Zucchini, What to Do?

I love to slice it, put it in my cast iron skillet with butter, sprinkle seasoning on both sides and cook until done, flipping while cooking. YUM.

I love making a skillet of sauted zukes and fresh tomatoes-- I use olive oil for this-- complete with a bit of garlic, fresh herbs (tarragon or basil; I like dill in this myself) and some garden/meat sausage thrown in. You can add a bit of sweet with a splash of red-wine vinegar. I like this over crusty bread, and if you want to throw in some pepper, corn or green beans, this is very accomodating. Yum! (And excellent if you are on a low-glycemic diet, just sans bread or pasta)

I slice the Zucchinis as well as some Squash and add some onions in there as well. Place a small amount of butter just to really coat the pan and then add some zesty Italian dressing and cook until everything is tender-yummy and so good and easy!

I do zucchini bread. It calls for 1 cup of chopped zucchini,1 cup of sugar,1.5 cups of flour,1 egg,teaspoon of cloves or nutmeg,a teaspoon of vanilla extract,1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of baking soda,1/2 teaspoon of salt,1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Mix it all togther with mixer for about 2 minutes. Put it in a bread pan that has been greased and floured on 350 for about 50 minutes.

I have 2 favorites.
1) Grilled -
Cut lengthwise, marinate in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and italian seasoning while the grill heats up. Grill until slightly soft. SO good as a veggie when grilling. Beautiful on the plate too. You don't get much green when bbq-ing.
2)Sauteed -
saute sliced italian sausage links in a skillet. While that's cooking, cut zuchinni lengthwise and slice into half mooms. Slice onions into thick slices and cut them in half. Add onions and zuchini to skillet with a little chopped garlic and cook until soft. Add cooked penne or corkscrew pasta. cook until all flavors have coated pasta. Add chopped tomoatoes and turn off the heat. (optional) This is one of those hearty, fill you up, feed an army, comfort meals. It's only 4 (really cheap) ingredients. The most expensive thing is the sausage, but this makes a lot of food. The pasta really stretches it.

Fritata - Saute sliced zucchini, yellow squash, onion and garlic with a bit of olive oil in an oven proof fry pan. When they are almost the desired tendness, add a handful of sliced pepperoni. Scramble up some eggs (about 6), then pour over the veggies. Stir till everything is evenly mixed. Simmer on low for 10 min (bottom will set up), then transfer to oven at 350 for 10 min. It's finished when top sets up. Remove and use spatula to slice and serve. My whole family loves this! You can do this with a lot of different veggies - mushrooms, asparagus, etc. I find the pepperoni adds just the level of salt I'm looking for, but you could also use cooked chicken/turkey pieces, too. Fritatas are very versatile.

There is a great recipe in this month's Real Simple magazine for turkey sausage stuffed zucchinis. I love using different ingredients to make stuffed zucchini or yellow squash boats like that!

We love sliced and grilled zucchini as well, and if you're looking for a not-so-healthy treat -fried zucchini dipped in ranch dressing is DIVINE.

I also slice up zucchini, yellow squash, onion and cabbage and stir fry it or sub diced tomato and garlic for the cabbage. Yummy! It's great with pork chops!

Zucchini-Crusted Pizza is my favorite use for big zukes. The recipe is originally from the Moosewood Cookbook. You should be able to google it.

Basically, you make a "crust" with shredded zucchini, flour, egg, parmesan, etc. You then bake it to brown the crust, top with pizza fixings and then bake it a little longer to melt the cheese. It comes out more like a thin lasagna than a pizza but it is soooo good and the kids LOVE it! Enjoy!

This is the best ever recipe for summer veggies. It uses zucchini, corn, and tomatoes. It's a little labor intensive (so maybe better for a weekend meal), but it's easy and SO delicious.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/baked-penne-with-co...
and-basil.html

I just shared this recipe with someone a moment ago...

This can be made in advance in those disposable pans and frozen to keep on hand... And, I've made it using the stuffing straight from the box and cooking it as directed first. My family likes it both ways. :-) If your family eats meat -- add in shredded rotisserie chicken. Yum!

Zucchini Casserole:

2 lbs zucchini (or yellow squash)
1 box Cornbread Stuffing
1 can cream of celery (or mushroom) soup
8 oz. Sour Cream
2 c. shredded cheese
1 can sliced water chestnuts

Directions:
Boil sliced zucchini until tender. Drain. Mix all the ingredients except 1 cup of stuffing and 1/2 c. cheese. Spread mixture into 13x9 pan. Top with stuffing and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees 20-30 min or until warmed through.

A great Weight Watcher s recipe that my hubby (size 29/32 jeans) even loves!
Layer Zucchini and yellow squash in a 9x9 casserole dish, I like to layer in some fresh basil leaves too, add a layer of slices tomatoes on top, pour on a can of tomatoe sauce and sprinkle on 2 Tbls of parm. cheese. Bake covered for 30 min on 350 then uncovered for 30 min at 350. One cup is one WW point. It is so good!
Of course zucchini bread freezes very well and is my favorite.

Slice it in half the long way, then stuff it with a mixture of ground meat or sweet Italian sausage, browned up with onions and peppers or anything else you need to get rid of! Top with a little cheese if you want and bake it. It's particularly good for a larger or older zucchini that would be a little on the tough side otherwise - the baking softens it.

Here's what we do:

Wash the zucchini. Cut into about 3/4" slices. Place slices in a ziplock bag and marinate for a bit with Italian dressing or balsamic vinegar & olive oil.

Place slices on a hot grill.

YUMMMY! And easy! (You can use yellow squash too.)

Google zuke recipes and find a neighbor who puts up jelly. I have one that loves to add the zuke for filler and thickening.

I slice and add it to salads; put in into omlettes; mix with tomatoes and marinate in italian dressing (or olive oil and lemon juice); saute with onions and peppers and sliced chicken and serve over rice.

Cube it and sautee it in a pan with tomatoes (either fresh or stewed) onions, and really any vegetable you care to throw in there. Sautee until everything is cooked. You can throw a little oil in there if you want but in reality it creates enough juice on it's own to cook. I like to throw a little parmesan cheese in it when it's done salt and pepper (I use very little salt but to taste especially if I used stewed tomatoes and parmesan both are salty)

My mom always called this goosh. If you like veggies and parmesan it's a great and healthy side dish.

I just found a recipe not too long ago for Oven Baked Zuccini Fries that were really good. The recipe calls for 3 medium zucchini but you can adjust it as needed.

1/2 cup italian bread crumbs
2 teaspoons parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
milk or beaten egg yolk
1 cup prepared marinara sauce (pizza sauce works too)

Slice zucchini in rounds or long sticks. Preheat oven to 450. Spray cooking sheet with cooking spray.
Mix bread crumbs, cheese and garlic powder in ziploc bag.
Dip each zucchini slice in milk or egg and then drop into bag and shake until coated.
Bake 10-15 minutes or until brown and tender.
Serve with warm marinara sauce.

You can find a lot of zucchini recipes online - check 'em out and print what looks good. Around here, people are always looking for zucchini recipes because that stuff grows so abundantly - and if they don't find recipes they're looking for zucchini recipients. It's almost like the proverbial fruitcake - find somebody else to take it! :^)

This recipe for Feta Chicken with Zucchini came from the Real Simple website. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp. olive oil into roasting pan. Remove zest from a lemon in thin strips and set aside. Thinly slice the lemon, placing half the slices in the pan. Rinse 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pat dry with a paper towel. Place chicken on top of the lemon and season with 1/8 tsp. salt. Cut up zucchini into 1/4 inch thick half moons. In a bowl, combine zucchini, 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (chopped), pepper, 1 1/2 tbsp. oil, remaining lemon slices, and a little salt. Toss and spread the mixture around the chicken. Sprinkle 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese over the top. Roast until chicken is cooked (recipe says about 20-25 minutes but we always bake it longer than that). Serve with lemon zest sprinkled over the top.

Yummy!

Also, grilled zucchini....
slice zucchini or yellow squach in half lengthwise. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano. Top with chopped tomatoes and butter. Wrap in aluminum foil (wrap each individually). Grill approx. 25 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese right before serving. Delicious and so easy!

I love to grill mine. Just slice it 1/4 inch thick, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then grill until tender. Super yummy and super easy!

Zucchini bread or zucchini manicotti

My favorite recipe is what my mom called zucchini rings. You cut the zucchini into rings (or when they are small into strips), salt them and let them stand for at least 10 minutes. Rinse and dry a little bit. Make a mixture of flour, a little bit of salt and pepper. Put zucchini in mixture so that they are coated with mixture. Heat a few spoons of oil in frying pan and sautee on fairly high heat until they are brown, turn and brown on other side. Serve once they are soft.
My husband and kids like them best when they are very well done, almost mushy and well browned. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve. Yummy!

I didn't see my idea listed, so here goes.

I buy a whole bunch of organic veges and cut them up rather small and freeze them. That way, when I want to use them in my fruit/vegetable smoothie or in a soup, all I have to do is take them out of the bag and throw them into a soup pot.

One way to use zucchini is to throw it into a skillet with other vegetables and make a wonderful vege dish. I use: zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, cabbage, purple cabbage; sometimes I'll add mushrooms or even some onion. Put a little olive oil in the pan and heat on 8 or 9. Put the veges in. Get them heated through. When they're just about cooked (or at the crunch level you like), add a splash of cooking sherry, turn the heat down to about 3-4, put a lid over, and let the sherry cook out. Viola! You have a great vege dish and lots of good veges to eat with a main meal.

Enjoy!

I make stuffed zuchinni. It works best with the larger ones. Cut in half lengthwise. Hollow out the seeds and insides. Microwave the zuchinni a few minutes to cut down on bake time. Make a stuffing with browned ground turkey or hamburger. Add a box of stovetop or about 2 cups regular stuffing. and mix together with some chicken stock to moisten stuffing. Top with speghetti sauce and parm. Bake at 350 for a hour or until zuchinni is baked through. I recently made a recipe that used couscous and feta cheese for the stuffing and it wasn't that bad!

Cut into bite size chunks. Saute in butter, when almost done stir in a handful of chopped fresh mint and drizzle with honey. This is alsso great with summer squash or a combo.

Sauted zuccini is excellent.

I generally spice it up a bit and put in in olive oil (or butter if you prefer) and make a side dish.

If you have a rice cooker that steams/sautes stem it over rice with some spices. Think tarycki.

My husband calls me the "Zucchini Queen", so here we go. My family loves the small ones sauted in butter. I usually use the large ones for stuffing. You just cut the zucchini down the middle and scoop out all the seeds; then stuff with hamburger, onions and tomatoes; top with mozarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until done (zucchini will be soft to a fork piercing and the hamburger will be cooked). I also make Poor Man's lasagna, which is fantastic. Use the zucchini in place of
lasagna noodles. Spray a casserole dish and place a layer of sliced zucchini. Next, pour some store bought spaghetti sauce, such as Rago or other. On top of this place Mozarella cheese. Keep layering until done. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour. I have a very good friend I make this for every year. She absolutely loves it. It is a good vegetable dish, vice a meat dish once in awhile.

slice it up throw in a pot,put sliced onions and stewed tomatoes some salt an pepper-cook til done-serve as a veggie with dinner

Cut the zucchinnis with yellow squash, onions, and mushrooms. I never use grease or butter, but I saute them using a little bit of Pam in the skillet. The water in the veggies will steam them until done. Add whatever spices you would like for taste.