Zucchini Pancakes

I have a huge back-log of posts that I hope to get on the blog soon.  We'll see how successful I am at getting everything posted.  I kind of have a lot going on right now to keep me pretty busy.  Between being a mom of two now (one of which is 3-months old), being a wife, going to class at church one night a week, spending time with friends and family, starting up a small business, and commuting and working about 30 hours per week at work... I have been keeping myself quite busy.  :)  But I have still been trying to get healthful meals on the table everyday.  These paleo zucchini pancakes were a weekly item on menu this summer, while we were getting so many zucchini in our CSA.  They have continued to show up occasionally, as we are still getting zucchini in our weekly CSA share.  These are based off of the Barefoot Contessa's recipe.  They are delicious and so fast and easy to make.  We all love them. 

Zucchini Pancakes

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 pound)

2 tablespoons grated red onion (or use a teaspoon of onion powder)

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

6 to 8 tablespoons almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Unsalted butter

Grate the zucchini into a bowl.  Immediately stir in the onion and eggs.  Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zucchini, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.)

Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in the pan.  When the butter is hot, but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of batter into the pan.  Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, until browned.


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Egg in a Basket (with Zucchini)

Have you ever heard of Egg in a Basket, or Hole in the Heads, or One-Eyed Jacks?  It usually refers to the idea of cutting a round hole in a slice of toast, placing it in a frypan, and cracking an egg in the center to cook.  I always called them Hole in the Heads, but I figured Egg in a Basket was a more appropriate reference.  Since we're not eating bread at our house these days, I decided to try them with zucchini and summer squash since we are getting so much of it from our garden.  It's a good use for those zucchini or squash that get ginormous overnight when you don't think they're quite ready to pick the day prior.  We really enjoyed these.  And you really can't have a simpler breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

Zucchini Eggs in a Basket

1 large zucchini or summer squash
eggs
coconut oil or butter for frying
celtic sea salt

Grease your pan with coconut oil or butter.  Let it heat up. 

Slice your zucchini or summer squash into about 1/2"-3/4" slices.  Use a sharp knife to cut the seeds out of the middle, leaving a hole. 

Fry up both sides of the zucchini until tender.  Then crack an egg into the center.  Flip over after the egg has cooked on the first side.  Sprinkle with celtic sea salt, serve, and enjoy! 


This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Sausage Zucchini Bake

I am still getting quite a few zucchini from our garden, so I've been trying to use it up in tasty ways.  I saw a recipe for sausage zucchini bake on Kitchen Stewardship and thought I'd try it.  I made a few modifications based on things I had on hand, so click on the link above for the original recipe. 

This was really good!  We all really enjoyed it a lot.  I think this is a new favorite way to use up zucchini.  The leftovers were great, too... and for those of you that know me, you know I don't usually care for leftovers... so for me to say they were good is a pretty big thing.  :) 

This is a really affordable recipe.  Even moreso if you have a garden.  The zucchini, tomato, and onion all came from my garden.  The pasta sauce was homemade.  The pork sausage was local, organic, pastured.  I did use up some conventional shredded cheese that I had in the freezer for this, but I'll use local, raw cheese in the future. 

Another great thing about this dish is that it can be prepped ahead.  I prepped everything ahead 24 hours in advance - cooked the sausage/onions, sliced the zucchini and tomato.  So it was super fast to assemble and pop in the oven for dinner.  We've been more pressed for time than normal lately, with my working longer hours at work, so having something easy to prep and get cooking is essential for us these days. 

Something else to note, I only made a 9x9 pan of this, yet I still used the quantities listed below.  It filled my casserole dish to the top, but it was delicious! 

Sausage Zucchini Bake

1 pound sausage
1 chopped onion
1-2 large zucchini
1 jar pasta sauce, preferably homemade
1-2 tomatoes, sliced
2 cups shredded cheese

Slice you zucchini into 1/2" thick slices.  Don't worry about peeling it.  Sprinkle the zucchini with salt and let drain. 

Meanwhile, brown sausage. Saute onion in with the meat. 

Pour a little pasta sauce in a 9×13 glass baking dish. Layer zucchini on top.

Mix the remaining spaghetti sauce in a large bowl with the sauteed meat.  Pour over top of the zucchini.

Layer sliced tomatoes on top, then sprinkle with cheese.  (Look at that yummy tomato... fresh from the garden... I love this time of year!)

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15-30 minutes longer, until the cheese is browned and the sides are bubbling.


This post is linked to:
Grain Free Real Food Carnival @ Real Food Forager

Zucchini Boats

We've been fortunate to have another bumper crop of zucchini again this year. Although, is there ever a year where everyone doesn't have a bumper crop of zucchini? :) It seems like its the veggie plant that just keeps on giving. Good thing we like zucchini! I generally use a lot of zucchini to bake with this time of year, but since we are trying to eat mostly paleo or primal, I'm not doing much dessert baking with it. We've been using most of it in our dinners - either as the main dish or a side dish. Something we've made a few times this year and have made many times over in years past (but I've never posted them) - are zucchini boats.

I don't ever follow a recipe, per se. I just throw together a bunch of random items that I have on hand and stuff it into the zucchini boats. There are lots of ideas out there for different concoctions and we've made our own versions of most of them... cheeseburger zucchini boats, italian meatball zucchini boats, taco zucchini boats, pizza zucchini boats, greek zucchini boats, etc. You can stuff them with just about anything. The night that this particular picture was taken (sorry I didn't get a picture after they were cooked!), I just through together some ground beef, diced tomatoes, diced onion, and diced bell pepper. Then I sprinkled on a little raw colby cheese about half way through cooking. It was a great tasting, healthy, and very quick weeknight dinner.

The idea for any zucchini boat is the same. I like to use medium sized zucchinis. You'll want to scoop out the seeds, just so you have a small hollow area to stuff. I've even mixed the seeds/flesh into my stuffing mixture before so I'm not wasting anything. Then throw together whatever sounds good to you for stuffing the zucchini. Stuff the zucchini boats. Place them in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes at 375, until done. Super easy!

Here are some ideas that I have made and we have liked:

• ground beef, ketchup, mustard, relish, cheese (cheeseburger)
• meatballs, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese (italian meatball)
• ground beef, diced onion, diced bell pepper, minced garlic, pasta sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese
• ground beef, taco seasoning, salsa - then serve with sour cream, avocado/guacomole (taco)
• ground lamb, feta, diced onions, diced olives (greek)
• ground beef/sausage, mushrooms, banana peppers, pepperoni, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese (pizza)
• ground beef, sausage, shredded cabbage, diced onion, diced tomatoes, ketchup

This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Zucchini Brownies

I tried out the recipe for zucchini brownies from Heavenly Homemakers the other morning, as well. I made a couple changes... substituted carob powder for the cocoa and added some chocolate chips that I needed to use up in my pantry. These were so easy to throw together, they literally took less than 15 minutes... from the start of getting all the ingredients out, shredding the zucchini, stirring up the brownies, and getting them in the oven. I love quick recipes like this! They also taste really good! We all really liked them a lot. My mother-in-law also got to taste them when I sent one with Carson for a snack and she thought they were awesome (and has asked for the recipe). Definitely a hit! I have the same thoughts I had when making the bread... wishing I had a grain mill so I could use sprouted flour, or wondering if I could modify this to be soaked in the future. Maybe I'll have to do some experimenting.

I'll update soon with a picture.

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat or rapadura (I used sucanat)
1/3 cup cocoa (I used carob)
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
(I also added a few handfuls of chocolate chips... milk chocolate and white chocolate... that I had in my pantry)

Mix butter, sucanat and cocoa. Stir in zucchini and egg. Gradually mix in flour until well combined. Pour batter into a 9×13 inch pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Honey Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

I'm trying to use up some zucchini, as its at its peak production in the garden right now, so I've been looking for new recipes to try. I've been wanting to try the Heavenly Homemakers recipe for honey whole wheat zucchini bread for awhile. So I gave it a go the other morning. This is very good! I love that it uses all whole wheat flour and honey for sweetener, rather than sugar. I'll definitely make this again. I'm really wishing I had a grain mill right now so that I could sprout some wheat and use sprouted flour to make this bread, or soak it or something. I'm really trying to get more into the traditional methods of preparing things, but I just made this recipe as-is. Its still a much healthier version than my normal zucchini bread, so that's an improvement. You can make this recipe into loaves of bread, or into muffins... I've included both below from the Heavenly Homemakders site.

Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. baking powder
1 cup honey
2 cups shredded zucchini (I use my food processor to shred zucchini, skin and all)
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer) combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sea salt, nutmeg and baking powder. Stir in honey, zucchini, eggs and melted butter. Mix ingredients until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into two well buttered loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Muffins

Prepare as above, except scoop dough into 24 paper-lined muffin tins. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Zucchini Lasagna

I've got a lot of zucchini coming in right now from the garden. Good thing we love the stuff! :) To use some up last night, I made a zucchini lasagna. I made this last year, too, but it never found its way to my blog. I wasn't going to post this one, either... because I forgot to take a picture and I'm already super behind on posts, but I figured I'd make a quick post about it. Just because it is so yummy! You can make it as healthy or bad for you as you want, I guess. I try to make it more healthy. And I usually make it without meat, but you could certainly put meat in yours. You could simply just replace the pasta noodles with thin slices of zucchini in your normal lasagna recipe and it'd be great! I'd like to try making this in the crockpot one of these days, but I've only ever baked it in the oven. Anyway, this is how I made mine last night:

Thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish.
Layer of thinly sliced zucchini (these are your "noodles")
Layer of veggies... last night I used all fresh veggies... yellow bell pepper, cauliflower, mushrooms, corn cut off the cob, and green beans
Layer of cheese... last night I used some really good, local cottage cheese and some grated raw milk mozzarella
Layer of sauce... you can use your favorite jarred sauce, or homemade (I used my home-canned sauce)
Then repeat the layers again and top with lots of cheese.

Bake it in a 375 degree oven for an hour to an hour and a half. And enjoy!

Crockpot Thai Peanut Noodles

Tonight we had a crockpot meal that I found on 365 Days of Slow Cooking, which is a blog by Karen, a SAHM that has set a goal of using the crockpot everyday for a year... this goal seems to be a theme these days, doesn't it? It seems like there are so many blogs devoted to this same task. I love it because I find lots of tasty new recipes! And who doesn't like to use their crockpot? It really can't get any easier to prepare a healthy, great-tasting meal that is waiting for you when you get home! Anyway, back to the meal... this was very good - we all ate it and enjoyed it. It has a wonderful flavor. Kevin and I both added a few squirts of Sriracha chili sauce for a little kick, but its definitely not necessary. Very easy prep and I loved that there was grated zucchini in the sauce and its totally hidden. Its a great way to sneak in even more veggies with kids (and picky husbands!). :)

Thai Peanut Noodles

12 oz. linguine or spaghetti, cooked (I used buckwheat noodles)
2 garlic cloves
2/3 c. chunky peanut butter
1 cube chicken bouillon (I used Organic Better than Bouillon)
1 cup water
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 c. shredded zucchini (I used more than this... probably about 1 2/3 cups or so... a medium zucchini)
1/3 c. soy sauce
1-2 tsp sugar
(Sriracha chili sauce, optional and to taste)

Dissolve the bouillon into water.

Add garlic, peanut butter, bouillon, chicken, zucchini, soy sauce, and sugar to a 3 quart crockpot (I used a 4-quart). Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Stir until smooth.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta to al dente. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

Garnish with peanuts, if desired (I did not).

Serves 4.

(Adding some grated carrots would be great in this, too... I'd eliminate the sugar then, I think, since carrots are so sweet.)

Kourkouto with Zucchini

I found this recipe on Kalofagas a while back and thought it sounded tasty. (If you haven't seen Peter's blog, you really should check it out. He has some awesome recipes on there! I've tried several and have posted them on this blog, but there are so many more that I want to try!) This dish sounded kind of similar to the zucchini casserole I make regularly, but with a greek twist from the greek cheeses and different spices. Having such a bumper crop of zucchini, I also figured that now was the perfect time to try it! This was delicious! Its sort of like a thicker quiche, if that makes sense. We all loved it - the taste, the texture, everything! This is a definite keeper. We ate it as a main dish, but it could make a great side dish, too. I did cut the recipe back a little since I didn't think we needed a 15x10 pan for the three of us. Even with leftovers, that seemed like a lot. I used an 8x10 pan and it was plenty for dinner and some lunches for all three of us. I will update later with a picture.

Kourkouto With Zucchini

5 large eggs (organic, free-range, local)
1 cup of strained Greek yogurt
1 cup of self-rising flour (I just used regular organic flour and added a little extra baking powder)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup olive oil (organic)
3 bunches of scallions, finely chopped (organic)
3 zucchinis, diced (from the garden)
(I added a diced green pepper from the garden since it was in the fridge)
1 cup Feta cheese, crumbled (organic)
1 cup Kasseri, grated (I actually found Kasseri at my local market, but if you can't you can use a mild cheddar instead)
1 cup of chopped fresh dill (I used dried)
ground pepper to taste
sweet paprika to taste (and for garnish)
slices of zucchini rounds (for finishing... I left them off b/c I forgot to keep a few out for this)
a 15″ X 10″ baking tray, greased with vegetable oil (I used a smaller pan - I think its 8x10)

Pre-heated 350F oven

Into a large skillet, add your olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add your chopped onions and diced zucchini (with some salt) and saute over medium heat for about 20 minutes to soften and have most of the water content evaporate (should reduce to about half). Take off the heat and reserve.

In a large bowl, whisk your eggs for a couple of minutes until mixed well and then add your flour and baking powder and mix in. Add your yogurt and stir in to mix.

Now add your grated cheeses and sauteed vegetables and mix to incorporate. Add some ground black pepper and sweet paprika. Have a taste and adjust seasoning (probably will not need any salt).

Stir in the the chopped fresh dill and pour the mixture into your greased baking dish. Top with round slices of zucchini and sprinkle some sweet paprika over the entire mixture.

Place on the middle rack of your pre-heated oven and baked for approx. 1 hour. Allow to rest for about 15 minutes and then cut up into slices. Serve warm or room temperature with a side salad.

Zucchini Fries

We've had these a couple of times now, just haven't had the time to post them. My SIL Mary posted this recipe/method for baked zucchini fries at the beginning of the month and I knew I wanted to try them right away. I've made zucchini fries in years past and have had them in restaurants many times, but they've always been deep fried. These are so yummy and much better for you! I've been freezing zucchini cut into fries from our garden so we can enjoy these year-round, too!

I'll update later with a picture.

Baked Zucchini Fries

2 medium zucchinis, cut in 3" sticks
1 egg white
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded parmesan (I just used the boughten grated parm)
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Heat oven to 425. Beat egg white and milk in bowl. Mix cheese and bread crumbs in another bowl. Spray baking sheet. Dip zucchini in egg mixture. Then in bread crumb mixture. Place on baking sheet. Bake 25-30 min. Flip them half way through to evenly brown.

Lissan Al Kadi

I decided to try an Iraqi dish for dinner last night. It is this month's challenge on the Walima arabic cooking blog. I love, love, love middle-eastern foods, so I was very excited when I came across this blog a month or so ago. I've never had anything that I've known to be Iraqi cuisine, but these sounded simple and tasty enough. We don't like eggplant at all, so I substituted zucchini instead, but otherwise kept everything else the same. So I guess its not truly authentic or anything, but it sure was good! And actually quite easy to make, too! Definitely a keeper for us! (I'll update later with a picture once I upload them off the camera)

Lissan Al Kadi - Eggplant Wrapped Meat

2 large eggplants
1/2 - 1 cup corn oil (if frying eggplant)
2 lbs. Lean ground meat
1 medium onion (1 cup) finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

For the sauce:
2 tbsp corn oil
1 large onion diced
1 large tomato sliced (optional)
1 large tomato peeled and chopped
14 oz. tomato sauce
1 cup beef or chicken stock
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp turmeric

Peel eggplant, trim off the top and bottom. Stand eggplant up on cutting board and slice vertically, 1/8" thin. Sprinkle generously with salt, place in a strainer for about 1 hour. Rinse off the salt and strain eggplant to dry.

Heat about 4 tbsp corn oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant slices in batches, turning once to brown both sides. Be careful not to burn. Add more oil as needed. Drain cooked eggplant slices on paper towels. Low fat alternative: Place eggplant slices on baking sheets lined with foil and brushed with corn oil. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes until brown, turning the eggplant halfway. (I baked mine)

Mix together the ground meat, onion, salt and pepper. Divide the meat into sausage shaped portions 1" thick and 2" long. Place a portion of the meat stuffing at one end of an eggplant slice and begin wrapping the eggplant around it. Place the rolls in a baking dish and layer the tomato slices on top (optional).

In a saucepan heat 2 tbsp oil and saute the diced onions. When soft, add the chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and turmeric. Add tomato sauce, beef or chicken stock and lemon juice to taste. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Pour the sauce over the rolls in the baking dish, cover with aluminum paper and bake for 1 hour (or until done) at 450 degrees.

Zucchini Salsa

So we're back from vacation and I haven't wasted much time getting back into the kitchen. As expected, the garden is overgrown with weeds and veggies ready to harvest, so I've been picking and freezing yet more green and yellow beans... I never thought I'd say I regretted doing so many succession plantings... but I'm ready for the beans to be DONE. We had so many zukes ready for picking... 14 of them!! That's a lot of zucchini! I have given half of them away and am trying to use up the rest of them before we have more ready for picking today or tomorrow... I think I'll be giving some more away. :) We also had peppers and tomatoes ready to be picked, as well as our first few ears of sweet corn, and I can start digging up some of the carrots anytime now, I think. Maybe I'll get to that later today... At least the weather is a little cooler these next couple of days... it'll slow things down a bit. :) Anyway... on to my post... and then on to getting ready to meet up with my SIL, BIL, and their two kids for breakfast!

I came across this recipe on RecipeZaar and figured I should try it out. It had great ratings, I've been wanting to try some different kinds of salsa this year, and I have a major bumper crop of zucchini, so I figured this was a perfect recipe to try. It was very easy to make... especially since I cheated an used some organic canned diced tomatoes. :) I only made a half batch since I didn't think I really needed 10-12 pints of one particular salsa. Plus, I only had enough peppers and onions on hand to prep a half batch yesterday morning. It says its a 2-day process, but I just prepped it early yesterday morning and let it sit all day. Then did the second part and canned it in the evening right before going to bed last night. Worked out great! I tasted it as I was filling the jars and its delicious! I'm very excited to have this sitting on my pantry shelves! Next up... pineapple-peach salsa!! :) (I'll update with a picture once I upload them off my camera)

Zucchini Salsa

10 cups zucchini, peeled & shredded
4 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped (I substituted a medium-heat Hungarian wax pepper)
1/4 cup pickling salt
1 tablespoon pickling salt
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 cups white vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pepper
5 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (I used organic canned diced, drained with the juice reserved)
2 tablespoons ClearJel
12 ounces tomato paste

Day one: In a large bowl combine; Zucchini, onions, green pepper, red pepper and the salt Mix together cover and let stand over night.

Day two: Rinse, drain well and put into a large pot then add mustard, garlic, cumin, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper flakes, salt,cornstarch, nutmeg, pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and put lids and rings on. Pressure can at 5 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.

Yield: 10-12 pints

Note: I pressure canned mine b/c of all the low-acid veggies. Some people think it'd be ok boiling water canning it for 15 minutes. I'd rather be safe than sorry, though. So I did the pressure canning. :)

Zucchini Tacos

I tried a recipe from my Recipes from America's Small Farms: Fresh Ideas for the Season's Bounty cookbook for zucchini tacos on Monday night. I continue to harvest more zucchini than I know what to do with (almost... I have frozen a lot of it that I can't use fresh), so I'm looking for all sorts of ways to use it up. These sounded very interesting when I read through the recipe in the cookbook, so I figured we should try them. I'm so glad we did! We all loved them! Even Kevin said he thought they were really, really good... he did say it'd be nice to have some chicken in them for some meat, but thought they were great just as they were, too. He didn't even complain once about taking the leftovers for lunch the next day. They were so good! They were nice and sweet and creamy and so fresh-tasting! This is a definite keeper for us! I'll update with a picture once I get it off my camera.

Mexican-Style Zucchini Tacos

1 1/2 Tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped OR 2/3 of a 28oz can of whole tomatoes, drained (I just used a can of organic fire-roasted crushed tomatoes)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large fresh poblano peppers (I just used a bell pepper since that's what I had)
Kernels from 1 large ear of fresh corn
4 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 Tablespoons cilantro
2/3 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream (I used heavy cream)
Salt
1/2 cup mexican queso fresco (I just used shredded cheddar since that's what I had)
fresh, warm tortillas

Preparing the flavoring base: Measure the oil into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until richly browned, about 8 minutes. While the onion is cooking, coarsely puree the tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Add the garlic to the browned onion, cook for 1 minute, stirring. Then add the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Roasting the peppers: Roast the poblanos directly over a gas flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly until the skin is blistered and blackened on all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Rub off the blackened skins, then pull out the stems and seed pods. Rinse briefly to remove the stray seeds and bits of skin. Slice into 1/4 inch strips. (I skipped the roasting step and just added my peppers to the skillet when I added the garlic. I'll try the roasting next time, but I just needed to cut some corners to save a little time.)

Finishing the dish: Uncover the skillet and raise the heat to medium-high. Stir in the peppers, corn, zucchini, cilantro, and cream. Cook, stirring frequently, until the zucchini is crisp-tender and the liquid has thickened enough to coat the veggies nicely, about 8 minutes. Taste and season with salt. Serve in a decorative bowl, sprinkle with cheese, and pass the tortillas separately for do-it-yourself tacos.

Zucchini Yeast Rolls

This recipe comes from my Simply in Season cookbook. I've been wanting to make these for a few weeks now, but finally had some time for it last week. These are so very yummy! And healthier than a normal roll. You really can't taste the zucchini... its a nice way to sneak in just a few more veggies! :) I got 25 rolls out of this (just larger than golf balls when I rolled them). I kept some out for fresh eating with meals and have frozen the majority of them. I'll update later with a picture once I upload my pictures.

Zucchini Yeast Rolls

2-3 cups shredded zucchini or summer squash
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dry milk powder (left this out b/c mine was old and I threw it away)
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon ground mace (optional... I left it out)
1 3/4-2 1/2 cups bread flour

Combine the zucchini/squash, water, sugar, oil, and salt in a saucepan and heat slowly until warm, stirring to blend. Or warm in the microwave.

Combine 1 cup bread flour, whole wheat flour, milk powder, yeast, and mace if using in a mixing bowl. Add liquid ingredients and beat well until smooth. (I used my KitchenAid mixer). Stir in enough additional bread flour to make a soft dough. Knead 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn to grease both sides. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 10 minutes. Shape into rolls and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees until golden brown, 25-35 minutes. Brush with milk for a soft crust and let stand 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I also had time to bake a batch of blueberry zucchini bread tonight. It was a productive evening! I found this recipe on AllRecipes and it sounded too yummy not to try it. You can use your favorite zucchini bread recipe and just add the blueberries if you want, too. But this one is very tasty! I made some modifications to the recipe, which I've noted below. I made enough to freeze some, too... three mini loaves and one large loaf to freeze, plus one medium loaf to eat this week. We'll be lucky if it lasts a few days, as good as this stuff is! Carson LOVES it, so do Kevin and I... and Kevin doesn't normally care for zucchini bread... but the blueberries in this remind him of blueberry muffins, so its all good. :)

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (use applesauce or grapeseed oil)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour (use 1 cup whole wheat pastry and 2 cups whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.

Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

***UPDATED 7/12/2010... I made this bread last night with healthier ingredients. I used grapeseed oil instead of canola oil. I also substituted 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 2 cups whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. The bread was still super moist, soft, and delicious!

Zucchini Parmesan

I switched up the meals a bit this week and having been harvesting more zucchini than I know what to do with right now, I figured I'd better make something for dinner tonight that would use some of it up. So I found this recipe for zucchini parmesan on AllRecipes. This was so easy and fast to make - a perfect meal for a work night for us. This tasted awesome, too! Definitely something I'll make regularly and probably my favorite zucchini dish that I've made over the years. What's not to love, though, with pasta sauce and cheese on top? :) This would be a great main dish for a vegetarian meal, or could even be a great side dish for an italian food buffet or something.

Zucchini Parmesan

2 large zucchini, thinly sliced (I used three... two yellow and one green... from the garden)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced (I used half an organic onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced (organic)
1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (home-canned)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

In a large pot boil the zucchini until tender; drain (I did not do this, I just added my zuke slices to the pan with the EVOO, onion, and garlic and sauteed it until it was tender). Meanwhile, in a medium frying pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is tender.

Combine the zucchini, onion and garlic in a 9x12 inch casserole dish, and mix well. Pour the spaghetti sauce over the mixture and stir well. Top with mozzarella cheese (use more or less depending on your preference).

Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

Tonight I tried a recipe that I've had saved for at least a year and a half from RecipeZaar for zucchini "crab" cakes. These don't have any crab in them, they're meatless, actually. They get their crab cake taste from the Old Bay seasoning, which is typical of crab cakes and other seafood dishes. These were very good, no complaints from anyone. It was a nice change from the zucchini cakes I've made in the past - just the typical zuke pancakes that lots of people make. This is definitely something we'd eat again. I might actually mix up a batch and freeze them on wax paper so I can just bake them during the off-season.

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

2 1/2 cups grated zucchini (I used yellow and green zukes from my garden)
1 egg, beaten (local, free-range, hormone/antibiotic-free)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (organic)
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion (didn't use it b/c I used seasoned breadcrumbs)
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (didn't use it)
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying (didn't use it)

(I started by putting my grated zucchini in a colander over a bowl sprinkled with a little salt to bring out the moisture... I let them sit for about 30 minutes.) In a large bowl, combine zucchini, egg, and butter or margarine. Stir in seasoned crumbs, minced onion, and seasoning. Mix well. Shape mixture into patties. Dredge in flour. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat until hot. Fry patties in oil until golden brown on both sides.

(Instead of frying mine, I put them on a sheet pan and sprayed them with a little EVOO spray, and baked in a 400 degree oven. I baked for about 12 minutes, then flipped them over to bake another 15 minutes.)

Zucchini Casserole

Tonight I tried another new recipe from RecipeZaar for a zucchini casserole. Its a great way to use up those veggies from the garden. I thought it was really good, Kevin thought it was okay. He ate it and ate two helpings if that says anything, but I don't think he'd request it again. I'll probably make it again anyway, though. It reminded me of a quiche, or maybe similar consistency to a breakfast casserole. I added some extra veggies and next time I think I'll add even more if I have them on hand. Some salsa would probably be really good in this, or even on top of this, too.

Zucchini Casserole

1 cup Bisquick (I don't buy Bisquick, so I substituted 1 cup flour + 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 Tablespoon shortening)
1/2 cup chopped onion (from our garden!)
1/2 cup grated cheese (I just used a colby-jack medley I had in the fridge and I added about a cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/4 cup canola oil + just less than 1/4 cup water)
4 eggs (I used farm-fresh, hormone-free brown eggs)
3 cups thinly sliced zucchini (I used a combo of green and yellow zucchini)
(I also added some green bell pepper (from our garden) and some mushrooms I had frozen in the freezer. Carrots, broccoli and celery would probably be really good in this, too, if I'd had them on hand.)

Mix all ingredients and pour into greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (I then turned the broiler on low for about three minutes to brown the top a little.)

Zucchini Bread

This recipe comes from an old neighbor of my parents' - Winnie. My family has used this recipe for probably 15 years now. It is a very good zucchini bread recipe, though I'm sure there are probably healthier versions out there, too. You can also probably substitute half of the oil (or maybe all of it) for applesauce and still get a very tasty bread. I don't make this very often, but it always goes over well when I do (or when someone else does).

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
2 cups sugar
2 cups peeled, grated zucchini
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (I leave these out)

Beat eggs until foamy. Add oil and sugar, beat well. Stir in zucchini. Add vanilla, dry ingredients and nuts. Bake in two loaf pans at 325 degrees for one hour, or until done.

You may increase the amount of cinnamon and vanilla if desired.