Zucchini Hummus

Here's another inspiring summer squash recipe. My plants are still going strong although I have started to notice the squash bugs presence. It won't be long before they start to die off, but I'm okay with that. I recently was inspired by a recipe for summer squashummus.

I started out by sauteeing about 5 cups of chopped zucchini. No need to peel the squash first, just saute until nice and soft. Added it to the food processor with 2 Tablespoons tahini, along with 1/2 teaspoon salt, about 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 4 garlic cloves, and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice.

Pretty tasty. It is definitely more liquid like than the hummus that I'm used to, but it was fabulous with my no-knead overnight bread dipped in it.

Zucchini Blueberry Muffins

Here's my recipe for the super low sugar zucchini muffins that I talked about last post. These can be made into muffins like I did or even in a loaf pan for a larger loaf. Usually I opt for the muffin version because of several reasons. One being that they bake much faster which means the oven in on for a shorter amount of time in my house! Two being that they are easier to give away if they are in muffin form.

Inspired by this recipe from EatingWell.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar + 5 drops stevia liquid 
• 1/3 grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used 1 cup regular and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup blueberries (this would be yummy with chocolate chips also)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin cups. This made approximately 18 muffins for me.
2. Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, stevia, oil and vanilla together. Stir in zucchini. 
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add liquid ingredients. Stir just until combined and then add blueberries. 
4. Transfer to muffin cups. Bake until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes. 
5. Remove from pan and let cool. Enjoy with a good pat of grass-fed raw butter. So good!

Squash Season

Tis the season for summer squash overload! I have been eating it numerous times a day, everyday, for the past several weeks. I usually eat it whole-heartily for a while until the squash bugs take over and kill my plants. Usually by then I'm ready for them to die. Although there are numerous recipe collections using squash online I usually don't even get to trying them. I thought I might share the methods of my squash eating as I have answered numerous requests lately for what to do with squash.

• Simply slice or dice, saute in a bit of butter, add desired seasonings and call it magic! This is probably my most frequent eating method. I like a little cumin, paprika, salt and pepper added. Sometimes I get crazy and sprinkle nutritional yeast on top for a cheesy nutty flavor. I eat this with my eggs almost everyday.
• Shred it, mix it with some more random spices, cheese, thickener of some kind like bread crumbs or cornmeal or specifically green pea flour and hemp seeds and make it a pancake. Once you have a thick mixture, slap it into a skillet and brown on both sides for a zucchini fritter type delicacy. Here's a picture of my creation last night!

• Pickle the suckers just like they were cucumbers! They certainly don't turn out as crunchy and crisp as pickling cucumbers would but they still are tasty pickled creations.
• Make a tasty fritatta like I did today for the kiddos at the Summer Feeding Program. I shredded the zucchini and potatoes and sauteed with onion. Then poured a bunch of farm fresh eggs on top, added some cheese and let cook into a delightful healthy veggie filled fritatta. The kids loved it too!
•  Of course most people know that zucchini lends itself pretty excellently in a quick bread or cake. Tonight I made my first batch of zucchini muffins and I'm pretty proud because these do not involve a pound of sugar and they are quite tasty. Find the recipe here.

On another squash note, I have started harvesting my first acorn squash. I have honestly never grown a successful crop of winter squash variety because my plants always get devoured by squash bugs before they produce anything. Praise the Lord, these acorn squash grew out of my compost that I had buried in the garden and they were a complete surprise when I found the wonderful squash ready for picking!

Got any other brilliant ideas for using the abundance of summer squash? Please leave a comment and let me know how you prefer to eat these tasty treats!

Green things

My second garden, the one that I tend to approximately once a week at my parents' house, is a little crazy. Due to the fact that I leave it in my mother's hands to water during the week that is about all that gets done. It is definitely alive and doing well, but when I finally get out there to check on things it seems there is sooo much to do. Good things. 

Today I noticed the second planting of corn is as big if not bigger than the first planting. Most of my squash is a lost cause as I'm pretty sure that the squash bugs have already taken over. However, my all organic (I put nothing on them) cabbage heads are needing to be picked because the bugs are eating them alive. My tomatoes are looking good after I pruned and tied them up some more. I harvested a bunch of beets and onions and need to spend another day out there harvesting the remaining onions, turnips, and cabbage. I'm sure there are potatoes that can be dug up and I need to give some effort to the strawberry bed to prepare it for next season.

As I made my way back to town I did a quick check on my first garden. Look what I found! These are even a bit big but just since yesterday morning when I looked at them they grew a ton I feel. Actually that big one was definitely hiding.

Very first zucchini harvest!

Yesterday I made a trip to Manhattan and checked on my friends' Dave and Wendi's garden plants. I harvested some basil on their giant plants and am pretty pumped for the first pesto of the summer season hanging out in my fridge right now. Today's concoction included basil, almonds, garlic, olive oil, and salt. I plan to make pesto pizza tonight for Family Friend Date Night! It's going to be epic goodness!!!