What To Do With A Zillion Zucchini

Recipes:

Ah, mid-summer and the garden is really going strong. We’ve had plenty of rain this year and the veggies are looking great. One of the most prolific and versatile of all crops is that gorgeous squash called zucchini in the US and other countries or courgette in the UK, France and others. We treat the zucchini as a vegetable in the kitchen but botanists know it is really a fruit. These beauties come in numerous shapes, sizes and colors as well. They are normally green or yellow, long cylindrical fruits; but they can be round balls and both shapes come in white as well.

As varied and prolific as these squash are, thank goodness they are just as versatile in the kitchen. To even begin to list the possible uses for zucchini sounds something like the scene in Forest Gump listing all the ways to serve shrimp.  Just substitute “zucchini” for “shrimp”. Zucchini is a key ingredient in ratatouille, a vegetable stew. You can steam them, fry them, grill them, sauté them, stuff them and bake them as casseroles, breads, cakes and muffins. They’re good in soups, quiche, primavera, minestrone and pesto. You get the idea. Even the flowers on these huge vines are edible and are often used as edible garnish. As easy and popular as they are to grow, we’re lucky there are so many good uses for them.

You can store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to four days. But if your crop has become just a little to large to handle don’t forget to share the wealth. August 8, is national “Sneak Some Zucchini OntoYour Neighbor’s Porch Day”! They’ll thank you for it. Yippee!

Italian Sausage and Zucchini Casserole