Zucchini, How I Love Thee!
 

With Spring right around the corner I felt like something other than roasted root vegetables and peas, so I bought some zucchini last week. OMG, I forgot how good it is! And so incredibly low calorie (~.16 calories per gram).

I lightened up one of my favorite zucchini side dish recipes and came up with this:

2 zucchini, thinly sliced (456 grams, 73 calories)
handful of cherry tomatoes (167 grams, 30 calories)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil (60 calories)
sprinkle sea salt
sprinkle garlic powder
sprinkle rosemary

I sauteed the above in a non-stick pan for a few minutes until tender, and voila! Only 163 calories total and it made 2 very large servings. So good, and it tasted like Spring :)




What are some of your favorite ways to eat zucchini? I may be wanting more of this wonderful veggie.

That sounds delicious. I do essentially the same except i use minced garlic instead of the powder when i saute it and add in squash and pepper. yuuuuum

Sounds delicious! Unfortunately I cannot have tomatoes anymore. :sad:

I also like it misted/lightly brushed with olive oil then breaded with salt/pepper/cajun seasoning/WW flour mixture or WW breadcrumbs. Baked at 400 degrees on baking sheet with holes or broiler pan so the bottom will get crispy too until brown.

I also like it cut into strips to use as pasta sub though I tend to do half and half since I still like me some pasta, lol. I'd cook it in a pan with some minced garlic, salt and pepper until it gets a bit crispy brown then added to the pasta dish and sauce. Great with alfredo-based sauces as well as tomato.

Also good as a pizza crust sub, either as rounds or half sideways. Try to dry it with paper towel as much as possible, put whatever you'd like then bake at 400 until cheese melts/browns.

That's all I have as far as zucchini goes. :)

ETA: just came across a recipe that happened to involve zucchinis. I have to try this.

I love roasted or sauteed zucchini. I also love it breaded and pan-fried, but that's an occasional food item.

I've been getting the small, long, thin, zucchini and just washing it and eating it raw! It's delicious, easy and just about as low cal as you can get!

I love zucchini! I love to slice them and grill them in my skillet and add seasoning and a touch of parmesan cheese, they are delicious!

I use this recipe as a baseline but change up the ingredients to suit whatever I have and to make it more calorie friendly. It gets so tender and yummy, I love zucchini!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/07/s...ini-boats.html

Oooh, that looks SO good!!! Curse my acid reflux cuz of the tomatoes! Do you think it'd still be good with alfredo sauce? (maybe the sun-tomato basil flavored one) and maybe cut back on some of the cheese (so it won't be so "cheesy", lol.)

Yum!! There are so many different variations you could try! Just make sure you account for any caloric changes you make if you are concerned about that!

You could try an italian salad dressing instead of the spaghetti sauce maybe? I have also done them a bit "dry" without the sauce and just used the wetness (sorry if that's the wrong word!) of the mixture using mushrooms, the insides of the zucchini, ground beef, feta. Like I said, all kinds of combos!

Makes me want to go to the store right now and get some!

I love zucchini. I can't wait until the ground thaws & I can get some growing in my garden. I practically live on the stuff all summer. I either eat it raw, either as is or in a salad or I grill it on my George Foreman grill. I use cooking spray, slice it in to thin strips, sprinkle it with Mrs. Dash and cook it until it is tender. I either eat that with spaghetti sauce or just sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over it. I also cut it into spears and use the same grilling technique with the Pam & Mrs. Dash. I also grill tortilla shells and eat "zucchini tacos" which is just the grilled zucchini in a tortilla shell.

My three year old loves zucchini like I do but no one else in my family will touch the stuff. lol

I love zucchini so much!

I've been making Zucchini Tots - this is the basic recipe although I modify with oat bran rather than bread crumbs since that is on my plan, extra onion, some additional spices and a little bit of Parmesan cheese for some extra flavor

http://thetwobiteclub.blogspot.com/2...hini-tots.html

They freeze well, so I make a big batch and then get to enjoy a portion at a time.

These are really good too!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/03/c...nchiladas.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/01/t...ini-4-pts.html