What to do with all this zucchini? The other night, we were at Bible study and I mentioned something about planting 8 zucchini plants. To that, one of our friends responded, “boy, that’s enough zucchini for 10 families”. While I don’t know if it would actually feed that many families, I do know I have a LOT of zucchini. For the past couple of weeks, the pile of zucchini on my counter has morphed into a mountain. This week, I knew I had to do something about it. So here it goes: 10 uses for zucchini.
1. Stir Fry
This has been my favorite use for Zucchini this summer. I like slice smaller zucchini into little wedges and through them in a Thai style stir fry along with green beans, peppers, onions, and carrots. It’s an excellent way to get in some vegetables and make the main course go farther too.
2. Fried Zucchini
Growing up, I hated zucchini. That is until I discovered fried zucchini. After that, I was hooked. (Although it did take me a while to appreciate it in other forms). Anyway, fried zucchini is pretty straight forward. Beat some eggs and a little bit of milk and concoct a flour mixture with salt, pepper, and flour of choice. Dip the zucchini in the egg mixture, then the flour mixture, and then fry it in Avocado or Coconut oil.
Getting the salt and pepper right is the key here. You might want to taste the first few and add more to your flour mixture if needed.
3. Zucchini Flour
This is a quick, or should I say low labor intensity, way to get some zucchini put away. Some people say zucchini flour has the consistency of coconut flour and can be used similarly. I haven’t used it in very many recipes so far, but I do like to add it to my bacon-wrapped meatloaf as a gluten-free alternative to breadcrumbs.
To make zucchini flour all you have to do is grate up your zucchini, spread it out on dehydrator trays, and dehydrate until its crispy. Then you can use a blender to crush the zucchini and turn it into flour.
4. Zucchini Bread
I’m pretty sure just about everyone remembers eating zucchini bread as a kid. It was always a tasty treat (even better with choc chips) and a great way for moms to get veggies into their kids. I haven’t made it in a while, but I do plan on storing up some grated zucchini so I can at some point.
5. Zucchini Fritters
I often like to make zucchini fritters for breakfast. My husband would just as soon have plain eggs, but I don’t like eggs so this is a good way for me to get the protein and nutrients from an egg in a less eggy form. Basically, you mix shredded zucchini, flour, eggs, and seasoning and fry them up. Here is a good recipe ________________.
6. Stuffed Zucchini
Earlier this summer I was making stuffed peppers for dinner and I ran out of peppers. I still had stuffing and needed to do something with it. So, I decided to try scooping out the seeds from zucchini and making zucchini boats. The funny thing was, we ended up liking the stuffed zucchini better than the stuffed peppers.
7. Zucchini Relish
I haven’t done this myself, but I have heard that it’s pretty good. Here is a recipe ___________
8. Zucchini Jelly
When I was growing up, we always had an abundance of zucchini in the summer. Somewhere along the line, my Mom decided to make zucchini jelly. I’m not sure if it was actually because she wanted us to eat healthy, because it was quite full of sugar, but it did get us to eat zucchini. This stuff is the bomb when you slather it on a piece of zucchini bread with some butter. Here is a recipe. __________________
9. Freeze it
One thing I’ve noticed about zucchini is that when it’s in season, you can’t get rid of it. When it’s not in season, though, it can be harder to find. I remember after I got married buying zucchini in the store and being shocked by how expensive it was. It still doesn’t make sense to me that such a prolific vegetable can be sold for so much. Anyway, freezing it is a great option so that you don’t have to buy it in the stores later on when it isn’t coming out your ears.
The easiest way to freeze it is probably to grate it up, stick it in a bag, and throw it in the freezer. Grated zucchini is really only good for making zucchini bread though (Maybe fritters too I suppose). But, you can also chop it up and blanch it to use in things like stir-fries. You can chop it in rounds or in quarters. For stir-fries, I like quarters. Blanch it in boiling water for 2 minutes and then transfer to ice water. Once it’s cooled, you can freeze it.
10. Roasted Zucchini
I almost forgot about this one. Roasted zucchini is super simple. Slice up your zucchini, toss it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika, and spread out the pieces on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Be careful with the paprika though, it turns out these can get a little fiery if you add too much.
There you go! 10 ways to use zucchini. I’m sure there are plenty of other uses for it out there. What are your favorite ways to prepare zucchini?
