At this time of year, zucchini is so over-abundant it’s become a cliché. The vegetable’s preponderance is so well known that a playful holiday was even created to celebrate it. August 8th is now “Sneak a Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day.”
If your garden – or one of your sneaky neighbors – has left you with more zucchini than you know what to do with, and you’re sick of those same tired old recipes (“Oh, look, fried zucchini for dinner, with zucchini bread for dessert! Again!”), don’t fret! These unusual zucchini recipes will inspire you to use up those courgettes* in no time!
*(Courgette is just French for zucchini – slip that word into your vocabulary when adding these recipes to your rotation, and your family will be none the wiser!)
Zucchini Burgers
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
1 large zucchini
1 teaspoon salt
1 carrot, grated
1 egg
1/3 cup chopped onion
Ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup crumbled feta
Directions:
Grate the zucchini and add salt. Wait five minutes, then wrap the zucchini with cheesecloth or paper towels and squeeze out excess moisture. Add drained zucchini to a large bowl and combine with carrot, egg, onion, and pepper. Stir in whole wheat flour and fold in feta cheese until it is evenly distributed. Coat a frying pan with olive oil or nonstick spray. Divide the mixture into five patties (or 10 small “sliders,” if preferred). Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side, until golden brown.
Zucchini Chili
Ingredients:
6 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini
1 cups celery, sliced
1 med. onion, chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes & juice
2-3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
3 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 c. pitted ripe olives, sliced
1 15-oz. can kidney beans
1 c. fresh, sliced mushrooms
Directions:
In a large saucepan, sauté grated zucchini, celery, and onion in hot oil for about 6 minutes, until celery is just tender. Add tomato sauce, water, tomatoes (with juice), chili powder, garlic salt, salt, sugar, and pepper. Simmer slowly, uncovered, for 90 minutes. Add olives, kidney beans, and mushrooms. Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes and serve.
Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9” x 13” baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla and mix until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt and add to the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread the batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and butter; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.
Jaime McLeod is the Web Content Editor for the Farmers' Almanac. She is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, loves eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
9 comments
That’s new to me, Kat. I’m familiar with spaghetti squash, but not zucchini noodles.
Hi there, i recently ate at a raw food resty, and they served raw zucchini “noodles”. They were spaghetti-like, clear(ish?), i dont want to say rubbery, but they had a texture somewhat similiar to real noodles. Any idea how to make these? Im gonna go out on a limb and say they arent cooked. Thanks for any help!
You can also puree any raw zucs and freeze it to late use in soups as a filler.
OMG! No one can remain sickly if they follow recipes sucn as featured in FA. It’s like starting life anew; to now be growing up in the countrysides. It’s way-time to erase ‘junk’ from our future citizens’ minds when snacks can be as good as these are. I certainly thank the Almanac for listing them.
I am new at grating or preparing zucchini for recipes, how is this done?
Leftover Garden Vegetable Stir-Fry
2 small zucchini, sliced
2 small yellow squash (crook neck), sliced
1 small green pepper (or a mix of different colors), slivered
1 bunch green onions, chopped
a handful of button mushrooms, sliced
saute in a LARGE amount of bacon fat, ghee or butter (this will also be the “dressing” for the dish, so you can use a mixture of fats if you wish, just make them healthy fats, not canola oil or corn oil or any of that junk). Some people like olive oil – I don’t care for it unless I can find the cloudy, unrefined stuff.
While that is slowly sauteeing, get some water boiling and cook up about 6-8 oz. of spaghetti noodles. When they are done, drain and rinse them, drain some more and then add the noodles to the stir-fry pan.
Add 1 tablespoon Italian Spices (premixed or your own blend: oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, black pepper, fennel and whatever else you like). Toss the whole works together and eat.
* You can also add into the saute mix some julienned sliced of chicken breast and fry the whole works until the chicken is good and done. Sometimes I also toss in leftover roast beef or pork roast, or whatever. We are not vegetarian so I usually add some sort of meat. We do not buy chicken from the grocery store, so I only have chicken on hand when we can buy it from the local Hutterite Colony.
Zucchini Salad
2 zucchini cubed
2 yellow summer squash cubed
1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
1/2 Lime
1/4 tsp minced garlic
Mix 1/4 cup olive oil with 1/2 lime, salt, pepper, minced garlic
Pour into cubed zucchini and squash. Mix well.
A very refreshing dish. You may add a long grain rice if desired
Zuchinni Bread using honey is so good. another recipe i have is saute some onion and a bell pepper or a hot one. slice up several zucchinni and cook with onion and pepper . when its done drain a can of whole can corn and pour over it.or use freash cor,when its heated ,pour chedder cheese over top ,put lid on turn off burner.
One of my favorites, Zucchini Rounds:
1/3 C Bisquick Mix, 1/4 C Grated Parmesan Cheese, 1/8 tsp pepper, 2 eggs slightly beaten, 2 C shredded zucchini (don’t peel), 2 Tbls butter. Stir Bisquick, cheese and pepper, stir in beaten eggs until mixture is moistened, fold in zucchini. Melt butter in frying pan cook like pancakes, serve with butter and garlic salt. I even like mine with maple syrup. If large zucchini seed it first.
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