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.)
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
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!
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
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.
everything sounds AWESOME…I’m so excited (and I know natalee will be too!)
soybeanlover…definitely come back if you find those recipes!
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.
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.
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 9×13 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.
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!
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!!
nicole, I see all the comments and I’m so glad you commented – what great tips – THANK YOU!
does anyone have a good technique for squeezing the water out of shredded zucchini?
I don’t know if you still need this, seeing how it has been a few YEARS since you asked. But anyway here it is. When I need to get the water out of the zucchini, whether it is shredded, julienned or sliced, I sprinkle it with a little bit of salt and let it drain. The salt helps draw out the water. When I do long slices of it for zucchini lasagna I lay them on paper towels and sprinkle both sides with a little bit of salt and gently press them, and flip them about 10 minutes in between. If it is just shredded I leave it in a strainer add some salt and mix and let the water drain out over 20-30 minutes or so. If it doesn’t help you maybe someone else will stumble upon your website and it will help. I’m glad I did.
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
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
I don’t know if you’ve already seen this, but smitten kitchen has a recipe for Zucchini Strand Spaghetti, that looks amazing!!
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.
I just posted a recipe on my blog today for chocolate chip zucchini bread with hazelnuts. Shredding the zucchini takes some of the moisture out of the zucchini (you’ll notice as you shred it can get a little messy) but this recipe has great texture and taste. I started with a simple Betty Crocker recipe and made a few additions and used a mini muffin pan instead, yum!
I’m going to post a recipe later this week for stuffed peppers (a Greek recipe) that has shredded zucchini in it as well.
I love zucchini and this is a great recipe to use up some. They are called Veggie Patties. It has become a ne favorite of mine! Check out my blog for the recipe: http://kickert.info/beth/2009/07/11/veggie-patties-deliciousness/
I just made this tonight and it was very, very good.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/stuffed_zucchini_with_turkey_sausage/
I also had a 3 pounder from the Farmer’s Market and was unsure what to do with it. This was perfect, a must make.
Best, Liesel
ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE–AWESOME!!!
10 small zucchini (cut into thin “disks” )
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese
1 large can diced green chiles
Parmesan Cheese
Topping:
Bisquick ¾ cup
Milk ½ cup
1 egg
Layer in 9×13″ casserole dish:
zucchini
cheese
chiles
REPEAT
Pour Bisquick over top and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until golden brown on top.
A Weight Watchers recipe I have yet to try..but sounds great!
BAKED ZUCCHINI STICKS
Slice a zucchini into sticks and dip them into a beaten egg white (or Egg
Beaters) with salt, pepper and some chili powder. Put 3 Tbsp. Italian bread
crumbs into a baggie. Throw the zucchini sticks, a few at a time, into the
baggie and
shake until covered. Spray some Pam onto a cookie sheet and place the
zucchini in a single layer and spray Pam on top. Bake at 400 for about 20
minutes, then broil for a few minutes to get them crunchy. Sprinkle with
parmesan cheese.
Zucchini Casserole
6 cups zucchini
2 cups carrots
Dice and cook veggies until tender.
Drain off juive and fold in:
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of vegtable soup
1 1/2 cup stove top stuffing mix
Sprinkle half of the mix on top
Bake 30 min. at 350 degrees.
Made soup so yummy
3 or 4 medium zucchini and 1-2 small yellow squash, cut into chunks,
3 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
large can of chicken broth
1 container of sliced mushrooms
1 large can diced green chilis
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup velveeta cheese cut into chunks
Saute onion till translucent, add garlic, cook for about 30 seconds, add zucchini & squash, potatoes and add chicken broth to cover it. Cook till all tender, add mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup that was diluted with the milk. I used masher to add some thickness. Add the velveeta cheese at the end. Season to taste with salt & peper. Super good
Have you ever fried zucchini blossoms? We deep-fry them, dipped previously in beer batter (recipe is in the joy of cooking, I can’t remember it right now, but I bet you have a copy of the Joy). They are amazing. There’s this memoir my friend gave me – 1000 days in Tuscany, and that’s the first food mentioned in it. My husband’s special.
I do have the joy of cooking…I will look for it, sounds good! 🙂