....
Everyone had seconds of Zucchini Enchiladas! This is the recipe that caused my little food allergy melt down awhile back, but I managed to shake it off and this dish turned out fabulous. Instead of rolling them, I made a casserole. I also added some deer burger. I left the daiya off the top, so those of us that are able could add real cheese. I think this would freeze really well.
Next up is Zucchini Corn Pancakes. Hands down, my favorite from last year! I could eat these babies every. single. day. They are great hot or straight from the fridge cold. They are yummy with daiya or real cheese. These freeze really well too.
I have found that I really prefer to cook my meatloaf in the crockpot. It doesn't heat up the house as much plus I can just plop it in and it's ready by dinner. Zucchini Meatloaf came out of the crock perfectly! I made some substitutions to keep it allergy friendly and added some yellow squash I needed to use up. There's no after pic because Konny was having an FPIES rxn. :-(
A new fun recipe this year that the kids are loving is...
Zucchini Snack Cake Squares (adapted from Parents May 2012)
1 2/3 cup Namaste Perfect Flour Blend
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 light olive oil
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
Preheat oven to 350.
Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, add sugar, then oil and vanilla, whisking after each addition. Stir in zucchini, then add the flour mixture. Pour batter into 9x9 pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 35-45 min or until top is golden and toothpick comes out clean.
The kids love them and with all that zucchini, I really have no problem letting them eat it for breakfast. I'm pretty certain the sugar could easily be cut back to 3/4 cup and/or subbed with turbinado or sucanat.
After last year, I knew I wanted to make more Zucchini Relish because it's delicious! I made ten 1/2 pints this year so there'd be plenty to share with friends!
The most recent new zucchini recipe I've tried is Zucchini-Roni and it is fabulous! I'll admit it seemed like it was going great but then I felt crazy weird throwing in the chopped hot dog. Next time I think I'll go with apple chicken sausage or something. But maybe it was the hotdog that caused Buggy to give it rave reviews and even request seconds the next day! Nonetheless, this recipe is definitely a keeper!
As long as I can continue getting my hands on nice big zucchini, I'm going to keep finding fun new ways to cook it up! Check out my pinterest board specifically for zucchini and if anyone has a good recipe, please feel free to share!
No comments:
Post a Comment