What To Do With Zucchini?

First, a confession:  I seem to be incapable of growing the long, dark green zucchini at this little place here.  I haven't quite figured out exactly what it is, since they grew prolifically at my last piece of land, but they don't grow well here.  Yellow summer squash seems to grow much, much better.

And this year, thanks to a free packet of seeds marked "trial round light green zucchini" that was sent along with my seed order from one of the three companies my garden seeds came from this Spring, I have learned that apparently round light green zucchini also grow well here.

Just not the ones that look like what everyone thinks of when they hear the word "zucchini."


Well, it doesn't really matter what shape or exact color (dark green, light green, yellow) they are, they taste and cook pretty much the same.  So, now that it's High Summer and you are looking at a countertop overflowing with zucchini, what do you do with them?

If they aren't too big around yet, say, banana sized or smaller, you can cut them into chunks and use them in shish kebabs along with your peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc.  Or, if they are more like the size of a woman's wrist, you can slice them about 1/4" thick and saute them in butter or olive oil.  You can also cut them to that size, dredge in egg and breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs, and then fry them.

Wrist-sized and up can be split open length-wise and used to make zucchini boats (look up a recipe, there are tons of them on the internet.)  Or, you can julienne them and make a fantastic zucchini 'slaw' out of them (again, look up a recipe).  Take it to your next summer picnic/potluck; I guarantee it will be the only zucchini slaw there, unlike pasta or potato salads or bags of chips.

You can also shred them.  Shredding them is the most common thing I do with mine when I have a super abundance of them.  Because shredded zucchini freezes very well.  Then I can use it in the winter, when the garden has finally stopped producing them.  Or the next year, when my garden fails to produce them.  Shredded zucchini will last a long time in a deep freeze.

Shredded zucchini is the basis for zucchini bread.  Zucchini muffins (very good with bean soup, by the way.  For my recipe see "Hot Soup For a Cold Day").  Chocolate zucchini cake (see my post "Something Warm and Chocolaty From The Garden" for the recipe.)

This week I concocted a new recipe in order to use up the new to be round light green zucchini.  Also so I might better be able to convince people at the farmers market to buy them (last week everyone looked at them with suspicion and not a single person was brave enough to take one home).

What I did was take the idea of a zucchini boat and combine it with the idea of a stuffed pepper.  Plus, I used up some more of the leftover turkey in my fridge from last week (see post "An Old Concept Put To Use").  Here is the recipe I came up with:

Stuffed Zucchini

Take 4 round zucchini of about softball size.  Rinse under cold water, then place into a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes.

Remove zucchini from boiling water and set aside.

Meanwhile, chop one sweet onion and saute in butter until translucent.  Remove from heat and place onion in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Chop some leftover turkey (or chicken would work too, I suppose) into approximately 1/2" pieces.  When you have about a cup and a half of turkey, add to bowl with the onions.

Shred about 1 cup cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup Romano cheese.  Add to bowl with onions and turkey.

Add to bowl 1 tsp salt and about 1/2 tsp pepper.

Now, get your round zucchinis, remove the stems (if they have them), and set them stem side down on a cutting board.  You will now have the blossom end up.  Cut off approximately the top 1/2" to 3/4" of the zucchini (removing the blossom end).

Once the 'top' of the zucchini is cut off, carefully use the knife to slice around inside the zucchini, but do not cut through the skin.  You only want to cut up the flesh of the zucchini, leaving about 1/4" to 1/3" 'bowl' composed of skin and flesh.  

Carefully scoop out the inner flesh (remember leave at least 1/4" around the edges) of the zucchini with a spoon.  Discard any sections with large seeds.  Chop the rest and add to the bowl with the turkey, onion, etc.

Stir contents of the bowl to mix well.  

Place each of the four zucchini into an 8" x 8" or 9" x 9" baking dish.  I put one in each corner and they fit fine.  Stuff each zucchini with the contents of the bowl.

Cover with the pan with foil and place in a 350 degree oven.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes.


And that, my friends, is how I made stuffed zucchini.  Which DH looked at suspiciously when I served it, but finished his first one and then reached for seconds!  So I consider that a success.