http://www.whfoods.com/index.html?PH...cf68e93580e481

Loooooove this stuff. Just ate a whole zucchini from a local farm market for lunch the other day, in fact.

How do you fix yours?

I steam it, and add it with other vegetables to pasta salads and the like.
I mix it with other vegetables, marinade in balsamic vinegar, and roast it.
I stick it on the grill.
I sautee it in a bit of butter and brown sugar. Or butter and garlic.
I use it in vegetable lasagna.
I steam it and add it to marinara sauce for spaghetti.

YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could eat it every single day!

I never get tired of zucchini. My local Whole Foods market has BABY zucchini, and they are delicious. Each one is the size of a fat finger and they're the most tender thing I've ever eaten.

I slice them into rounds or lengthwise and steam them and have them as a side vegetable, OR
slice them and sautee them in butter with corn and spinach

With larger zucchinis, I'll grate them and add them to salads

Yum, I love adding shredded zucchini to soups.

I just made some Calbacitas yesterday. Zucchini, onions, garlic, tomatoes (fresh or canned) a little corn, green peppers, spices and fat free cream cheese. Real calbacitas uses higher fat cheeses, but I find the fat free to work out fine. Would also work well with tofu cheeses too. Roasted zucchini, eggplant and yellow squash with other veggies - olive oil, balsamic vinegar.. droool. I love the stuff and am very mad at myself for passing it up all those years when i was a kid!!

Linda, I love your "Food of the Week" threads.

Zucchini - a blessing and a curse (at least to those of us who garden ) I love to eat them. My favorite way these days is to saute a bunch of onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers,and zucchini - all chopped very small. Then when the veggies are soft, add a can of those petite-cut tomatoes that are seasoned (I use Italian) and let the liquid cook out. Serve over pasta for a very low-cal sauce - or over spagetti sauce for an every lower calorie meal.

Of course, I also like it all the ways listed above, too. LindaT - is this stuff all raw so what you get is a spread? Sounds good.

Pat, nope all cooked. If you click on the recipe/review page in my sig the recipe, loose as it is, is posted there.

Here's a recipe for tomato, zucchini, leek, spinach and chickpea soup, it's fabulous.

Spinach Chickpea Leek Soup

This is SO good and so fast and easy to make - makes plenty for several days. Great to make on a Sunday and eat all week.

1 tbs olive oil
2 leeks, sliced thinly (circles)
1 zuchini, chopped
minced garlic (I use tons)
2 14 oz cans tomatoes
small can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
3 3/4 cup veg broth
1 14 oz can chickpeas (gabanzo beans) drained
block of frozen spinach (thawed, drained)
1 tbs oregano
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh parm cheese for topping

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan, add leeks and zucchini and cook briskly for 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, vegetable broth, chickpeas and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.


Shred the spinach finely, add to the soup and boil for 2 minutes. Season to taste. (the longer it cooks on the stove, the better it is). Remove the bay leaf, sprinkle with parmesan cheese (if desired).

Thanks for the recipe! I went out and bought everything to make this except for the leeks. I'll try it without, hopefully it'll still be good.

Leeks are a kind of onion, I bet sliced onions would substitute nicely! I hope you like it, I had some in the freezer and after talking about it, I brought it to work for dinner tonight

I LOVE summer squash

We had yellow crookneck squash all the time when I was growing up. However, it was sliced thin, dredged in cornmeal, and fried

I had zucchini just last night. I diced it small and sauteed it with with minced onion, chopped mushrooms, roasted red bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes, various seasonings including a little smoked paprika, balsamic vinegar, and served with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese. It was yummy

Linda, I'm anxious to try your Calbacitas, they sound delicious! I've never heard of them before, so I won't have to compare them to the regular high fat version, lol.

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy them

Unfortunately my favorite way to enjoy zucchini is breaded and fried. I used to slice it, then roll it in flour and breadcrumbs and fry it in oil. I like doing the same with eggplant.

So I revised my 'fried' zucchini a little bit. Instead of whole egg I use egg substitute. Instead of both flour AND bread crumbs, I use just the bread crumbs and forget the flour. And instead of frying it in oil, I coat my nonstick pan pretty good with nonfat cooking spray. Then once I dip the zucchini slices into the egg beaters, then into the bread crumbs and then put them in the pan, I'll spray the 'up' side of the slices with more cooking spray so I don't end up with dried bread on my slices once it browns. Sometimes, to add some crunch, I'll dump some dehydrated minced onion into the bread crumbs.

I love doing patty pan squash this way as well.

DH and I love summer squash as much as we love zuchinni. We grow it in our garden and the plants are producing a lot of fruit right now!

Typically I sautee mine in a little olive oil and thyme then eat as a side, or put it in pasta, or soup. Such a versatile little veggie!

I have two really good (similarly flavored) recipes.

Summer Squash Bake
(makes 4 generous servings)
2-3 lb summer squash, cut into bite-sized pieces no more than 1/3 in. thick
1 cup diced fresh tomato (squeeze them first to get most of the seeds/water out, then dice the flesh)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh basil, minced
8 tbsp grated parmesan
1/2 cup reduced fat or part skim mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper (to taste)

Combine the squash, tomato, garlic, basil, 4 tbsp of the parmesan, and salt and pepper - mix well. Pour into a PAM-sprayed (optional) casserole dish big enough that the squash layer is about 2 inches thick. Sprinkle the top with the mozzarella and remaining parmesan.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40-45 min, until cheese on top is bubbly and golden, and squash is cooked through.

Second Recipe - Stuffed Zucchini (2-4 servings, depending on size of zucchini)

1 extra-large zucchini (if only smaller zucchini are available, use 2 medium zucchini instead)
3/4 c. cooked whole wheat couscous
1/4 c. minced fresh tomato
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh minced basil
salt and pepper
4 tbsp fresh minced parmesan cheese

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out some of the zucchini insides, leaving 1/4 in. or so of the flesh attached to the skin. Chop removed flesh finely.

Mix the chopped zucchini flesh with the couscous, tomato, basil, and half of the parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper the zucchini "shells" and the filling mixture to taste. Fill both halves of the zucchini with the filling mixture, and sprinkle 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese on each.

Bake at 400 degrees until zucchini shells can be easily pierced with a fork (this depends a lot on the zucchini thickness/variety, but generally about 25-30 min).