We love zucchini because we can use it as a base to so many meals, we consider it almost like a potato around our house. It can be shredded, baked, grilled, eaten raw, and the list goes on. It has so many purposes and great uses! A plus, it that it is a low calorie high nutrient food! Here are a few recipes to try! P.S. I substitute the oil in my zucchini bread recipe (from Betty Crocker) for applesauce. It takes about 10 extra minutes to cook but it stays so moist, and it’s so healthy!
Zucchini Bread 3 cups shredded Zucchini 1 2/3 cup sugar 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp vanilla 4 eggs 3 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground cloves ½ tsp baking powder If desired: 3/4 cup chopped nuts, or 1 cup chocolate chips
Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 (8×4-inch) loaf pans or 1 (9×5-inch) loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, stir zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts/ chocolate chips etc.
Stir in nuts or chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly between 8-inch pans or pour into 9-inch pan. Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on cooling rack 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.
Zucchini Lasagna Roll-ups 8 lasagna noodles, cooked 1 tsp olive oil 3 cloves garlic, crushed 2 medium zucchini (grated and squeezed dry) 1 cup + 2 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 large egg, beaten 1/2 tsp kosher salt fresh cracked pepper 1 3/4 cups Marinara sauce 1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded fresh basil for garnish (optional)
Cook Lasagna noodles. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. In a medium nonstick skillet, sauté garlic and olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute; add zucchini, salt and pepper to taste and cook about 4-5 minutes, until soft. In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Lay out the lasagna noodles on a clean work surface. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over the noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.
Ladle the remaining sauce over the lasagna rolls and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the inside is heated through and the cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil if desired and eat hot.
Zucchini Caprese Salad 3 Zucchini (cut in half the long way) 1 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes (some prefer the grape tomatoes for this salad) 8-12 oz fresh mozzarella Extra Virgin Olive Oil Course Sea salt, course Ground Pepper 6-8 basil leaves
Cut Zucchini in half the long way. Use a spoon to carve out the area with the seeds, making a “boat”. Slice tomatoes or cut grape tomatoes in half. Cut fresh quality mozzarella into bite sized pieces. Loosely chop the basil into pieces. Add tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil (or balsamic if you prefer that). Fill the zucchini boats with the Caprese salad and cut the zucchini into 1 inch pieces for easy snacking. Great appetizer!
Zucchini Fritters 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, grated 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 large egg, beaten 2 cloves garlic, minced kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons olive oil
Toss zucchini and salt together in a large colander and place in sink to drain for 10 minutes. Put zucchini in the middle of a piece of cheesecloth; wrap cheesecloth around zucchini and squeeze to drain as much moisture from zucchini as possible. Use a paper towel if you don’t have a cheese cloth.
Mix flour, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, kosher salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Stir in zucchini. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Scoop batter by the tablespoon into the hot skillet and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
We are on our 7th week of delivery already, how’d the season fly by so quickly!? No need to worry, we have a few months to look forward to together! 🙂
Take care,
~The Farmer’s Wife