What can you do when you have too much zucchini? A whole lot, it turns out! Image: Shutterstock |
So. I have a teeny problem. Well, okay… a great big problem.
You see, this year, I started my first in-earnest gardening season. I have
three raised beds, and I’ve filled them all with what I hope will be delicious
homegrown fruits and veggies. I’ve got beets, chard, onion, beans, peas,
strawberries, raspberries, artichokes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers,
tomatillos, blueberries… and WAY TOO MUCH ZUCCHINI!
You see, when I first moved in to my new place, I saw an
adorable little broad-leafed seedling poking up amongst the weeds in the raised
beds. One I pulled everything else out, I took (what I thought was) a close
look at the little guy. Then, I went to the store and looked for a similar plant
to see if I could figure out what it was. The answer, or so I thought:
cucumber. I even found an old cucumber plant care tag in the soil.
“Perfect,” I thought. “I love cucumber! You know what else I
love? Zucchini. Oh, look, I’ll buy this adorable zucchini plant to go with my
cucumbers!” So I did. I planted the zucchini I bought and started caring in
earnest for the rogue cucumber plant in the garden. Pretty soon, a second plant
popped up. “Yay!” I thought. “More cucumbers! I’ll learn how to make pickles!”
This is where my problems started. You see, I had no idea
how quickly both cucumber and zucchini plants go from tiny and adorable to
taking up your entire garden. Lacking foresight, I planted lots of other things
near the plants. When it became obvious the three large plants were too close
to each other, I moved the zucchini over to the other bed. “Phew,” I thought.
“Crisis averted!”
Then the blossoms started. They are so bright, enormous, and
stunning when they bloom in the morning. But something wasn’t quite right. The
cucumber plant was getting way bigger than it should have, and the cucumbers
were looking rather large… and zucchini-like. Too zucchini-like.
And now you’ve guessed it – the “cucumber” plants are not
cucumbers at all. They are also zucchini plants. And the problem with zucchini,
besides how much space they take up? It’s how much zucchini just one plant will
produce (especially in fertile soil). I’ve got at least 15 blossoms on each of
the plants, and more pop up every day. That’s a heck of a lot of zucchini for
three people to eat.
So, now I’ve been on the lookout for ideas on what to do
with zucchini. Of course, I plan to freeze some, as well as give a lot of it to
neighbors and coworkers—but I’m sure we’ll still have a ton of it all summer
long.
Here are some of my favorite ideas for using up excess
zucchini – just in case any of you have my same problem or just happen to love
zucchini!
- Blueberry Zucchini Muffins:
- Spicy Zucchini Frittata:
- Zucchini Summer Skillet:
- Zucchini Cornbread:
- Zucchini Pizza Bites (this also works with eggplant!):
- Ratatouille (I’ve always wanted to try this):
- Zucchini Lasagna:
Did you know you can also make some pretty rad desserts from
zucchini? Check out these magnificent sounding zucchini desserts:
- Pineapple Zucchini Cake:
- Zucchini Brownies:
- Zucchini Bread:
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