Zucchini!
Friday July 10, 2009
I know some of you are happily harvesting zucchini now. I, on the other hand, was so tomato-obsessed that I got my zukes in late. They are blooming now, and I hope to have zucchini very soon.
But you know the story with zucchini. You look forward to it, you enjoy it the first five to ten times you harvest it, and then you curse yourself for planting so much zucchini. I am not a very creative cook, so I tend to do three things with my zucchini:
- Steam it.
- Grill it.
- Make zucchini bread.
Yes, I know. Wow. Luckily, my fellow About.com Guides are much more creative in the kitchen than I am. Here are a few of their recipes that I am definitely going to be trying this year.
- Zucchini Ribbon Noodles with Red Pepper Coulis. This recipe from Culinary Arts Guide Danilo Alfaro is a creative take on using zucchini. It sounds absolutely delicious. And it has my steamed zucchini totally beat in the presentation department...
- Zucchini Tomato Casserole. This dish from our Italian cuisine Guide, Kyle Phillips, uses two ingredients we are sure to have in abundance in the next couple of weeks, and looks pretty simple to make.
- Grilled Vegetable Panini. If sandwiches are your thing, this panini recipe from About.com Busy Cooks Guide Linda Larsen is sure to please.
- Stuffed Zucchini. You can stuff anything with cheese, and it's pretty much a sure thing that I'll like it. This recipe from our Southern Food Guide, Diana Rattray, sounds perfect.
- Two words: Zucchini Cookies. I am there!
I hope these recipes give you a few ideas for making use of all that zucchini. And, if you can't use them, consider donating them to a local homeless shelter.
What are your favorite ways to cook zucchini?
whenever I plant zuicchini, they put out one
growth of the vegetable, and then the plant dies. I know. This is unheard of. EVERYONE
can grow zuicchini. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Colleen! I found your blog after searching for reviews on Ortho ecosense brand insect killer. I was just about to head out to spray my tomatoes and I think I have changed my mind!
We just ate our second zucchini out of the garden last night! YUM YUM YUM. My hubby grilled it in butter along with some peas, green beans and some diced habaneros all fresh from the garden. He then mixed it all in with some Ramen noodles! Talk about a “cheap” gourmet meal! It was delicious! Even my three picky boys ate it up! I enjoy your blog…keep it up! PS Are ants bad for zucchinis? They are ALL OVER my Zuc plants.
Barbara–It could be a number of issues. They could be getting attacked by squash vine borer, which you won’t see unless you slice the stems open, because they burrow in and kill the plant that way. It could be that powdery mildew gets started, and, if you don’t notice it right away, it can kill a small plant pretty quickly (especially in humid conditions.) If you have any details, or even photos, of what happens to your zukes, I’d be more than happy to take a look at them and we can figure out what’s going on. Feel free to email me or post in my forum.
Kim—Thank you for your kind words! Your zucchini recipe sounds absolutely delicious—I love it when things like that come together! To answer your question, the ants won’t hurt the zucchinis, but I would double check for aphids on your plants just in case—I rarely see them on mine unless I have aphids. Look on the undersides of the leaves. If you don’t have any aphids, then don’t worry about the ants
Thank you for reading and commenting!
I have posted some delicious zucchini recipes on my blog: http://vegtutor.wordpress.com. Please check them out. Also, did you know that you can freeze fresh shredded zucchini and use it in all kinds of recipes during the winter? (A great way to secretly get some green veggies into your child’s diet).
I am just finishinng up zucchini week, in anticipation of Aug 8th , which is National Leave a Zucchini on your neighbor’s porch day! I posted some good recipes, and I’ll try that /Z noodles w/ red coulis, sounds delish!
I had started growing two Zucchini plants, a week prior to mother`s day, and the plants were doing well and producing tramendous fruit, but when returning home from a two week vacation, I noticed my plants were dieing.The main vine looked like it split open, and very small bugs were crawling in and out of the vines. The leaves also wilted brown and fell to the ground. when I cut one of the tubular stalks from the main vine something like a slug was living inside.This happened around July 19th.I think the season should last longer than this. What could I do to prevent this from happening again.
Hi Alex,
You’ve had a run-in with the ever-annoying, super-destructive squash vine borer. You can save your plant by slicing the stems open to remove the borers (the slug-like thing you saw), then bury the stems with a little extra soil — they’ll root again and hopefully start growing some new foliage.
The borers get inside the stems and prevent water and nutrients from moving through the plant, which is why the leaves start browning and dying. Get rid of the borers, cover cut areas with soil, and watch your plants carefully. They might bounce back.
The best way to prevent this from happening next year is to just keep your eyes open, and know that when you see those tell-tale slits in the stems, it means you have another borer. Remove the borer as soon as possible, and you can prevent large-scale damage to your plants.
I hope this helps. Thanks for the question!
Colleen