I'm BAAAACK.....What To Do With All That Zucchini - Even Off-Season

I'm BAAAACK.....What To Do With All That Zucchini - Even Off-Season

Wow! Really??? My last post was in April????  How can it be that so much time has passed and I've scarcely noticed? But wait, let's see.......Oh yea, my life has completely changed since I started this BLOG and now - it's time to begin again....Maybe a Renaissance of sorts - a re-birth of the loving friendship I established with my last kitchen and divert some of the love and energy to a different kitchen.  A temporary kitchen - not the kitchen of my dreams - but a kitchen nonetheless. 

It's true when they say, "You never know what will happen when you wake up in the morning." Needless to say, I've had some pretty rough mornings in the last year, mornings I do not care to ever relive. Mornings when your heartache feels like it has invaded your every thought and action, rather than reason, optimism, and the strength you know you possess somewhere deep down within yourself.  Letting go of someone very important to me was absolutely the hardest, most gut-wrenching thing I've ever had to do - but I did it. And I survived and feel that I can finally go on with my life.  And now....On to making my own dreams come true in my own good time. 

And that begins with this BLOG.  I am hoping it will provide an outlet of something I am passionate about and allow me to share that love and passion with others. And, of course, share a little bit of my "GEEKY" side. 

 I am making it a personal goal to be able to speak "decent" Italian. (notice I didn't say "fluent" - can a 50-year-old become fluent in anything new?) When I looked up the Italian word for zucchini, I was a little bummed that "zucchini" in Italian is "zucchini."  But!  I will think it with an Italian gesture of thumb-and-forefinger together as I wiggle my wrist to make seem more "Italian-y." Onward......

This summer I found HUGE zucchini at the local farmer's market and did make an attempt to find ways to prepare it - beyond my beloved "Zucchini Pie" from a previous post.  Zucchini is actually very versatile - I think because it won't overpower the flavor of any ingredients added to it.  It is extremely healthy and contains enough "good stuff" - vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin A - to make it worth the effort to include it in whatever dishes you like.  Here are some ideas.....

Bake With It and Add it to Just About Anything You Cook

Aside from the "Zucchini Pie" recipe from an earlier post (July 20, 2010), zucchini is great in bread, muffins, and even cookies. Zucchini adds moisture, rather than drying out those things.  Other ways to bake with it is to add it casseroles, or meatloaf.  Add it to omelets, soups, quiche, and make zucchini "boats" or "fies." (See the directions below.)

Add it to Pasta

Adding zucchini to pasta is a a great way to get kids to at least try it.  My daughter loves buttery rotini or penne noodles with a little garlic salt and parmesean cheese sprinkled on  top.  Maybe if I slice the zucchini to resemble the penne noodles, she wouldn't actually notice she was eating a "vegetable." You could even add zucchini to pasta salad or to spaghetti sauce.

Deep Fry It
You need to make a batter with 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, pinch of salt, and about 1 cup of a beer - light or otherwise.  Stir together and refrigerate about 1/2 hour.  Slice the zucchini, dip in the batter, and fry in about 1/2-inch of extra-light virgin olive oil. (it's better than cooking oil and smells better in the house - which is very important!)  Place zucchini pieces of paper towel on a plate to drain excess oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt. Serve with your favorite dips or sauces.

Zucchini Boats

Cut a large zucchini in half and scoop out the zucchini to leave a canoe-shaped boat.  Boil or steam the "boats" until tender.  The fill them with a saute of the scooped out zucchini, onion, chopped tomatoes and spices.  Fill the boats and then top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Place boats in a hot oven to melt the cheese.  These would be a great side dish or served as an appetizer.  Or if you like light meals, this is a great dish for you!

Zucchini Fries

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  Cut 2 zucchini into 3-inch sticks.  Whisk an egg white in a small bowl, and add 1/4 cup skim milk.  Combine 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs in a separate bowl.  Dip zucchini sticks into  egg mixture, and then roll in breadcrumb mixture.  Coat a baking sheet with PAM or cover with a piece of aluminum foil.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Makes about 32 "fries." Serve with any kind of dipping sauce that you love to enhance the flavor.

And Now for the "Geeky Stuff" I Know About Zucchini...

History of Squash and Zucchini

Squash is one of the oldest known crops--10,000 years by some estimates -- in Mexico. Since squash are gourds, they most likely served as containers or utensils because of their hard shells. The seeds and flesh later became an important part of the pre-Columbian Indian diet in both South and North America. De Soto, Coronado, and Cartier all saw “melons” (probably squash) in the Americas.

Northeastern Native American tribes grew pumpkins, yellow crooknecks, patty pans, Boston marrows (perhaps the oldest squash in America still sold), and turbans. Southern tribes raised winter crooknecks, cushaws, and green and white striped sweet potato squash. Native Americans roasted or boiled the squash and pumpkins and preserved the flesh as conserves in syrup. They also ate the young shoots, leaves, flowers, and seeds.

Virginia and New England settlers were not very impressed by the Indians’ squash until they had to survive the harsh winter, at which point they adopted squash and pumpkins as staples. Squash were baked, cut and moistened with animal fat, maple syrup, and honey.

Less than thirty years ago, the zucchini, formerly often referred to as green Italian squash, was hardly recognized in the United States. Today, it is not only widely-recognized, but a particular favorite of home gardeners. Notwithstanding its prolific growing nature, its popularity is probably due to in large part to its versatility as a vegetable as well as in breads and desserts.

Zucchini, Cucurbita pepo, is a member of the cucumber and melon family.  Inhabitants of Central and South America have been eating zucchini for several thousand years, but the zucchini know today is a variety of summer squach developed in Italy.

The word zucchini comes from the Italian zucchino,meaning a small squash. The term squash comes from the Indian skutasquash meaning "green thing eaten green." Christopher Columbus originally brought seeds to the Mediterranean region and Africa. 

The French snubbed zucchini for a long time until chefs learned to choose small fruits which are less bland and watery. The French term for zucchini is courgette, which is often used also for yellow squash. 

Although the term summer squash can mean a variety of different squashes depending on to whom you are speaking, you can pretty much use the different summer squash varieties.