Zucchini Overload

It's that time of year again. No, not that one. It's zucchini season. Anyone who's ever grown a zucchini plant will tell you that not only are they prolific, but they are overwhelmingly prolific. If you want to grow a ton of vegetable matter to feed yourself and your family, particularly in a small area, it's hard to beat zucchini. They produce so much that there's an old joke, oft repeated, that summer is when country folks start locking their car doors--so that no one can put a bag full of zucchini in it.

I have two zucchini plants this year and I just picked the first zucchini two weeks ago. It's already turning into a flood. I gave a couple away to some friends a few days ago and then sent a picture of the next day's haul, so that they don't attribute it to purely altruistic motivations. Even after giving away two, I still had two in the fridge and picked another five in one day. Not even tiny grocery store zucchini, but huge ones. (They will not stop growing, so if you don't pick them they'll just become monster vegetables. I accidentally grew a torso-sized one once.)

Just one day's pickings.

A quick growing tip

Zucchinis, unlike many other squashes, are not vines. They won't stretch across your yard (as my pumpkins currently are) and grow up trellises. However, they do still sprawl, and the plants can become quite large. One tip that I got, and have been successfully using this year, is to grow them up. Which sounds weird, since I already said that they aren't vines and won't grow over trellises. You can, however, tie them to a small stake in the ground and keep them growing upwards rather than flopping all over. Why bother? Well for one thing, it will take up less space in your garden. For another, zucchinis on the ground are more susceptible to rot and insect damage. Third, it will take up less space. I know, I said that twice. If you want to pack as many vegetables into your growing space as possible, this is crucial.

It also allows you to properly prune your zucchini plants. They don't need a zillion leaves, and having a bunch of leaves on the ground will make the plants more susceptible to powdery mildew, which can then spread to your other plants. No one wants that. It will seriously deplete your harvest for the year.

Eating the abundance

Someone out there is probably wondering, if you get overloaded with zucchini each year, why grow it? The answer is that zucchini may be one of the most versatile vegetables out there. I know tomatoes get all the shine, and they really are wonderful in so many dishes, but zucchini just has such a range, as you will see. We could eat it for every meal of the day, plus dessert. In fact, I think we've done that a few times. It's an easy way to get more vegetable matter into your diet, and as I said it's nice that you can grow so much food for such little effort, in such a small space. And because it produces so much food, and most gardeners find themselves overwhelmed with it at one point or another, people have gotten quite creative with how to use it.

Zucchini plant with a
tiny baby zucchini starting.

I'm going to give some ideas here and link to recipes, but of course you don't have to use my recipes. There are other versions that you may like better. Almost all of the recipes are ones that I've tried and my family has enjoyed, which is a big deal because my husband will tell you he doesn't care for squash. If a recipe makes it past his discerning palate then it's a keeper. Even better if the kids like it too. I've never hidden vegetables in their food, so if they like it they like it knowing that it has vegetables in it or it is a vegetable dish that they happen to enjoy.

The one thing that we haven't really done is make "zoodles" or zucchini noodles. We don't really have a way to make most of them. We could make them into large, flat sections for lasagna noodle replacements but lasagna, in our house, is a winter meal, well after zucchini is out of season. We eat little enough pasta anyway that we enjoy real pasta noodles.

Most of the recipes are also either vegan or vegetarian. I'll make a note of those for the interested.

Breakfast

Zucchini pancakes (vegetarian) - This one is a family favorite. The zucchini gives them a nutty flavor. Beware, the recipe I linked seems to be a little off in its liquid to dry ingredients ratio. I think it might just be that I always strain/drain my zucchini first and perhaps she doesn't? But this is one my kids ask for and squeal with joy about, I kid you not. Especially when I also add blueberries. I feel zero guilt making this as breakfast for dinner on occasion as well.

Zucchini muffins (vegetarian/vegan) - If I'm going to make a zucchini breakfast it's going to be the pancakes, but these work too and are good for busy work/school mornings.

If you're looking for low-carb breakfast burritos, perhaps a homemade zucchini tortilla would help? (Vegetarian)


Side Dishes

I made these zucchini spears (vegetarian) the other day and they really were damn delicious. However, my least favorite part was actually the Parmesan cheese! So you can drop that to make these vegan if you prefer. I think next time I'll either cube my zucchini or slice into coins, thoroughly coat in olive oil, then top with the herb mixture and toss in a roasting pan for 15 minutes. Easy peasy and delicious.

Similarly, I made zucchini tots (vegetarian) a few weeks ago and they were deemed "edible". I didn't make any sort of sauce to go with them, but I think the addition of some marinara sauce would be amazing. Here's a slightly different variation using fresh herbs, which you might have in your garden.

Zucchini blossoms are also edible, and they are delightful. They can be eaten in a salad, fried plain, or stuffed and fried. Personally, I like to stuff them with chevre (goat cheese). Yum! (Vegan/vegetarian)

Dinners

Thai Curries are one of my favorite foods, and both red and green curries (at least as they're made here in the US) frequently have zucchini in them. It adds more nutrition than flavor, because the curry itself is so flavorful that it's overpowering, but I'd say that makes it perfect for when you've had zucchini overload. (Can be vegan, depending on the recipe.)

Ratatouille is a classic dish that requires eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini. It might be the most perfect August dish ever, since that's when all of those things would come ripe together around here. (Vegan)

As stated above, you can make zucchini noodles (or "zoodles") and one relatively easy way to use them without buying any fancy thing to make noodles is zucchini lasagna. Or zucchini spaghetti. I've even seen zucchini carbonara. (Can be vegan.)

I have never tried this one, but there's are several variations of Tex-Mex zucchini dishes out there (this one has chicken). The strong flavors would certainly overpower the lighter taste of zucchini so, if you're truly sick of zucchini but still have to eat some up, this could be a very pleasant way to do so.

Only once have I tried making zucchini boats. I think it was pre-children, when we lived in Alaska. The first summer I ever grew zucchini and I was truly desperate for more ways to eat it. I recall enjoying it but my spouse, who as I have mentioned is not a huge fan of squash, drew the line there. So I haven't tried it since. Perhaps it's time for me to try it again? There are plenty of recipes for pizza zucchini boats, so it shouldn't be hard to make them enjoyable for my kids. (Can be vegan.)

Sweets

Of course there's the classic zucchini bread, for which there are approximately 4,000 different recipes and variations from vegan to vegan & gluten free. You can have chocolate zucchini bread, and feel a bit less bad about the sugar and carbs because the fiber helps balance out blood sugar a little bit. (I'm not advocating that you over-indulge, of course.)

Zucchini cookies. Yum!

I've also found that zucchini chocolate chip cookies go over surprisingly well. Again, I don't hide from my kids the fact that there is zucchini in there. It would be hard to miss anyway, what with the bits of green. But the zucchini doesn't really change the flavor much while it does add moisture, so the cookies stay soft even after several days. If chocolate chips aren't your thing, here's a non-chocolate recipe with a cream cheese topping.

Storing for later use

I always get a few bags of zucchini in the freezer for winter. And by "a few", I mean about 15 1 or 2 cup bags of shredded zucchini, flattened to take up the least space possible. I tried freezing zucchini cubed rather than shredded one year and ended up throwing it all out because it was just mush. I mean, absolutely go for it if you think you've got a use for zucchini mush that you can't live without (maybe in small amounts in smoothies?) but I'd rather just freeze it in shreds and give my kids the "treat" of zucchini pancakes over the winter.

I've never tried it, but there are quite a few recipes out there for zucchini relish. If relish is your thing, absolutely try that. We rarely eat relish so I've never bothered making any. If we won't eat it, there's no point to making it.


Absolutely feel free to go off recipe with zucchini and try new things. Some universally enjoyed flavor pairings are Parmesan cheese, garlic, butter, olive oil, basil and oregano, curries, and cinnamon. See what you like and change what you don't. If you've only got one way you enjoy eating zucchini, so be it. Enjoy the glut while it's here. Summer doesn't last long and eventually the plants will succumb to frosts or powdery mildew. Then we'll all have to wait another year before asking ourselves, what the f*ck am I going to do with all of these?