Zucchini: The Squash That Keeps on Giving

I decided last fall that my dad needed to grow zucchini. I decided that this was so because it was fall and I wanted to make more zucchini bread than the one or two zucchini I got from my local CSA last year allowed. 

Somehow, I convinced him despite my mother's protests. Turns out last time he planted zucchini in their garden he planted TWO whole plants. Needless to say, they had more zucchini than they knew what to do with and a lot of wasted space in the garden, not to mention wasted food. This was before I decided I needed to have to zucchini.

What I remember about zucchini growing up is that my grandmother used to grow it and it was mostly disparaged by everyone in the family. Except when it was in zucchini bread or zucchini cake. Have you had zucchini cake? The one my grandmother made was a chocolate cake with chocolate chips on top. Nothing healthy about that creation, but it did taste good. 

At any rate, I decided that zucchini was needed for the zucchini bread. In the fall. What I didn't even think about was that zucchini is not only a fall vegetable. Nope, that baby is pretty much the first plant to start producing very early in the summer. Prolifically. And even though my mom has rediscovered a love of summer squash (which includes the lowly zucchini) there was more that she and my dad could eat alone. Since I was the instigator of this whole thing, those babies were mine. 

Cool. I had a lot of recipes that I had pinned on the Pinterest I wanted to try. Many were in hopes of sharing with my kids who had already expressed their disdain about the vegetable and their reluctance to eat it. Because (and if you've ever grown zucchini, you saw this coming) there was just too many of those things to NOT share with those kids. 

Now I had a mission! And told everyone on Facebook because that means I was really, really serious.

There was so much zucchini, that is exactly what I did. I tried several different recipes and lo and behold! I did come up with two recipes that they liked. Of course, it is too much to ask that they both like the SAME recipe but at least I found one that they each like. 

And as for me? I discovered many ways that I like to eat zucchini, yay! This is such a prolific plant that if you are serious about growing your own food, this is one that you definitely want to have because it really is very versatile. Once you figure out how to use it. 

Here's a list of some of the ways I used the zucchini and our reactions to it:

1. Zucchini subs: No way the kids were eating this one. But since I swore off bread and all things wheat this summer I needed something to eat my meat and cheese on. For smaller zucchini, I sliced them length-wise and scooped out a little of the seeds, filled it in with a spread made from dry Italian dressing mix and Greek yogurt, topped with my favorite meat and cheese. For larger zucchini, I sliced them into rounds and topped the same way. Found the rounds much easier to eat and overall a very tasty and satisfying lunch.
2. Zucchini pizza: Same concept as subs except with pizza toppings. I grilled the zucchini slightly before adding toppings and cooking as pizza. Kids wouldn't touch it, but again, a nice way to go gluten free and still get the pizza flavor. It's all about the toppings for me anyway. 
3. Zucchini chips: We made a variation of this recipe for zucchini Parmesan chips minus the Panko crumbs. Boy loved them, girl tolerated them. I found them to be a nice side dish. 
4. Zucchini tots: I love this one. The girl loved this one. My parents loved it, friends liked it. Boy thinks I am trying to torture him so take it for it's worth. I actually made this so many times that I came up with my own variation on this adaptation of the original recipe. 

Zucchini Tots
(printable copy)

• 4 cup grated zucchini
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onions
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (we like mozzarella, but any kind will work)
• 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
• 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
• salt and pepper


1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a mini muffin tin and set aside. 
2. Use a food processor to grate zucchini and then place in a strainer to squeeze out excess water from zucchini. Since this is such a large amount of zucchini there will still be a lot of moisture after squeezing but that's okay.
3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. 
4. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, fill the muffin tins to the top. The mixture will likely be runny but the quinoa needs this liquid so make sure you are including some in each scoop. Besides, that's where the seasonings are! 
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until tops are browned. 

The girl and I love the quinoa in these tots over everything else we tried (quinoa flour, oats) because it gives them a crunchy texture, soaks up excess moisture and keeps them from tasting doughy. Yum! Usually makes 2 dozen or more so we eat the first dozen and freeze the rest to heat up later for a quick side dish.

There was a little zucchini drought towards the middle of summer (not to mention actual drought) and I truly thought the season for this summer squash was over. Not so! My dad presented me with 5 very large zucchini at the beginning of September. They had their hands full with the yellow squash (which I have not learned to love) so the zucchini was all mine. As school just started,  I didn't have a lot of time to deal with these 5 giant zucchini so I did what I always do. I froze them.

First I cut them up in manageable chunks and ran them through the food processor with the grating blade which was working out swimmingly until the bowl was full. And I had two zucchini left. Deciding that there is only so much grated zucchini one can use over the course of the winter I decided to slice the last two. Perhaps I will be able to fashion some zucchini chips for the boy. It may not work out, I realize, but it just may work out better since a lot of the water will easily drain off when they defrost. Could be a disaster, might be genius. We'll see. At any rate, I have a lots of zucchini to throw in soups, for bread and of course, zucchini tots (I actually like working with frozen grated zucchini for the aforementioned reason, the water drains off easily, makes better tots).

When all was said and done, I ended up with an obscene amount of zucchini. After all that we all ate this summer. From only one plant. Over 36 cups of frozen zucchini. 

Yes, we'll be eating zucchini whether my kids like it or not although I have to say my summer mission went extremely well. They may not like all things zucchini but they at least like SOME things and I call that a win. 

Next: Growing, Harvesting and Drying Stevia