There is no escaping the prolific harvest of the zucchini plant. Thankfully cooks come up with new ways to serve zucchini, with recipes freely shared from friend to friend to stranger.
This week’s recipes have come into my recipe box in just such a manner, all from reliable sources.
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Chocolate Zucchini Cake
1/2 cup soft butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tbsps. powdered cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips
In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs with butter, oil and sugar. Mix all dry ingredients then add alternately with the milk. Mix in zucchini last. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 inch cake pan. Top with chocolate chips.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 45 minutes. Cool on rack. Serve warm with ice cream. Cake stays very moist. May be frozen.
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Crustless Zucchini Quiche
3 cups chopped or grated zucchini
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or mozzarella)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup Bisquick
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup oil
In a large bowl mix all ingredients together until mixture looks like a thick batter. Do not use a beater to combine these ingredients.
Pour into a greased pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Serves six.
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Roasted Zucchini Spears
4 small zucchini
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsps. chopped herbs (parsley, basil, dill)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat cooking rack with non-stick spray then place on a rimmed baking sheet.
Stir together parmesan, seasoning and salt and pepper.
Trim ends from zucchini and cut into quarters lengthwise to make spears. Place in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese mixture.
Arrange on cooking rack on baking sheet. Do not overlap spears.
Bake about 12-15 minutes until tender. Turn oven to broil and cook until crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully so cheese doesn’t burn.
Remove from oven, squeeze lemon juice over spears then sprinkle with herbs. Serve warm or chilled. Serves 4.
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
