(The canning jar is to put the zucchini’s size into perspective.)
Is it not just amazing how overnight they can get so HUGE! I’m glad I found this one while it was still edible. I was able to get enough grated zucchini off of it to make four loaves of zucchini bread. I tried making Lemon Zucchini Bread and I recommend it if you want to try something a little different. The lemon zest tasted really good in it. My family gobbled that small loaf up in no time .
It is already beginning- I am having to get creative to keep up with the zucchini bush that has grown into a monster! What are some of your favorite ways of using up the never ending zucchini? I need all the suggestions I can get right now as I already have three more that needed to be harvested before they look like the giant in today’s photo.
Love that picture with the mountain in the background! What a beautiful view you have there.
I love zucchini bread! I’m going to copy your recipe so that I can give it a try.
One of my neighbors grates her extra zucchinis then puts it in bags to freeze.
My MIL pan fries zucchini with onion and corn. That’s yummy!
Hi Toni-
The sauteed zucchini with corn sounds really good! I’ll have to remember that when my corn comes in. Hopefully I’ll still have some zucchinis left when it does! Thanks for the suggestions.
Try making tempura from slices of it! It’s really easy…try this recipe
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/tempura/a/cookingtempura.htm
Plant Lady
Thanks for the link Plant Lady.
The recipe sounds good not to mention I am growing three eggplants this year so I could also use those in the recipe. Yum!
Sorry no zucchini recipes to share, but thanks for sharing one of yours. That bread sounds tasty.
Next year I’m growing zucchini that’s for sure. Maybe I just need one plant? lol ;
Hi Racquel, I am growing two zucchini plants and one pattypan and that is still almost too much for us to keep up with. The pattypan is still just flowering but once it begins producing it is just as prolific as the zucchini. By the end of summer we are so sick of summer squash! LOL I would definitely recommend planting only one!
Wow! Now that is a big one- great mountain view too! Funny how you can miss those things- I tell my daughter when she is harvesting bush beans you can literally blink and you’ll miss it!
Hi Tessa, It seems I blinked and this one got to be a monster! Isn’t funny how they can get so big overnight. Wish my tomatoes would grow that fast!
That is one sneaky zucchini!
Sneaky and HUGE! It could have been used as a club seeing how hefty it was.
Hi Cynthia~~ Have you read my latest blog post? I did the same thing! Only it became zucchini muffins rather than bread. In fact, my plants even produce zucchini with the same stripes! [First time I've grown this variety.] Today we picked three more [smaller ones, thank God]. I steamed them and tossed them over fettuccine pasta with olive oil and fresh chives, then sprinkled with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and voila. A few leaves of basil or any other herb, and any other steamed veggie for that matter, can be tossed in. It’s a light, easy, low cal, healthy meal. And then you can have something really decadent for dessert.
Hi Grace- I recently made a dish very similar to the one you just about. But instead I tossed the zucchini with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then roasted it before tossing it with cooked pasta, chopped basil, minced garlic (fresh from the garden!) and grated Parmesan. I love to throw together pasta dishes like that. So good!
Our zucchinis do look a lot alike don’t they? I have been growing this variety for 3 years now and just love its flavor. I will probably grow it again next year too.
I do zucchini a lot of ways in the summer. Lightly stirfried then covered in spaghetti sauce and sprinkled with cheese. I use cheddar, but I think most people would use mozzarella. Curries are always good. You can put any veggie into a curry to use it up. I also do a Mexican rice and bean dish with the zucchini grated in so it disappears into the dish. This is what I make when I just don’t want to see the zucchini anymore, but feel I ought to eat it. And I grate it and freeze it in premeasured bags for soups, stews and zucchini bread in the winter.
Hi Daphne, I can always count on you for great ideas using the veggies from the garden. I like the sound of the Mexican rice and beans dish. That sounds good and different- which is what I am needing these days! Maybe once the weather cools down some I’ll have to try that out. Right now it is just too hot to have the oven or even stove on.
I like the idea of freezing premeasured amounts for soups and stews during the winter- had never thought of that! I was just going to freeze some for more zucchini bread later in the year (slapping forehead!) I like the idea of using it in soups and stews much better! Okay, the zucchini plants can keep producing til their hearts content now- I want to grate and freeze lots of ‘em!
I wish mine would produce enough courgettes (zucchinis) for me to have some, I have had one tiny one so far and if the sun doesn’t shine soon I don’t think I will get any more! Perhaps they don’t like us calling them Courgettes, if I told them they are zucchini they might give me some fruit!
Best wishes Sylvia (England)
Hi Sylvia, This year is really good so far for all my squashes. Last year though was just terrible and I was lucky to get two or three. I hope things change here soon for you and you get to harvest some nice ones. They are one of my favorite vegetables from the garden. Good luck!
After growing up with monster zukes like the one you show (!), I have never really wanted to grow them myself, it always seems like there are too many to use and the neighbors don’t answer their doors when you come around with a bag of them.
My mom had this great 70s book, wonder if it’s still in print, I’ll have to ask her the title, about cooking with zucchini. My favorite of the recipes (and her zuchinni bread with orange zest and pineapple chunks was amazing but only 2nd place for me) was chocolate zucchini cake – with chocolate chips on the top layer and grated zucchini disappearing into the cake to moisten it. Weird but delicious! Good luck with your harvest, hope you find the rest before they turn into giants (that one looks like a sea lion lounging on your deck!)
Hi Karen, As always thanks for the good laugh!
A sea lion on my deck- too funny! Fortunately I have some neighbors that do not garden and will gladly take any off my hands- don’t know about the sea lion one though! It might scare them. The chocolate cake sounds delicious and like something my boys and husband would devour in one night. A cookbook devoted to cooking with zucchini? How fun is that? I would love to know the title of it. I have this thing for old and unusual cookbooks. One I own is from the 60’s and is all about gardening and cooking on the terrace and patio. I have a weakness for books almost as strong as the one for plants! LOL
I have a recipe that is a hit at my house
Chopped zuchini
Tomato chopped fresh
onion chopped
and cheese dash of salt and pepper
put it in a baking dish and bake it in the oven, it is delicious.
Sometimes I add mushrooms.
Sandra
Thank you for sharing this Sandra!
It sounds great and I think I might just have to make it for the family this weekend after I pick up some more tomatoes from the farmer’s market. I still have LOTS of zucchini to use up so this comment and recipe could not have came at a better time! Thanks again!