Rosie Hunt of Fortville has been gardening for years, and enjoys the versataility of zucchini.
Submitted photo
GREENFIELD – Tis the season to share the bounty of the garden, and local vegetable growers are digging into the many ways to use zucchini.
The plant that just keeps on giving can yield so much squash, it can prove overwhelming to know what to do with it all.
But some gardeners, like Rosie Hunt of Fortville, just take it in stride and get creative.
“It’s a summer thing,” she said.
Hunt’s bountiful garden has yielded tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and more this year, and she’s been busy preserving them for the winter months ahead – including plenty of sweet corn in the freezer.
Hunt said to enjoy zucchini immediately, the tastiest and easiest way is to simply saute it with olive oil and onions. What she likes best about zucchini is, it doesn’t have much of a flavor so it is versatile – including it can be ground up and placed in breads.
“Zucchini really doesn’t have any flavor; it sort of picks up whatever you fix it with,” she said.
Mandy Gray, extension educator for health and human sciences at Purdue Extension Hancock County, agreed that the many uses of zucchini is what makes it a useful plant. People can add nutrition to their side dishes or even desserts without sacrificing flavor.
Preserving zucchini can be done in two ways, Gray added. It can be washed, sliced, blanched and frozen. Or it can be washed and grated, then frozen. Gray suggests freezing grated squash in one- or two-cup servings so the grindings can be added to bread recipes easily, after it’s been drained.
Another idea, Gray said, is making loaves of zucchini bread and freezing those.
“You can’t possibly keep up with eating it all (fresh),” she said of gardens with bumper crops. “I have made every kind and any kind of zucchini bread you can imagine.”
Her favorite zucchini bread recipe was one found at happilyunprocessed.com for lemon zucchini bread.
And then there’s a “Death By Chocolate” zucchini bread recipe that Cheryl Lenser of Greenfield found. Lenser said her twin daughters are home from college now and are into making zucchini breads – it’s fun to make them in mini loaf pans and give them as gifts.
Lenser planted four hills of zucchini this year; one died, but three are yielding plenty. The small ones are perfect for sauteing as a side dish, while the bigger ones they often use in breads.
But keeping up with the plants can be surprising.
“I’ll go out and pick what’s out there and I’ll see small ones, ones that are too small to pick, then I’ll go out a day or two later and they’re enormous,” she said. “And they’ll hide under the leaves, too.”
Lenser said she’s given some zucchini to her parents and is using or freezing the rest. Favorite recipes include a zucchini quiche from allrecipes.com; a family recipe for country frittata– a vegetable and egg bake topped with pepperoni; and her own creation of zucchini salsa, which she uses for burritos, in deli roll-ups with cold cut meat or baked on top of meats
Her dog will even eat zucchini, as well the pet turtle– though he prefers it cooked a little.
Still, perhaps the best way to enjoy zucchini is straight from the garden.
“The first ones of the season we just saute them, butter, salt, pepper and onion,” Lenser said.
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At a glance
Here are two local recipes for zucchini, or summer squash
Zucchini Salsa
1 small zucchini, chopped
2-3 small (or 1 large) tomato, chopped
½ large onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tarragon
Combine all ingredients in a glass container. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, or use immediately.
Potential uses: topping for baked chicken breast — put on chicken, then return to oven for 15-20 minutes; in chicken quesadillas with mozzarella cheese; cooked with black beans for burritos; topping for cooked fish; in deli rollups — layer deli meat (ham, turkey, etc.) on tortilla, spoon small amount of salsa near one edge of tortilla, roll up tight.
Source: Cheryl Lenser, Greenfield
Country Frittata
½ cup Italian salad dressing
3 medium (1 lb.) potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 small zucchini, sliced ¼ inch thick
6 eggs
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ of a 3.5 ounce package sliced pepperoni
In a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, heat Italian dressing until hot; add potatoes, onion, and zucchini; cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally to coat with dressing. In a bowl, beat eggs, water, salt, and pepper until well blended. Pour egg mixture over vegetables in skillet; top with pepperoni. Cook until eggs begin to set around the edge. With a spatula, gently lift the edge of the egg mixture as it sets, tilting the pan to allow uncooked egg to run under. Reduce heat to low, cover skillet and cook 10 minutes longer or until egg mixture is set. Makes four servings.
Source: Cheryl Lenser, Greenfield
