Vestiges of summer : too many zucchini?
Ah the pitfalls of grocery delivery in Saudi Arabia. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that I can get even more napping done now that I don’t have to dress and get to the store, but sometimes it isn’t as straight forward as I would like it to be.
The following is a true story, there were no innocent people so the names have not been changed.
Last week, I discovered a conspicuously shaped black box that resembled nothing like food in one of my plastic grocery sacks. On closer inspection it was a pin machine. Fortunately, the delivery man hadn’t gotten away and I was able to call him back in my super feeble yelling voice . I held up the pin machine and said,
“Here you go, I guess this got in with my things on accident.”
The delivery man blankly stared and then responded by holding up his own pin machine in response, as if to say,
“No lady I have my pin machine that one is yours.”
“Here,” I said, “Take this back with you.”
Well that’s when things got colorful. Long story short, after another look of bemused confusion we started what can only be described as a spirited game of pantomime-y charades. Three words. First word and so forth. Somehow, after all this effort I was able convince him to take the machine back to the grocery store. I required a cup of mint tea calm my nerves and had to sit in repose for a quarter of an hour. Charades, while fun, should be played with snacks and friends, not strange delivery men.
The preamble above was merely to acquaint you with how I came into so many zucchini. The story unfolds as follows.
One day I ordered a kilo of zucchini’s figuring I’d get two or three large zucchinis or three or four small zucchinis. With this I planned on making a quiche for freezing. I’m trying to meal prep again especially necessary with my self imposed breakneck schedule. What arrived from the store? One kilo of zucchini? No. Of course not gentle reader. What arrived was one zucchini. Yep just the one, which did NOT weigh a kilo.
Perhaps I reasoned, the order was just for one not in kilos but I checked the platform and they do, do orders in qualities of kilos. Nevertheless I was determined to have my quiche. So I tried to order more. To be exact, I ordered three kilos of zucchini. Thinking, okay this time I’ll get three zucchini. GUESS WHAT???? Ta-da! I got three KILOS of zucchini.
After creating space in my fridge and having laugh/sigh I started to think what to do with this crop of squash. I don’t much care for just plain zucchini you know? Like steamed zucchini REALLY bothers me. The texture ugh! I was thinking of making spiralized zucchini spaghetti and then I flashed forward to the ever elusive zucchini bread to which I became addicted to in college when my college roommates mom would make us these glorious loaves and we would consume toasted and coated in margarine! Yup! I said it! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! How’s that for broke university student realness?
What will I do with the last vestiges of summer squash? I will share a couple of recipes with you just in case you too are bearing up under similar problems of abundance.
White Bean Hummus with Kale and Zucchini
1 tbsp tahini
1 lemon juiced
2 garlic cloves minced
+/- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 zucchini diced
3 leaves tuscan/lacinato kale de-ribbed and torn
1 can navy beans 14 oz
Method
Add the kale leaves and about 2 tablespoons of water to a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Cover and steam for 2 minutes, or until kale is soft. Remove from the heat and drain any remaining water.
Add the kale and all the remaining ingredients except the water to a food processor or high-powered blender. Pulse until everything is combined then add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the hummus is a smooth, thick and spreadable consistency. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Serve with bread or veggies
Notes : Hummus can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in a covered container in your fridge or frozen for up to 1 month.
Over the years I have failed in just about everyway possible to make the perfect zucchini bread. I think my downfall has been the water content of the zucchini. That, plus I don’t like to use full measures of butter or sugar which every recipe usually calls for. Pardon my taste buds but nearly everything is too sweet for me these days.
My trials in zucchini bread have resulted in more flat lifeless bricks that could pass for greasy paperweights than I’d like to own up to. After picking at the edges, because the middle is woefully raw I have flung the thing in the garbage upset about the waste and hesitant to try again for months because the thought of throwing that much squash, eggs, flour etc. to the wind is enough to give me fits.
After watching Joanna Gaines’s recipe, and comparing it with my college roommate’s mom’s recipe I am getting up the courage to try again. The amount of sugar is a little much for me but I guess it’s okay - I have enough zucchini to burn. Please god let this one work.
Note: I don’t vouch for this recipe as I am a zucchini bread failure but I hope this works for you!
Joanna Gaines’s Zucchini Bread
Cooking spray
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups thickly shredded zucchini (about 2 medium)
1 cup crushed walnuts (about 3 ½ ounces)
Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 9-inch baking pan lightly with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.
Wrap the zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out any excess liquid. Fold the zucchini and walnuts into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack until completely cool, about 30 minutes.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
So what am I having for dinner tonight? Well, zucchini of course!
Perhaps you have some leads on a zucchini bread recipe? Let us know in the comment box below. I have 3 kilos to get through in a rush! Ha!