Zucchini Galore aka The Greedy Gardener

I love to garden, I am not very good at it but I love it, kind of like swing dancing.  I learned to garden from my mom mostly. When I was in my 20's we had a large vegetable garden with a forest of jewel-colored heirloom tomatoes with magical names like Purple Cherokee, Green Striper, and Yellow Roma. After a couple summers having such beautiful tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and more right out of the garden I was hooked. One of the things I wanted most when we bought a house was a vegetable garden.
Last year my husband built a wonderful raised bed in our backyard for me and I had a few plants, including one zucchini. I like both the process and the philosophy of growing one's own food.  Preparing the soil and planting the seeds. Watching in amazement as the seedlings grow take over my garden gives me connection to the earth and my own food that is not readily available here in Los Angeles, not even at Trader Joe's.  I love bringing my girls outside to hunt for zucchini in the evenings, my two-year-old daughter likes to play hide-and-seek with me under the big heart shaped leaves. I like the small sense of independence my garden gives me, as if no matter what happens we won't starve. Come poverty, come earthquake, Armageddon? Bring it on! We'll survive on our zucchini!
After moderate success last year, I was so pleased that I planted more this year. Because if one zucchini plant is good, more is better, right?  I admit to being a bit over zealous with my planting. I tried to follow the popular square-foot-gardening plan but I was afraid most of the plants wouldn't make it, (like I said, I am not a good gardener) so I planted a few "extra" just in case.  When almost all of them sprouted and grew I had to pull out several plants and pawn them off on friends and acquaintances, I even took some to the John Tracy Clinic preschool to plant for the kids, just to thin the herd enough to allow the plants I kept to grow. So, three varieties of zucchini - Emerald, Jade and Golden respectively, and three Early Yellow Crookneck plants later, I am in the typical greedy gardener's position. I am inundated with squash. However, this in not bad news. These are not the bitter bruised up zucs from the grocery store, they are light, sweet and easy to use in just about everything.

Zucchini is a delightfully easy thing to grow. For people like me who like instant gratification and big payoffs with a minimum of effort I would say it is the perfect veggie for your garden. I have heard heirloom tomatoes described as the "gateway drug" of home vegetable gardening but I would argue that summer squash, including zucchini, is easily as addictive in it's own way. Naturally, I planted both so we'll see what I have to say about tomatoes in a month or two when they ripen.

I love the insane abundance they bring to summer, each morning I go out to see what's ready and every day I have at least one very large squash to bring in and figure out how to use. Some days I will find that I missed one, usually the Emerald, and it's grown to mammoth proportions. The pace at which they produce and their brief shelf-life makes zucchini a challenge, but a fun one. Today I will bring some fresh-picked zucchini to my brother and his wife, put some in cookies, and grill some to go with Barbequed Chicken.
My zucchini make me feel like a good gardener, and have pushed me to be a volunteer, a generous sister, an inventive chef, and a Mom who makes her own baby food, all in all I would say that makes it a pretty powerful vegetable, all things considered.

As for how to best utilize the abundant harvest, so far I have made; Feta Zucchini/Yellow Squash bake, two kinds of Lemon Zucchini Bread, Zucchini-Orange Chocolate Chip cookies, Stir-Fried Zucchini, Zucchini-Basil Savory Quickbread, Zucchini Curry, Scrambled Eggs with Zucchini, Basil and Extra-Sharp White Cheddar, Shaved Zucchini Salad, Steamed Zucchini with Basil Olive Oil and Sea Salt, Pureed Zucchini Baby Food, and it being the 4th of July and all, it promises to be a perfect day to grill Zucchini Marinated in Olive Oil, Cumin and Fresh Oregano. I have added links to the recipes I used, I adapted them to what I had on hand i.e. basil instead of thyme, basil instead of oregano, (I am growing basil too) yellow squash for zucchini, etc.
Here is my just about perfect Zucchini-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 sticks butter - melted
1/2 cup Splenda or granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract (preferably Tahitian)
2 large eggs
zest of 2 oranges (approximately 2 packed tbsp.)
2 cups zucchini - grated and squeezed
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
Grate your zucchini and squeeze out some of the extra liquid using a paint straining bag or a dishtowel, set aside.
Zest your oranges - set aside.
Dry Ingredients - in a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
Wet Ingredients - In a large glass bowl combine butter and orange zest, melt the butter in the microwave (30 seconds to 1 minute - don't boil it!) Then add sugars, vanilla, eggs and zucchini.
Combine by slowly adding the dry ingredients to the wet.
Add chocolate chips and nuts.
Use a small spoon and drop equal-sized cookies on to an ungreased cookie sheet, or you can use parchment paper if you like.
Bake for 10-13 minutes until golden.

Orange-Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are really yummy. Enjoy!
So, I am glad to have my garden overflowing with zucchini for the time being, and look forward to finding what has grown tonight, tomorrow.

Grow It. Cook It. Eat It. Live It.