A friend told me about a church congregation which during the months of July and August always made sure their car doors were locked while\u00a0in church service,\u00a0lest they return to their cars to find\u00a0bags of zucchini\u00a0deposited on the back seat!<\/p>\n
Though sometimes dismayed about what to do with the plethora of\u00a0 these \u00a0beautiful green squash that we\u00a0are blessed with this time of year,\u00a0let us not infer anything disparaging about\u00a0them\u00a0since it is a great tasting, low-fat, high-fiber food. Only 18 calories per cup, other nutrients\u00a0in zucchini include\u00a0vitamins A,\u00a0vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and folate.\u00a0They can be eaten raw or cooked, sweet or savory and in\u00a0many, many recipes.<\/p>\n
I’ve learned from experience that the ones we grow ourselves have the most flavor. They afford great rewards for the novice gardener because it’s hard not to grow zucchini! A big key to producing flavorful zucchini\u00a0is to pick them when they are about 6 or 7 inches long.\u00a0 If one sneaks up on you and turns into a baseball bat, recycle it.<\/p>\n
A tender, thinly sliced zucchini makes a nice addition to a salad; or cut into thicker slices or wedges for a veggie platter. The quickest way to cook them is to slice into rounds and\u00a0lightly steam them. Toss with a little olive oil and salt, or just skip the oil. Another delicious way to prepare them is to\u00a0cut\u00a0into chunks and roast them\u00a0with onions and other veggies if desired. Toss with oil, salt, and a little rosemary and roast at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
A typical ingredient in minestrone soup is sliced zucchini, and a pasta-free lasagna can be made with long, flat\u00a0 zucchini slices. Zucchini casseroles, zucchini bread, zucchini patties, zucchini muffins, waffles, even cookies are other ways of incorporating this\u00a0bountiful squash into your diet. One of our favorite vegan casseroles is layered potatoes with zucchini smothered in Healthy Melty Cheese and baked for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees. But to satisfy that sweet tooth with a high-fiber, tasty treat, try these vegan zucchini muffins. The blend of pineapple and zucchini works really well. Amazingly light, they are\u00a0made with 100% whole wheat flour. These are very well received, and a great way to eat a vegetable! There are other vegan breads and muffins in my cookbook. Check it out at www.totalvegetarian.com<\/a> .<\/p>\n Zucchini Muffins<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 1 cup crushed pineapple, with juice<\/span><\/p>\n \u00bd cup light olive oil<\/span><\/p>\n \u00be cup Sucanat or turbinato sugar<\/span><\/p>\n \u00bd cup soymilk<\/span><\/p>\n 2 teaspoons vanilla<\/span><\/p>\n 1 teaspoon salt<\/span><\/p>\n \u00bd teaspoon stevia powder (scant) OR and additional 1\/2 cup sugar<\/span><\/p>\n 2 cups grated zucchini<\/span><\/p>\n 1 cup chopped dates<\/span><\/p>\n 1 cup walnuts, chopped<\/span><\/p>\n 2\u00bd cups whole wheat flour\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1\u00a0tablespoon Rumford baking powder or 2\u00bd tablespoons Ener-G baking powder <\/span><\/p>\n \u00bd teaspoon coriander<\/span><\/p>\n scant \u00bc teaspoon cardamom<\/span><\/p>\n dash of cinnamon if desired<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Preheat oven to 350o<\/sup>.<\/span><\/p>\n Mix first seven ingredients in a large mixing bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Grate zucchini and squeeze out juice. Add zucchini, chopped dates and walnuts to bowl and mix.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Combine flour, baking powder, coriander and cardamom in a separate bowl. Stir with a whisk to mix.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients mixing well. Form muffins in muffin tin with ice cream scoop.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Bake 40 minutes until lightly browned.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A friend told me about a church congregation which during the months of July and August always made sure their car doors were locked while\u00a0in church service,\u00a0lest they return to their cars to find\u00a0bags of zucchini\u00a0deposited on the back seat! Though sometimes dismayed about what to do with the plethora of\u00a0 these \u00a0beautiful green squash […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.totalvegetarian.com\/barbarasblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n