the friday feed: zucchini!

It's that time of year.

Zucchini...it's full-force producing! 

Last weekend, August 8, was Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day, a playful, unofficial holiday inspired by gardeners with an overabundance of summer squash. The idea is simple: covertly leave some of your extra zucchini on a neighbor’s doorstep and let them figure out what to do with it.

My neighbor has shared quite a bit of zucchini from her garden, and so far, I have managed to use every one she has gifted. We were traveling home from Ocean City on August 8, and she was kind enough not to leave any zucchini on our doorstep. But there was a plot twist waiting in my own garden. A small zucchini on my plant had grown into a huge squash during the week we were away.

Zucchini-zilla.

I put that enormous squash to good use, making three different dishes and freezing some for future meals. It was a delicious reminder of just how versatile zucchini can be.

Zucchini fritters: First, I salted the shredded zucchini and squeezed out as much moisture as possible. To help keep the fritters crispy and add a little extra flavor, I mixed in Parmesan cheese. They turned out really tasty.

Stir-fried vegetables: Next, I used some of the zucchini in a stir-fried vegetable medley seasoned with sun-dried tomato oil and a little salt. Stir-fries are quick, easy, and so flexible. Use whatever vegetables you have on hand, toss them into a pan, add a favorite sauce or flavored oil, and voilà!

Zucchini soup: The final dish was zucchini soup, and thanks to spinach and cilantro, it was very green. This was a hot soup, which I was actually glad about. Because of the cyclosporiasis outbreak, I wanted to make sure the spinach and cilantro were cooked to at least 160°F, so I used my candy thermometer to check the broth temperature. The soup was delicious, especially topped with shredded Parmesan and roasted cherry tomatoes.

From crispy fritters to a quick stir-fry to a bowl of very green soup, zucchini can take on an impressive number of roles in the kitchen. It can be shredded, sautéed, simmered, frozen, or added to countless other dishes. So if zucchini arrives anonymously on your porch or grows into a garden giant while you’re away, there are plenty of ways to put it to good use. Zucchini-zilla was enormous and its culinary possibilities were even bigger!