“Please don’t add zucchini to that!”
“Did you put zucchini in this?”
“I’m so tired of zucchini!”
From all the comments from the peanut gallery can you tell how much fun we’ve had with zucchini this year!?
Yes! I love zucchini, it is the vegetable that just keeps on giving! In the above picture I have actually disguised it in a veggie bowl I gave to my friend. He he… it is hiding! Sometimes, if you want to keep a friendship well, you have to just slip it in un-noticed.
Here are a few more dinners using zucchini, because it is the season! Perhaps these pics will serve to give you some zucchini inspiration!
Introducing one of my favorites!!! Not only did we have zucchini but we also used eggplant. The kids were actually delighted by this one as I have never made it before and it was fried in a fair amount of olive oil. (I used some of the neighbor’s chicken eggs, slightly whipped, but almond milk may also work)
First I bathe the slice of zucchini in flour (sprouted grain flour mixed with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder), then dip into the egg, then in crushed up crackers (could use sprouted grain bread crumbs but I so like the organic butter crackers- such a treat!) Fry at about 350-400* F.
What we have here is a pizza made half and half. Half for my hubby Shaun, and half for me. Can you tell whose is whose? … pepperoni verses zucchini!
The zucchini was finely shredded. It was experimental. You can see the shreds under the bottom tomato.
His side: mushrooms, onions, red pepper, cheese, and organic (no nitrate/ites) pepperoni. (Be careful when buying cheese for your family. Don’t buy pre-shredded! It contains some kind of mold retardant… all I know is the pediatrician prescribed the ingredient to one of my babies years ago (pre-herbal education) … for thrush. Now why would I want to feed that to my family?!) Anyhow, if you have family who are hell bent on cheese- word to the wise: be careful! If money permitted I’d buy organic and raw. Ah, I’m such an idealist!
My side of the pizza: Traci’s Almond Parmesan recipe (dry almonds blended up with some sea salt and nutritional yeast- see cookbook for exact proportions), mushrooms, red onion, red bell pepper, broccoli finely shredded, zucchini finely shredded, tomatoes on top of a 100% sprouted wheat crust using Traci’s bread recipe.
This next dish carries a very oriental flavor and made for a wonderful soup. The only fault with this is it was a refrigerator soup… meaning- all the leftovers from the fridge are thrown in with a left over broth… so yummy, yet there wasn’t enough for seconds and I don’t have an exact recipe. This one totally surprised the kids. It was very tasty!
The base of the soup broth was nama shoyu and miso. I’m sure it had some honey and ginger. I first sauteed onions and garlic, then added red peppers, carrot, mushrooms, and you guessed it, ZUCCHINI! I then added some sprouted and low-heated short grain brown rice. Oh, and to add that final oriental flare: sesame seeds.
And here we have…
Totally hiding in the Mexican Rice is zucchini. We put this mix into burritos. I shredded some cabbage to go into the burritos and my daughter was telling everyone the cabbage was zucchini because she saw the zuc sitting on the counter… he he! As soon as everyone knew that the cabbage really was cabbage they put it into their burrito. We like cabbage with Mexican food.
I was forthwith about the whereabouts of that zuc… and they were amazed that they couldn’t tell it was in the rice! I’m getting good at hiding it, eh!?
Stir fry is a natural dish to find zucchini… it can be expected. Here we have a Teriyaki stir fry with wheat Ramon noodles. We found these dry organic noodles at the health food store and cook up much like spaghetti. We ate them with chop sticks. Chop sticks can make eating zucchini very fun.
This was a dish that was eaten up right away! I even grilled some chicken to go in it so my hubby would be happy. Meat makes men happy. If you are a wife struggling with a family who wants their meat- well- this is a good place for it because a little goes a long way. Once again- I’m such an idealist- if I can afford organic free range then great- but if it isn’t in the budget I just do the best I can with what is available.
This next stir-fry was eaten by itself for a lunch… I can’t remember what flavor this one was. It was either Mexican, oriental, or Italian. Zucchini is versatile that way. Its flavor is so neutral it really goes with anything!
Next is a gourmet dinner. I love good looking meals. They just have an odd way of making me happy. Mashed garlic potatoes, locally grown broccoli, carrots and beats from the garden, a kohlrabi coleslaw (shredded kohlrabi made using a coleslaw recipe), and the grilled zucchini- cut length wise so as not to fall into the grill… umm!
We’ve been adding zucchini to so many dishes this month that I can’t even remember what this one was. Some kind of a casserole. We’ve put zucchini into a lot of casseroles lately. I think the casserole is where the zucchini started getting a bad rap. It just seems to slip right in there.
And at last!
The mock tuna sandwich!
This one was truly delish!
I would love to share the exact recipe, but I just made it up as I went along. Again, kids were having tuna and I just can’t stomach tuna these days. So I grated up cabbage and zucchini very small along with red onion and celery.
I added a few T of almondaise, yellow mustard, and Bubbies dill relish… oh yeah- and some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and chives.
Spooned onto a 100% sprouted grain bun with a garden tomato to top it off- holy zucchini- this was the best salad sandwich I’ve had in a long time! It was scrum-diddly-umptious! Most of the kids at least tried a bite and remarked that it tasted pretty much like tuna… without the fishy aftertaste. Perhaps one day I’ll convert them over ;o)
Some more ideas not pictured here are zucchini sticks (like carrot sticks), zucchini and apple pie (an idea my friend Arlene gave me, the recipe is NOT on her website but she has some other really great info), and a chocolate zucchini cake (an amazing lady in my church brought us some… yeah- wow! I still gotta get that recipe!)
Thanks for joining me on this Zucchini parade. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the many ways zucchini can be used. Feel free to share your exotic and non exotic (e.g. casserole) ideas- we love to hear from you!
-Linda =)
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