in the garden...zucchini

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Growing up, my family had a small vegetable garden.  I don’t really remember anything about it, except for the ZUCCHINI, which was prolific those summers.  My mother would slice it and put it in a pot with some water and chopped onion.  It would simmer away on the stove top until it was pale green, mushy and pretty void of any flavor (sorry Mom).  Often, it would get the classic 70’s garnish of Lawry’s seasoning salt.  

It was not a top childhood memory.

Now, some 30 plus years later, I love zucchini.  In my opinion, the best way to cook it is to chop it up, making it bite size (about an inch or so).  I then take a sauté pan and heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Once that is hot, I add a tablespoon of butter and then toss in the chopped squash.  Stir or shake it around to get all the pieces glistening in the fats. Over medium high heat, let it brown and then stir it so that other sides get the golden look as well.  Honestly, I just use kosher salt (my salt of choice) and fresh pepper to season it and it is delicious.  Even my picky-ish kids and boiled-mush-loving mother like it.  If you want to jazz it up a bit, I think adding a squeeze of lemon, minced garlic, some chopped basil or chives would be nice additions.  Maybe a dusting of parmesan? Fine Cooking Magazine has a recipe where they roast it and add in paprika and manchego cheese (I think you could easily just saute the squash instead of roasting).  Nine times out of ten, I stick with the simple sauté.

Zucchini is very versatile.  It can be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, stuffed, fried, boiled, turned into bread, and the flowers can be stuffed and baked.  Although it is mostly prepared as a vegetable, botanically it is a fruit.  Each plant has male and female flowers: the male flowers best for stuffing as they are larger and more dramatic, the female flowers bearing the fruit.  Often, I have tried to grow zucchini, gotten a lot of blooms that then sadly drop off the vine.  A friend recently told me that some plants are under served by bees and need help pollinating.  Ehow’s link is very clear on how to do this.  I have high hopes for this year’s crop. 

Here are some simple recipes that I have tried this season and enjoyed very much:

smitten kitchen's zucchini bread, use the olive oil for the cake, much healthier, moist and yummy

my recipe for "soupe au pistou" a classic provencal soup, made only when it is the height of summer vegetables (like now)

a zucchini tart that would be great for a summer buffet, along with grilled chicken, some sliced tomatoes and a green salad

and then, a raw, shaved zucchini preparation by heidi swanson.  so light, so delicious:

shaved fennel salad