We have got some serious garden action going on in our backyard. Every day Mark returns from the garden with an armload of zucchini, cucumbers, and green peppers. (We also planted tomatoes, but it hasn't gotten hot enough yet for them to turn red...we are thinking after this weekend, we should be bringing in a truckload. Our temps are in the 90's with humidity indexes reaching the 100's...yikes!!) They started out small, but are getting more massive in size as well as numbers. The first few batches were reasonable. I'd make some spaghetti sauce with the zucchini, peppers, etc. And I tried a zucchini bread recipe that wasn't too bad (too much oil though). Mark and I like fresh cucumber salad with tomatoes, green peppers, and string cheese with some Italian dressing on it. Simple, cool, tasty...easy. Or so I thought.
But now, I need to get more creative. We're getting a little tired of the same old uses for our bounty and need to branch out. I've looked through my recipe books and found a few things to try for zucchini, but the cucumbers are kind of stumping me. What do you do with them?
As for the zucchini, I thought I'd share a few recipes I found from Pioneer Woman that are definitely keepers.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/chocolate-chip-zucchini-cookies/
(these were really tasty and kept well. the whole family gobbled these up.)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/pineapple-zucchini-sheet-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/
(made this one today...really, really good. the frosting puts it over the top.)
I also tried a new zucchini bread recipe with less oil, and more spices and made muffins and mini-loaves with it. They are going straight into the freezer.
But what next??? Any recommendations???
8 comments:
First, the zucchini question ... try Melanie's Pasta Primavera recipe using zucchini in the asparagus spot. Also can be cut into wheels, breaded (with panko is better) and fried like green tomatoes. I have stuffed some of the 10-12 in. ones with a burger and rice mixture like a stuffed green pepper or cabbage roll. Do NOT pre-boil the z's. And they make a welcome addition to a veggie soup.
As to the cucumbers ... Slice some red onions, scoop the seeds out of the cuke, cut in chunks, halve some kalamata olives, add some dill (fresh is better, but dried is ok) and crumble in some feta. Mix some olive oil and lemon juice (1 part oil to 2 parts juice) for dressing. Or a good one from Nana, slice sweet onion (Vidalia, Walla Walla, Oso) very thinly and add some not quite as thin, but still thin cucumber slices, and dress it with sour cream and a dash of sugar. Easy on the sugar. I do this w/Splenda and Dad and I love it. It needs to sit in the fridge awhile so it wilts a little ... maybe 2-3 hrs.
Good luck on the excess ! Papa used to say the neighbors would see him coming w/zucchini, and would pull the blinds and lock the doors !
Make some of Grandma's pickles! They're so easy, and you can do them one jar at a time as they come on, and no processing. Zucchini freezes well. I shred it all up, put it in zip loc bags in 2 and 3 cup quantities (because that's what all my recipes call for)label with a sharpie and freeze. Also with zucchini, I love it sliced, coated in flour, salt, and parmesan, and fried in a little olive oil.
Try this recipe with your cucumbers...really delish...a little twist on the "italian dressing" salad (and you can still use your peppers, too!).
Sweet Cucumber Salad:
7 cups sliced cucumbers
2 cups sugar
1 sweet onion sliced in wedges
1 green pepper diced/chopped
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Table spoon salt
1 Table spoon celery seed
*Mix the vinegar, salt, sugar and celery seed together before adding the rest.
*It is good right away, but EVEN better the next day!
Remember when they added sliced cucumber to our water at that spa we went to in Couer de Alene? It was so refreshing and tasty!
Oops ! I left out the chopped tomato in the Feta/Cuke salad recipe. Don't leave it out of the salad ! Amt ? as much as you want, but not as much as it sounds like you will soon have !
I have the BEST zucchini chocolate cake recipe ever!! You can't tell there is zucchini in it- it just is super moist...I will email it to you!!
Congrats on the garden bounty! Everything sounds tasty. We didn't plant cucumbers just because I don't know how to use them all...but it looks like you got some great ideas! I'm glad the Pioneer Woman recipes were tasty...I remember reading those and I'll have to try them now. I wonder if you could search her new recipe site for cucumber...wonder what you'd come up with. Good luck!
I second the pickling suggestions. Melanie and I have put up about 20 jars so far. Not from our own garden, our cucumbers kind of died out.
I love pioneer woman!
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