Summer Squash & Zucchini Recipes

In the earlier years of the Genuine Faux Farm, we worked hard to come up with some useful recipes and materials to help people figure out what to do with the produce we grew.  In fact, during our first few years, we were the only growers in the Waverly/Tripoli area that was offering summer squash in addition to zucchini.  So, of course, people weren't sure what to do with them.

Well, here we are, looking to take down our old website that has a ton of recipes on it.  The plan is to migrate them into blogs over the course of the next several months - and maybe more people will get some use out of them.  These will be housed on the blog site using our tag Culinary Corner.  Enjoy!

Success - summer squash

Easy Sautéed Summer Squash
Slice squash (yellow summer squash, zucchini or a combination) into ½” rounds (remove seeds only if large/tough). Slice onions into rounds and chop garlic (1 med onion and 2 -3 cloves garlic per 2 medium summer squash is my recommendation). Sautee squash, onion, garlic in butter or olive oil until tender (about 5 min). Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Variations: Add a finely chopped jalepeno pepper; add ground beef; add parmesan cheese just before serving.

Easy Grilled Summer Squash and Zucchini
Slice squashes into wedges; slice onion and chop garlic (amount to your tastes). Place on tinfoil that has been either sprayed or rubbed with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Seal foil into packets and place on grill. Grill until veggies are tender (10-15 min, depending on the grill). 

Another option – place wedges directly on grill.

Black Beauty - zucchini

Zucchini Bread

3 lg. eggs
1 c. oil
2 c. grated zucchini, seeded and peeled
2 c. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla

3 c. flour, unsifted
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 c. raisins

(can also add chocolate chips - 1/2 package - to batter)

Bake at 325 degrees in 2 lrg. bread pans (greased and floured) for approximately 1 hour OR bake in 9 x 13 inch cake pan at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Zucchini Muffins

2 large eggs
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C. grated zucchini (I almost always use 2.5 C--they just need to cook a couple minutes longer.)

1 C. unbleached flour
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

optional: 1/2 tsp. cardamon, 1/2 C. raisins or currants, 3/4 C. chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix together the wet ingredients (first group in the list). In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spoon the batter into greased or paper-lined muffin tins, and bake for 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the muffin should come out clean when they are done. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

It is possible to make these without the whole wheat flour, but you need to use only 2 C. of zucchini, and you may want to cut back a little on the oil. 

Cocazelle - zucchini

Ratatouille
1 lb of yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lb zucchini, chopped
1 lb yellow squash, chopped
Bell peppers, seeds removed, chopped into 1/2 inch square pieces:
--1 lb green bell peppers
--1/2 lb red bell peppers
--1/2 lb yellow bell peppers
1 lb eggplant, 1/2 inch cubes
1 lb fresh ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
3/4 cup vegetable stock (or thin tomato juice)
fresh ground pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  Using a large oven-proof pan over medium high heat, saute onions in olive oil until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and reduce heat to low.
3.  While the onions and garlic are cooking over low heat, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a another frying pan over high heat. As soon as oil starts to smoke, quickly add enough zucchini cubes all at once to cover the bottom of the pan. Keep on cooking over high heat, stirring, until zucchini is lightly browned on all sides. Remove zucchini cubes, and add them to pan with the onions.
4. Repeat process until all of the zucchini cubes have been cooked. Do the same with the yellow squash. Make sure to add a little olive oil between each new batch. Continue with the bell peppers, then the eggplant cubes, adding the browned vegetables to the onion pan as soon as they are cooked.
5. When all the vegetables (except the tomatoes) are browned and in the pan with the onions, increase theheat to high and stir, making sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Add salt to taste, thyme, bay leaf, and rosemary, the vegetable stock, and stir well. Place in oven for one hour.
6. Boil water in a saucepan on stove. Remove stems from tomatoes, and crisscross the bottoms with a knife. Plunge into boiling water for a minute or two, until skin starts to fall away. Rinse in cold water and remove skin. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise, remove seeds, chop coarsely, set aside.
7. After the vegetables have been in the oven for an hour, remove from oven, drain vegetables in a colander set over a bowl. Clean browned bits (if any) off bottom of pan with a paper towel. Return any liquid to the pan and reduce to a thick glaze over medium high heat. Keep on adding juices to the pan as they run out of the vegetables into the bowl.
8. When all the juices have been reduced, return vegetables to the heavy pan. At this point the ratatouille should be moist and shiny, with very little liquid. Turn heat off. Add the chopped tomatoes and cover. If serving as a warm side dish, let the ratatouille stand for 10 minutes, just enough to "cook" the tomatoes. The ratatouille can be served at room temperature or refrigerated and reheated the next day.
9. When ready to serve, remove the bay leaf, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Patty Pan - summer squash

Veggie Frittata

Easy vegetable dish for breakfast or dinner. Experiment with additional vegetables, spices or meats. This is REALLY GOOD!

Ingredients:
1 sm. summer squash, sliced
1 sm. zucchini, sliced
1 sm onion, chopped
½ c sliced mushrooms
2 gloved diced garlic
1-2 sweet peppers, chopped
1-2 T butter or olive oil
1/8 c. chopped basil
4 lrg eggs
1/3 c shredded cheese

Directions:

Sautee vegetables in skillet with oil until tender (use 2-3 T water to help steam veggies). Add chopped basil and stir. Don’t over cook vegetables. Make sure some oil remains in skillet so eggs won’t stick.

Whip eggs until fluffy. Add shredded cheese. Pour into skillet, cover and cook approximately 5 minutes over medium heat or until eggs fluffy and cooked through.

Dunja - zucchini

Potato Cakes with Zucchini and Onion

Combine 3 cups grated zucchini & 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in a colander. Let drain for 5 minutes, then wring dry in a kitchen towel.

Stir together:

• 3 cups Russet potatoes (grated)
• 1/2 cup onion (grated)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a nonstick skillet over med-low heat. Drop potato mixture in oil (1/4 cup at a time). Flatten to 1 inch thick. Saute cakes until potatoes are cooked (about 5 minutes per side). Fry in batches, using additional oil as needed.

Makes 12 cakes.

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I hope you enjoy some of these ideas.  More to come in the next several weeks from the GFF website archives!