Zucchini: A Versatile Summer Vegetable

"What's in Season" article from the third week June:

Zucchini is a member of the summer squash family.  Other members of this family include yellow crook neck squash and patty pan or scallop squash.  They are different from winter squashes, which are harvested in the fall and include things such as acorn and butternut squash and pumpkins, in that they don’t develop a hard shell.  Therefore, they cannot be stored for long periods and should be eaten fresh.       

If you are thinking about getting into vegetable gardening, I would consider putting in a few summer squash plants.  This is one family of veggies that is so prolific you will feel like a real farmer in no time.  Even if you only have just a few plants in your back yard, it’s not uncommon to pick a bushel on Monday and another bushel on Thursday—and if you have had some rain in between they’ll be as big as baseball bats.  As my Grandma always says, “I have never heard of anyone having a bad zucchini crop!”  I have often thought we could end world hunger, for at least a month or two out of the year, if everyone would just plant a couple of zucchinis in their back yards.

My cousin’s wife, Kelley, and I hate to see things go to waste, so we are always looking for things to do with my leftover zucchini.  A few summers ago, I think everyone we knew gave us copies of their zucchini recipes.  People really get creative when it comes to this versatile summer veggie.  One customer even gave me a recipe for zucchini marmalade.  I tried it and it looked very pretty and actually tasted pretty good.  However, I must admit that flavored Jello was one of the ingredients, so the flavor was pretty much that of the Jello—the zucchini was just filler.

This is one veggie that does it all—how many other veggies can you roast on the grill, put in a casserole, or french fry, as well as turn into bread, cookies and cakes?  I think I am going to have to devote more than one column to share more of my zucchini recipes—and I haven’t even begun to discuss the other types of summer squash.  Local farmer, Jim Swingle, taught me how to grow zucchini when I worked for him growing up, so the recipe I’m going to share today is one of my favorites from his wife Gail.

Gail’s Zucchini Cake

·        3 cups grated zucchini                          

·        3 cups flour     

·        1 tsp. soda

·        1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

·        ½ tsp. salt        

·        3 cups sugar    

·        1 ½ cups oil

·        4 eggs                                                                         

·        1 cup chopped nuts (optional)  

ICING:

·        1 – 3 oz. pkg. cream cheese

·        2 cups powdered sugar

·        1 ½ sticks margarine

·        1 tsp. vanilla                                              

Grease and flour a bundt pan (9x13 or two layer pans also work but this is the preferred pan).  Mix sugar and oil.  Add eggs.  Mix flour and dry ingredients.  Add a little flour mixture and zucchini.  Then add more flour and zucchini.  Bake at 350 for 1 ½ hours.  Remove from bundt pat after 45 min.  Top with icing, sprinkle with powdered sugar, or leave plain.  Very moist. 

Zucchini Plants