by Margie Siegal
Zucchini plants are prolific and very forgiving. Planted in a sunny spot, given a reasonable amount of water and some fertilizer now and again, zucchini plants will grow and produce big bright yellow flowers. The flowers attract a wide variety of pollinating insects. Once pollinated, the flowers turn into zucchini. Lots and lots of zucchini.
Prevention is the best cure. Don’t plant ten zucchini plants if you are feeding three people. Zucchini flowers are tasty and there are many recipes for them – check on line. Pick zucchini when it is small and check under the leaves. Zucchini often hides.
But what if you ended up with several pounds of zucchini anyway and the neighbors lock their doors and pull down the shades when they see you coming? One sure fire method to get rid of extra zucchini requires a pair of dark glasses, a trench coat and a Ferrari. Lacking a Ferrari, a well tuned Corvette from the Sixties or a Shelby Cobra will also work. Put on the trench coat and the shades, get into your Ferrari with all the extra zucchini in a bag and cruise around shopping center parking lots until you see a car with an open window or a convertible. Throw the bag into the car and burn rubber out of that parking lot!
No Ferrari? Many different cultures have zucchini recipes, and even if you can’t go traveling, you can bring the flavors of many lands to your home. My friend Kate’s father’s family is Armenian. They came to America in the early 1920’s, bringing with them two recipes with zucchini, one with meat and the other, to be eaten during Lent, without:
Dolma (Stuffed Vegetables)
Stuffing (meat recipe)
1 pound ground meat
1 large yellow onion chopped fine ( 1 1/2-2cups)
1 bunch chopped parsley
1 tablespoon tomato paste or tomato sauce
3/4 cup white rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Dill and raisins (optional, to taste)
Stuffing (Vegetarian recipe)
1 cup rice,
3 cups onions, chopped fine
¾ cup pine nuts,
one bunch parsley (chopped fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
Dill and raisins (optional, to taste)
Vegetables
One large zucchini. Let one overachiever grow to over a foot.
1 – 2 bell peppers
2-3 tomatoes
Wash and clean vegetables. Cut tops off tomatoes & bell peppers and remove the seeds. Cut zucchini into 4 inch segments, scoop out most of the interior (leaving a bottom and sides) and remove seeds. You want all the vegetables to be about the same height.
Mix the stuffing of your choice in a bowl. Stuff vegetables. If you have extra stuffing make meatballs.
Place veggies in Dutch oven open side up. Place a plate on top of the vegetables to keep everything in place. Add the tomato & zucchini pulp around the stuffed veggies in the pot. Add water or tomato juice to reach half way up the vegetables..
Put lid on Dutch oven and simmer on stove top on medium heat for about a half hour. Check the rice, when it’s cooked everything is. It is important to have enough moisture to cook the rice.
Serve with plain Greek yogurt on top.
Another idea:
Zucchini Burgers
2 cups grated zucchini (a good use for that big guy that hid under the leaves)
½ cup whole wheat or regular flour
1 egg
Seasoning [see below]
Grate zucchini and mix in flour and egg. No need to add liquid: zucchini is full of moisture. Mix in the seasoning of your choice to taste. Grease griddle (I use cooking spray) and heat until a drop of water sizzles. Use large spoon to drop zucchini mix on griddle, forming 3 inch rounds. Cook until there is brown around the bottom edges, then flip and cook the tops. When both tops and bottoms are nicely brown, put on heated plate, spray griddle with more cooking spray or use paper towel to grease griddle and repeat until all batter is cooked. Serve with tomato sauce.
Seasonings: zucchini accommodates to just about anything. Some ideas:
– Chopped fresh parsley or other herbs
– Chinese preserved vegetables, chopped fine and added to taste
– Cooked ham, minced.
– Sriracha hot pepper sauce
– Chili powder
– Sweet red peppers, minced
– Anchovies
– Cooked mushrooms
– Salt and pepper
Remember, be vigilant about picking your zucchini and you won’t end up like the woman who accidentally grew the world’s biggest zucchini. She couldn’t fit it in her car without leaving a window open. On her way to the local television station for an interview, she stopped at a store for some supplies. When she came out, there was the world’s second biggest zucchini, stuffed through the window next to her prize winning squash.