Zucchini! Cooking and preserving ideas!

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I harvested my first zucchini on July 9. I hope to plant it earlier next year for an earlier harvest!
I love zucchini. It just keeps coming. The more you pick, the more it will grow. Harvest them small, at 6 inches is best. If they are allowed to become too large, they will not be as tender and the seeds will be huge. Plus, if you pick them small the plant can devote more energy to producing more new zucchini.

Pictured here are 3 heirloom varieties.



Golden Zucchini, Bennings Green Tint and Black. (I'm still waiting on 1 or 2 varieties to produce, including a Patty Pan).

I love the tiny zucchini, harvested at about 4-6 inches long. They are so tender & delicious. They are wonderful chopped raw onto a salad or sliced for eating raw with a dip.

To saute zucchini, slice into circles and cook with a bit of olive oil in the pan. They are great cooked with onions. For a great breakfast, saute zucchini with onion and mix with scrambled eggs. You can also cook it with swiss chard (or other greens), garlic, potatoes, etc. and top the eggs with cheese.

For baked zucchini fries, slice into strips. Coat with canola oil, sprinkle with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Lay in single layer on cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. Delicious!

Zucchini is great in soup. Try a minestrone recipe.

Saute it with other vegetables and toss with pasta coated in some olive oil.

Last year, I dehydrated some zucchini slices on an electric dehydrator. They come out crispy and can be used in place of potato chips. Much healthier and absolutely delicious!

I freeze zucchini slices & hunks to toss into crockpot soups all winter.

Many people shred zucchini, freeze it, and use this all winter in zucchini breads and other zucchini baked goods.



Enjoy!






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