Some friends of ours gave us a huge zucchini from their garden (thanks Chris and Ruby) and I needed to use it before it went bad. My husband just so happened to be having a fantasy football draft here at the house with a bunch of other fantasy football “fanatics” so I decided to make them a couple of my favorite zucchini recipes. These are super easy and inexpensive….
My picture does not do justice to this huge zucchini! I should have weighed this before I used it but I didn’t….it was big enough to make both of these recipes though.
ZUCCHINI BREAD
This is one of my favorite zucchini bread recipes. I got it from simplyrecipes.com…it’s easy to make and the ingredients are pretty inexpensive….and it’s delicious!
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
- 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, a third at a time. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. Fold in the nuts.
Divide the batter equally between 2 buttered 5 x 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour (check for doneness at 50 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean.
Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.
It’s delicious!
ZUCCHINI APPETIZER
Another favorite recipe using zucchini is this zucchini appetizer. It could also be served at brunch, dinner, breakfast or lunch. I’ve made this in the past but don’t remember where I got the recipe. This is so good!
Ingredients:
- 3 cups sliced zucchini
- 1 cup all-purpose baking mix
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. (I didn’t use the “right” size pan when I made this, this time, so it came out more like a souffle…which was still really good!)
In a large bowl, mix zucchini, all-purpose baking mix, onion, salt, eggs, Cheddar cheese, vegetable oil and garlic.
Spread zucchini mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned. Cut into bite-sized pieces to serve.
If you’re serving this as a meal instead of an appetizer, you can cut it into wedges and serve with fruit. It’s yummy and the guys liked it!
TO FREEZE ZUCCHINI…
Wash the zucchini. Cut it into the shapes you want (cubed, sliced, shredded, shopped, grated). Blanch the zucchini (quickly cook in boiling water and then plunge into a bowl of ice water). Drain and dry the zucchini. Cool under cold running water or allow to come to room temperature. Place the zucchini in a freezer-proof container, label and date.