Please Pass The Zucchini

It's that time of year. My garden is producing like crazy! We have our share of veggies and then some. The thing we have the most of? You guessed it! Zucchini. It's pretty much coming out of our ears at this point. Here are a few things I have done with my Zucchini. First. These roasted veggies. This is my favorite way to eat vegetables. I started making them this way several months ago and my family and I love it so much, I make them like this once or twice a week. It is a great way to get rid of extra vegetables you have laying around. Especially the ones that your kids won't eat when you serve the one vegetable by itself. Like bell peppers, for instance. I just cut up whatever vegetables I have on hand and throw them all into a big bowl. I think this time I had cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, bell peppers, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. I make this different every time because it just depends on what I have. I throw them all in a bowl, add some fresh herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper (if you use carrots and potatoes, cut them smaller than the other vegetables because they take longer to cook). I mix it all up and then pour it on my big Pampered Chef stone bar pan. A regular cookie sheet works fine also. I put that in the oven and depending on how much time I have I either cook it at 350 for about an hour or 425 (because that's as hot as the stone can handle) for 30 minutes or so. There is something about cooking the vegetables this way that really brings out the flavor and makes them so extra yummy. Really, when I make them like this, I fill the whole pan (and its a big one) and it is piled high and my whole family gobbles the entire thing up.



Last night I made yummy fried zucchini. I just took corn meal, added salt and pepper and mixed it up in a bowl. I sliced the zucchini, dipped it in water and then the meal and then cooked it in hot canola oil until it was brown and crispy. It was so good. Next time I think I will try baking it instead of frying it. You know. For health reasons.



Earlier this week I made the best muffins I have ever had. I LOVED them. And so did my kids. They were zucchini muffins, but you could hardly tell there was zucchini in them even though there was plenty. And they were so light. You know how zucchini bread or cake is really dark and heavy? Not these muffins. They were perfect in my opinion. I made it without the optional items.

Zucchini Muffins Recipe

3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

You don't need a mixer for this recipe.

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

2 Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown,and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done.

So all these things have taken care of a portion of our zucchini crop. Now what about the rest of it? This weekend, and for several weekends hereafter, I plan to chop and grate and freeze enough zucchini to last us all winter. I will put enough in each bag to use in one recipe. Like the muffins. The recipe calls for 3 cups grated zucchini, so I will freeze several bags with 3 cups in each. And if we get tired of zucchini over the winter, well, it will be a nice treat for the chickens.

What do you do to dress up your zucchini? Please share!