Zucchini

Zucchini is a versatile vegetable and is a type of summer squash. It is excellent raw in salads, marinated, grilled, stir fried, sautéed, stuffed and baked, and diced or pureed for soups.

Adaptable Zucchini Bread

This recipe is a favorite at Worden Farm. It has worked well with every variation we can conjure, from substituting ripe bananas for half of the zucchini, adding chopped apples and walnuts, or grating fresh ginger and zesting an orange and adding it to the mix. Other fun add-ins include dried fruit like dates, raisins, or cranberries, almonds, pecans, or other nuts, even chocolate or butterscotch chips. Oatmeal, whole wheat flour, rice flour, corn meal, or other flours could be substituted for part of the flour. Cloves, nutmeg, allspice, or other spices can substitute for or be added to the cinnamon. It can be made as a bread loaf or as muffins.

1 ½ cups freshly chopped or coarsely grated zucchini
2 cups wheat flour or partially other grain
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
¾ cup mild vegetable oil, like sunflower oil
2 eggs
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
2 ½ tsp cinnamon
¾ cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350°F. In large mixing bowl, combine sugars, oil, and
eggs, mix well.
In smaller bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder,
and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to sugar, oil and eggs. Fold in zucchini and nuts.
Divide mixture into 2 greased loaf pans and bake 55 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Grilled Organic Vegetables

By Chef Jason Osborne, Charlotte Technical Center Culinary Program

Uses include vegetable trays, sandwiches or salads

3 ea Zucchini, cleaned, bias cut
3 ea Yellow Squash, cleaned, bias cut
4 ea Patty Pan Squash, Sliced
4 ea Onions, red or white, medium rings
4 ea Peppers, Jalapeno or Red Hot
½ Cup Garlic, Fresh, minced
½ Cup Assorted Herbs, fresh, minced
As needed Salt
As needed Pepper, black
As needed Oil, olive, to lightly coat
As needed Vinegar, balsamic, to, lightly coat

Cut or prepare all ingredients above.
To roast peppers, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan or sizzle platter and roast 375 for 30 min or until skin is blistered. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam skin loose. Cool, peel, seed and reserve for later use.
Cut vegetables even size and keep separate. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil, balsamic, herbs, garlic and salt/pepper. Be careful not to separate onions.
On a hot grill, mark vegetables on both sides being careful not to burn Cook all vegetables to the right doneness determined by their type. Softer vegetables will take less time than harder or thicker ones.