Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Zillions of Zucchini?! ~ Twelve+ Things to Do With Them


If you have a husband who is trying to kill you off by planting 38 zucchini plants, then read on. Yes, this is a true story (maybe not the "killing me off" part since I think he loves me). But 38 plants?! I must have been doing something wrong (no... that can't be possible either *wink*). Either way, here are some ideas on what you can do with all those squash. Some healthy, and some hardly healthy but all very delicious!


Zucchini Patties

These are easy to prepare and tasty. I serve them with rice and a green salad for dinner. You can find the online recipe here that I used and liked. Also, include some hard boiled eggs into that green salad for extra protein.


Zucchini Pasta Sauce

Saute a few chopped onions and some fresh, pressed garlic together in olive oil until just tender. Then add cubed zucchini and continue to saute until soft. Then, add enough tomato sauce to graciously cover all the vegetables. Let simmer for a half of an hour. Add in some Italian seasoning, salt and some sugar (all to taste but I generally add a TBSP of sugar per quart of tomato sauce) during the last five minutes of cooking. Serve on a bed of pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. 

Note: You can also use tomato puree but you will need to simmer longer to get the sauce to a thicker consistency.


Grilled Zucchini

Cut zucchini into strips and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper (you can also add italian seasoning for variation). Grill until golden strips appear on each side. This is an excellent and healthier side dish to go with some grilled chicken or beef. 

Note: Grill extra and use it as a topping for a summer style pizza the next day. We really enjoyed that as well. Or grill extra for the following recipe.


Grilled Zucchini Pasta Salad

This cold pasta salad is amazing!

Toss together the following:
  • 1 bag of cooked and cooled rotini pasta (you can also use whole grain pasta)
  • 1/3 bottle of Salad Supreme Seasoning (Size 2.62 ounce)
  • 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
  • 1 green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 can of sliced olives (use basic black or green marinated ones for different flavors)
  • 1 basket of cherry tomatoes cut in half or a few garden fresh diced tomatoes
  • 2-3 cups of grilled and cooled zucchini cut into chunks
  • Italian Dressing (according to taste, about a cup or more)
Serve chilled. You can always add more veggies to this than the amount specified. The more raw ingredients the better (and healthier). This makes a tasty side dish to any grilled meat, etc.


Breaded Zucchini

These are sinfully good when served with ranch! Simply slice your zucchini into wedges, dip them in a beaten egg mixture and then dredge in Italian flavored bread crumbs. Fry in oil (medium heat) until golden on each side. 


Stir Fried Zucchini

Saute with olive oil and a pat of butter. Sprinkle in some italian seasoning and sea salt. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar during the last minute for a tasty and quick side dish.


Zucchini Sticks

Just cut them up for dipping. Anything tastes good when submerged in ranch.


Zucchini Quiche

We love quiche!  I like to freeze the fillings so I multiply the recipe by four and then fill my freezer bags with one recipe each. Here is the recipe I use and love. That would call for about 3 1/2 cups of quiche filling per gallon bag. We try and save them for the autumn and winter seasons (I said "try"). I thaw the bags in the refrigerator the night before and then make my simple as can be "freeze four pie crust" recipe (though I decrease the sugar by half since this is a savory dish) for the crust. Then I freeze my other crusts for the days I am going to use my other quiches. Just spoon the filling into the quiche crust and bake on 400 degrees for 50-55 minutes, until puffy and golden on top. Let sit five minutes prior to serving. This is a great brunch dish and a wonderful dinner partner with a winter soup come the season. And obviously, you can make just one quiche but if you have zucchini like I do, that is just not an option...


Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

These are extraordinary! (You have no clue there is zucchini in them!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners and spray with baking spray. 

Combine in bowl the following and set aside:
  • 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
  • ¾ tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
In a separate bowl, mix together the following until smooth:
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
Then add into the egg and sugar mixture the following and blend well:
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Slowly stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Add in 1 cup of finely shredded zucchini, ¾ cup of chopped walnuts and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Fill cupcake liners to about 1/3 full. Bake until tops are golden and toothpick inserted into the center of muffin comes out clean of batter (approx. 23 minutes). This can be doubled which we highly recommend.

~ Recipe was gleaned from The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook by Elinor Klivans




No butter, eggs, milk or mess is required in this depression-era inspired recipe!


Lastly, freeze your zucchini for the future (see our tutorial here) or dehydrate them down to size!



And this is only the beginning of what you could use them for! There is also zucchini bread and casseroles featuring the zucchini (Easy Rustic Flavorful Summer Squash Crustless Quiche - shared above). You may also be interested in some of the zucchini recipes our readers shared: {Zucchini} Mock Apple Crisp by Treasured Up and Pondered and The Zucchinis are In ~ Time to Get Creative by the Butt'ry and Book'ry. Happy harvesting!

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree,
 in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
to you it shall be for meat."
~ Genesis 1:29

43 comments:

  1. What a wonderful collection of zucchini recipes and lovely pictures as well. They all look delicious, but I'm probably partial to the less healthy recipes like the breaded and fried : )
    This was a lot of work to compile. Thanks for sharing these. Gail

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    1. The breaded and fried… Yes, I have those weaknesses too :)

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    2. That was such a great idea! Thank you Jes!

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    3. Nice to hear from you Sara :)

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  2. I cannot tell you what a relief it is to find all these suggestions!! I love zucchini, but our farm share box has been filled with zucchini every week and I'm running out of ideas! The quiche idea - freezing the fillings - is genius! I love quiche but I never thought of doing that. Thanks!

    Elizabeth@Warrior Wives
    www.thewarriorwives.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by… The quiche filling is a favorite over here too :) And they do freeze well...

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  3. I make zucchini pasta with my spiralizer. It's good raw or steamed.

    Priscilla @ The Blissful Wife

    http://www.priscillafowler.net

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    1. That sounds tasty too! Thanks for sharing ;)

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  4. Oh, wow. I had two zucchini plants last year and could hardly keep up with them. I can't imagine having so many as you do! But you have some really fabulous ideas to use them.

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    1. It was a lot! I had a few nervous breakdowns in between it all but have lived to tell the story :)

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  5. I remember my mom putting a cooler full of extra produce and a plastic container with a slit in the lid on the front lawn. Then she put a sign out that said zucchini, etc. for sale. I think she sold them for 25 or 50 cents each. It helped get rid of the extra and provide a little income for other foods we didn't grow.

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  6. Oh, my! These are so yummy and make me want to go out and fertilize our slow to grow zucchini. I love it and have had to buy some for a curry dish I made last week. You are a marvelous cook!

    Sending the love down your way!
    Jacqueline

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    1. Thanks Jacqueline ~ I do feel the love :) and don't we all need it!!!

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  7. I wish I could 'Like' your site twice ;) You have done so much to make it wonderful. I am still learning, but have lots of ideas and need lots of help from my daughter but don't want to overload her. Lol

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    1. Ahhh…. Yes, so many ideas and so little time!!! That is where discipline comes in… Thank you always for your kindness to this weary (today) pilgrim… made my day!

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  8. Great round up Jes! Zucchini is live! Please share with us! Linkup any other recipes to any fruit/veggie category you'd like! Enjoy the harvest!
    http://www.cultivatenourishing.com/zucchini/

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  9. I am always looking for new recipes that freeze and the quiche sounds like a great one Thanks

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  10. I had to laugh. 38 zucchini plants. One year, I harvested 20 pounds of zucchini a week from only 6 plants. I found an unusual zucchini recipe that you might want to try. If you like hummus, give it a try. Oh...cony forget zucchini bread and muffins freeze well, too. Good luck managing that harvest.

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    1. Thanks for including the link too :) I do like hummus so will have to give it a try!

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  11. Oops. I forgot to give you the link to the dip recipe. It can be found here:
    http://www.simplyhealthyeats.com/?p=552

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  12. Great yummy ideas! I love fried so always looking for another choice! Thanks for sharing these.
    The quiche really sounds good. And the fritters! See I love fried!
    Have a good weekend!

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    1. The quiche is a favorite Grantham, you should definitely try it! As far as fried goes, just lightly do it with a healthy oil and one doesn't need feel so guilty (coconut oil is a good choice :)... We too are tempted!

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  13. My son tweaked a standard zucchini bread recipe and came up with this: http://spiceoflifemom.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-hancock-news-column-june-11-2014.html

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    1. Sounds good, will have to take a look :)

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  14. 38 plants?? That's a little crazy. We have a couple zucchini in the fridge right now, I think I'm making baked zucchini tonight!

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  15. Wow, 38 is a lot of zucchini plants! I do hope that never happened again. lol
    We just had fried zuki on Monday, but those patties look delicious so I think I'm going to make them with a pot of beans for supper today. Thank you for sharing these ideas with us.

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  16. Yum, Girl! I'm gonna try a whole bunch of these great recipes!!! Thanks ;))

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  17. I so needed this! We had moved this year and didn't have a garden, but my neighbor has been sharing her overflow! I would like to try all of these!:)

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  18. I think he did what I do - just planted the whole packet of seeds! They grow so easily that I always seem to have too many as well. Although not 38! That is verging on crazy!
    Thanks for the recipes. It is always good to find some new zucchini recipes.
    Hope you are having a lovely summer - I am waiting for it to warm up here. I can't wait to start planting!

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  19. Hello Jes! Wow...that is a lot of zucchini plants! I thought my 4 plants were a lot. Ha! I love the freezing the quiche filling idea.. I love quiche and it will be so nice to pull it out when I want it. I also freeze the shredded zucchini for breads, muffins, fritters, cakes...well anything you can put zucchini in. I loved your ideas too! Thanks for sharing!

    I hope you have a wonderful week! Hugs, Amy

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  20. Loved this post, pinning for later. Our zucchini hasn't done well this year, Maybe next year.

    Thanks for sharing this with us on the Homestead Blog Hop.

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  21. I have been searching for a recipe I made once several years ago from the web, but simply cannot find. Perhaps someone has a similar one? It used zucchini, tomatoes, 6 eggs, cream and cheese and was baked in the oven. It was not a "lasagne", but rather custardy and certainly rich. Anyone have anything like that?

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  22. Lisa from IroquoisAugust 8, 2015 at 9:52 AM

    Love these recipes. Never dreamed of freezing quiche mixture in advance tho I definitely keep pie crust in the freezer, sometimes in balls, sometimes already rolled out. Going to have to try the zucchini patties, reminds me of latkes. And I just made that same muffin recipe using some pumpkin puree I found in the freezer. Thank you for these timely ideas. (IMHO you are right, 38 zucchini plants is way to many.

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  23. We're in the same boat! Sort of. I got a couple hundred pounds of zucchini from work and have been sharing it with family and friends. The hubby just made his first batch of zucchini relish. I like to shred it and freeze it in premeasured bags for making zucchini bread down the road. We're having it in a pasta sauce tonight, and I LOVE it on the grill! I'll need to try your zucchini patties! Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop!

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  24. I love all of these ideas. I have some zucchini in the freezer that I'm going to have to get out and use. Usually I use it for muffins, but you've given me some new ideas.

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  25. Wish I could help you with your over-abundance of zucchini; no one ever has any to spare and the farmers' market is expensive. I like to make zucchini bread when I can get it and a friend of mine makes mock apple pie with it.

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  26. Consider a husband bringing you for years 60 kg.s of Brussels sprouts on the 22nd of Decembre, at 18.30 oçlock. They have to be cleaned, washed, pre-cooked, cooled down to about zero C, then packed into individual 350 grs. freezer bags and frozen before Christmas eve and before putting up the real fir tree, to be eaten by him and your 2 little sons (not yet 3 and 5 then, every Sunday, and you hate, hate, hate Br. Spr.I am so gratefull we exchanged finaly the freezer trunk for a freezer cabinet, it can not hold a winters + summers worth of Br.Spr. (Try saying Br.Spr. and you get the sound I make when sprout one goes up, when sprout two goes down, following number one at the heels, sorry, no nice other way to explain my hate for Br.Spr. they do not agree with me, so I not even consider trying them). Thank you for all the wonderfull hints and tips you give, after a journey of a week to USA last year, I finally discovered the pumpkins lovely taste and that of sweet/sour canned zuginies, I miss real pumpkin spice, but my eldest orders some through the tube. DM

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    1. Oh my! I think your story tops mine! :) Thank you for sharing and the smile... P.S. If butternut squash grows in your region, that also makes a wonderful "pumpkin" pie. Have a lovely week!

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