Ahh- It's that time of year when farmers markets and CSA's bring forth all the yummy summer vegetables for us to turn into something delicious. I love when the seasons change and I have a whole new lot of fruits and vegetables to create with. Enter zucchini! I have been getting vegetables delivered from Misfits Market which is a subscription company that sends you all organic produce that got rejected from being sold in traditional stores because they are either too big, too small or a funny shape. The last few deliveries have brought us some GIANT zucchini, or "googootz" as the Italians like to call them (thanks dad for a lesson in North End history!). Zucchini is a wonderful vegetable mainly because it is so versatile- you can find countless ways to eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even dessert. Another benefit of zucchini is that the taste is very mild so you can even sneak this past the toughest food critic in your house. My girls, though they usually eat anything, have something against this poor vegetable in it's natural state so I often find myself "doctoring it up".
I could fill up multiple blog posts with zucchini love but for now I'll just share with you the three recipes I made this past weekend with this veggie as the star. It's not often that I follow a recipe exactly but in these instances I pretty much did, so.. I will share the recipe links directly. It's always great to know a familiar face vetted one of the thousand Pinterest recipes you may have stumbled upon and wondered if its worth making... so here you go!!
**One tip I want to share, that is not necessarily apparent in each of these recipes, is that you really need to SQUEEZE the heck out of the shredded zucchini before adding it in your recipe or else the texture of your finished product will be off... I like to shred it with a grater and lay on a clean dish towel, sprinkle with a little salt to help draw the water out and let it sit for 15 min or so... then wrap up dish towel and give it a few good squeezes. You'll be amazed at how much water comes out!
Here are some of my favorites:
1. Breakfast- Apple Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins
These are so so good, it is hard to just eat one so you might want to double the recipe and make 2 dozen..... They also freeze very well. I tend to end up with so many extra apples from my Misfits box so this is a good use of those too. A fruit and veggie in one bite- winning! There's even a video tutorial on the site.
2. Lunch/Dinner- Zucchini Fritters
OMG do I LOVE a fritter! Anything lightly crisp and begging for a dip in sour cream makes me happy so this recipe does not disappoint! I doubled it naturally. I do recommend the added step of tossing them in the oven after a quick pan fry- the texture was perfect. These little babies are great for a light lunch or as a side with some grilled fish or meat. I made my own dip by mixing sour cream with a little squeeze of dill from "That's Tasty"
https://thatstasty.com/product/organic-dill-puree/ . I actually use lots of their "squeeze spices" such a time saver and great to have fresh herb flavor without the stress of herbs going bad.
3. Dessert- Instapot Chocolate Zucchini Cake
https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-chocolate-zucchini-cake/
I stumbled across this recipe about a year ago when I got my Instapot- which by the way is a whole other story. I was a total skeptic at first but I now love love love this kitchen gadget. It can do anything! I'll have to do a separate post for my affinity of 'potting. But for now I was really craving something chocolaty this weekend and with the COVID crisis I try not to just succumb to my sweet tooth and aimlessly find my way to a local bakery etc... I did however hit up my Pins and was pleased to see I had all the ingredients I needed for this one. This recipe comes together very quickly as it all goes in 1 bowl. The hardest part is finding a pan to fit inside of your Instapot. I definitely added more zucchini than called for and it still came out great. This cake was begging for a touch of creaminess and was perfect topped with a little whipped cream to cut the sweetness. It's divine warm!
Well there you have it! I hope you'll add one of these zucchini recipes to your menu this summer! I'll be back with another zucchini edition I'm sure!! Enjoy! xo
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