Best Ideas for Zucchini Overload
Zucchini is wonderful, and it tends to be relatively easy to grow once you get the hang of it. While that’s fantastic for those who want to be more self-sufficient and grow their food, it does sometimes mean that you have more zucchini than you realize. Let’s be honest. Sometimes, you will have a lot more zucchini. When you get into ‘Zucchini Overload’, we want to show you some of the best ideas on what to do with ALL of your extra zucchini.
Preserve Your Zucchini
Zucchini, sometimes called summer squash, is one of the healthiest vegetables in your garden. Of course, even though we call it a vegetable, it is technically classified as a fruit. We’ll just keep calling it a vegetable to keep it simple. Regardless, it has a lot of benefits that will make you want to use and preserve all of your zucchini if you can.
It is filled with nutrients and antioxidants. It can help to encourage healthy digestion, and it could improve blood sugar levels and heart health. According to Healthline.com these are just some of the many benefits of this nutritious veggie. As you will see below, there are countless ways that you can use the zucchini, so keep on growing!
Of course, once you start to grow zucchini, it can keep on coming out of your garden, often faster than you and your family can eat it. It can be overwhelming. Therefore, you will want to find ways to preserve it.
One of the simplest things to do is to wash the zucchini, let it dry, and then shred it. Steam the zucchini until it starts to look translucent. Remove it from the heat, let it cool, and then drain the water. Place the shreds of zucchini into a bag (in 2 cup increments) and then freeze them. The zucchini will stay good in the freezer for months.
What Can You Do with the Preserved Zucchini?
You will find that with the frozen zucchini shreds, you can have something healthy to add to a host of different types of meals down the line. For example, you can simply add it to rice dishes, pasta dishes, or soup. In addition, you can make delicious zucchini bread in those cold winter months – what a comfort food! There are countless ways you can use your preserved zucchini.
Of course, there are also other ways to preserve your zucchini rather than just freezing them. You can make pickled zucchini, which a lot of people are going to like more than pickles—the trick to making this work, though is using the right ingredients. We’ve found that using a Mrs. Wages Zesty Bread & Butter Pouch is fantastic for this. To be honest, we like it better than using cucumbers!
Let’s look at a few of the other things you can do with your Zucchini
Zucchini Lasagna
You don’t need to use noodles for your lasagna. If you want to have a healthier lasagna, get rid of the noodles and use zucchini. This works better than you might imagine, and it’s easy.
You will want to cut the zucchini into long planks. You can then blanch them, freeze them, and use them in place of the noodles when needed. Of course, you don’t always have to use preserved zucchini for your lasagna. There are other ways.
Again, you will want to cut them into long planks. If you cut thinner slices, they will result in less water being in the lasagna. One of the other ways to reduce the amount of water is to salt the zucchini and let it sit for about 15 minutes. The salt will draw the water out of the fresh zucchini. You can then blot it dry with a paper towel.
Something else you might want to try is to grill the zucchini for just one to two minutes on each side. This will pull out some of the water, so the dish doesn’t become too watery.
Of course, you don’t have to use any of these techniques. The lasagna doesn’t usually get too watery anyway, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it turning into a soup. If you find that it does have a bit more water than you like though, keep these ideas ready for next time.
Unique Dishes Are a Great Idea for Zucchini Overload
Lasagna and bread are some of the most popular options when it comes to things you can do with zucchini. However, they are just the start. You will find that this vegetable works well as an addition to countless types of food.
Think of all the ways you could add zucchini to different sorts of casseroles to add some more flavor and texture. What about pasta? Just some simple pasta with olive oil, garlic, tomato, and chunks of zucchini will be delicious and relatively healthy.
Of course, you can also simply have the zucchini cut up and cooked in some olive oil and salt, along with some garlic. It’s simple, but it’s tasty. Add it as a side with some other vegetables for your dinner. Many other savory recipes can be found in this article.
Another fantastic treat is breaded zucchini chips. They are easy to make and can be dipped into a variety of sauces, for a wonderful appetizer or side. You will find that you can bread more than just zucchini with great results. For example, green tomatoes taste great breaded, and they go well with zucchini. So does yellow squash. Breading might not be the healthiest option, but it sure is tasty.
Thin zucchini noodles, in place of pasta, is also a super healthy way to use up your zucchini. It’s easy to make zucchini noodles with this veggetti spiralizer. Still, you can use standard kitchen tools like a veggie peeler, grater, or mandolin, as this YouTube video from “justataste.com” will show.
Of course, these are just some of the many ways you can use this vegetable. There are countless others!
Don’t Be Selfish Use Zucchini Overload to Share Your Wealth
When you have heaps of zucchini overload coming out of the garden, and you don’t think you can eat or preserve all of it, think about your friends, family, and neighbors as an idea to share extra zucchini. Don’t let your bounty go to waste. Take the zucchini over to them and share in your wealth. They might have some vegetables or fruit they grew for themselves that they give you in return.
