Lock your doors, it's the height of zucchini season!
The saying goes - the only time folks in the country lock their door is during zucchini season, so your neighbors don’t “break” in while you’re at church to leave you more zucchini. - That is a very southern way of illustrating how prolific a zucchini plant is.
With the abundance coming our way and the length of the season, I like to make Sweet Zucchini Pickle Chips by America’s Test Kitchen from the cookbook Foolproof Preserving. If you are new to canning/preserving, this book is a great place to start. It's a primer of sorts and the recipes are great.
I also like to add diced zucchini to my Sauted Fresh Corn along with an onion in a cast iron pan and topped with parmesan cheese. Just remember, don’t salt the zucchini until it’s done cooking and off the heat. The salt will draw out the water in this high water content vegetable and you'll end up with mush instead of firm, browned, flavorful zucchini. And remember you can eat the flowers too! Look for those at the farmers market or ask the produce vendors if they plan to offer them at some point. You don't have stuff and fry them to enjoy them. Just tear them and add the petals to salads!
I'm also sharing Martha Stewart - Our Best Summer Squash Recipes to Prepare This Season - 31 delicious recipes. They all look good to me, but I call your attention to: Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Zucchini Waffle with Smoked Salmon and Greens, Gluten-Free Zucchini-Almond Cake (with cream cheese frosting), Zucchini Tart (with a phyllo crust and basil infused custard), Zucchini Parmesan Bread with Poppy Seeds. But the one that recipe in this collection that really caught my eye is the Thai Zucchini-Coconut Soup . I love Thai flavors and anything coconut, so this is right up my alley!
Surprisingly, zucchini has more potassium than a banana. And with its high water content, it's hydrating for us in this terrible heat. I think it tastes great raw and cooked. Enjoy these recipes to use all of the zucchini that is coming our way for the next two months.
