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Help! I’m in Zucchini Hell!


Robyn Openshaw - Aug 18, 2010 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


I have this kind of random list of questions to ask God when I get on the other side. Some of them are The Big Questions. Why do 15-year old crackheads get pregnant so easily when my friend Jamie, who would be a world-class mother, can’t? Why are people supposed to make huge decisions like who to marry, and have babies, in their 20’s when they don’t know anything about anything yet?

Stuff like that. But I have some small questions, too, that really nag at me.

Like, WHY ARE ZUCCHINI PLANTS SO PROLIFIC? I mean, how much can one family eat?! It’s not even like people LIKE zucchini that much, if my kids are any indicator. Why can’t raspberry plants produce so much??

The amazing thing is that I seem to plant MORE THAN ONE plant each year. Why do I do this?? When I pick up my produce from Jacob’s Cove each Monday, I get my allotment of wonderful things like multi-colored cherry tomatoes, and unusual greens, and beets. And then they point at these giant boxes and say, “TAKE ALL YOU WANT OF THE SQUASH.”

I heard this joke once about someone coming from out of state to visit a Utah friend. One the way home from the airport, the friend stops at 7-11 for a drink and leaves the door unlocked to go inside. Then they stop for lunch at a restaurant and she again leaves the door unlocked to go inside. Then they go to church and she LOCKS THE DOOR. The out-of-state visitor said, “Uh, that’s random. You don’t lock your car at 7-11 or a restaurant–why at church?” The Utahan whispers, “It’s zucchini season! When we get out of church, if we don’t lock it, the car will be full of squash!”

There’s this “Share the Bounty” shack near my house somebody built. (Cool idea, right?) This time of year, it’s All Zucchini All The Time.

I put some of my favorite squash recipes in Ch. 5 of 12 Steps to Whole Foods and the Jump-Start recipe collection. Zucchini pitas, carpaccio, and cookies. I love spiraled, raw or barely-steamed zucchini “noodles” instead of pasta. (Pizza Factory makes them, if you’re local.)

Did you know squash leaves are edible? Throw them in your green smoothies!

Please tell me what you do to dig your way out of zucchini hell! Favorite recipes welcomed here! (My kids are sick of all my ways to slip squash into the dinner . . . yesterday I texted my 17-y.o. telling him when to come home to eat, and I had to entice him by saying, “It’s a NO-SQUASH meal!)

Posted in: Gardening, Whole Food

15 thoughts on “Help! I’m in Zucchini Hell!”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Robyn,

    I didn’t plant my garden this year, but have a found a local organic farmer to get my produce from. This weekend, our “small” basket was full of … zucchini!

    Here are my favourite Zucchini recipes (first 2 are mine):

    – Roasted sliced zucchini in coconut oil (30 mins at 350F in oven)

    – Zucchini noodles with home made tomato & garlic sauce

    – Zucchini Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins (http://www.elanaspantry.com/zucchini-chocolate-chip-muffins/)

    – Zucchini Carpaccio (http://www.elanaspantry.com/zucchini-carpaccio/)

    – Summer Squash Salad (http://www.elanaspantry.com/zucchini-attack-summer-squash-salad/)

    – Pinapple-Raisin Zucchini Salad (http://goneraw.com/recipe/pinapple-raisin-zucchini-salad)

    – Zucchini & Avocado Dip (http://goneraw.com/recipe/zucchini-avocado-dip)

    – Asian Slaw (http://goneraw.com/recipe/asian-slaw-0)

    Enjoy!

  2. Anonymous says:

    ratatouille

    i invented this variation on ratatouille this weekend and I Love it! Sure I can’t take credit for the ideas since they came from the movie but it was sure yummy. I’d always wanted to try ratatouille since the movie came out and I was not disappointed. It was good. the funny part is,.. I didn’t have zucchini to put in it but I think it would be just as good. Zucchini is supposed to be one of the 2 primary ingredients. goodluck!

  3. Anonymous says:

    Okay……so this is totally off the beat and path, but where do you get your clothes? Your shirts are so unique and cute, and the jeans…….gorgeous, or …….. maybe it is just that you would look good in anything!!!!!! I love your blog and your whole foods approach to life!

  4. Anonymous says:

    Hi there! I love reading everything you say about how to stay so healthy! But it has brought a huge question to my mind that I just must ask! I’m sure your family avoids being sick because of the way you all eat, but I’m wondering just what you do (what steps you take) when you do have a child wake up with a runny nose and cold and/or fever? I’m guessing you aren’t the type to rush right to the doctor… but so many people do (It drives me crazy and I’m not one of them), and I am just so curious about how you approach sickness?

    Can you address that sometime? Also, I think you dress cute too and would love to know where you shop as well!

    Thanks!

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Shellie, I have an answer written to someone else’s emailed question that is very similar, which I will post in the very near future, so watch the blog.

      Shellie, and Jenner:

      That’s kind, thank you. My favorite place to shop lately is Plato’s Closet. I’m actually really fashion-lame and so we go places my 15 y.o. daughter likes and I get stuff there. I like Nordstrom, Rue 21, Down East, and TJ Maxx.

  5. Anonymous says:

    HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!!!! That is exactly what it’s like when we pick up our produce from Jacob’s Cove! EVERY SINGLE WEEK! My husband and I don’t have a dehydrator at the moment, but we have been experimenting with making squash chips in the oven. I slice them up nice and thin, sprinkle them with a little sea salt or garlic powder, and then put them on cooling racks and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees. But a dehydrator would probably be much better.

  6. Anonymous says:

    We also made pizzas out of the patty-pan squash. We baked the patty pans, made a raw tomato sauce, sauteed a few onions and a little squash and a sprinkled on a little basil.

  7. Oh heavens!! I seriously just had to buy zucchini today and they were so small and tiny. I wish I knew of someone in southern Utah giving it away. I am having some craving. We like our zucchini, squash, and onions sauteed in a frying pan or grilled in some foil or grill basket. A great stir fry, medley of vegs with a side of your garlic potatoes (that’s what is on the meal plan this week). Also shredding and adding into a quinoa pattie skies the limit with this stuff.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I’ve already given away several zucchinis from my garden and then my neighbor gives my husband 3 large ones! Last night it was zucchini patties–grated zucchini, grated carrots, 1 egg, some crushed soda crackers, all mixed and formed into patties and fried in a little olive oil. They were yummy.

    The night before it was stuffed zucchini. Slice a large one long-wise, scoop out the center. Cook any kind of rice (I used a rice/lentil mix), season however you’d like, add onions, garlic, and chopped up zucchini meat. Fill centers of zucchini, sprinkle with parmesan or your choice of cheese (I used soy cheese) and broil.

    Tonight, for my husband’s birthday, I may try zucchini lasagna. I make a vegetarian lasagna and use thinly sliced zucchini as the noodles. In the regular easy lasagna recipe I have, I use tofu instead of cottage cheese, soy cheese instead of regular cheese, and add some spinach to each layer.

  9. I like to saute ours in some coconut oil with Real Salt, fresh black pepper, and some onion and garlic!

  10. I shred my extra zucchini and then freeze in 3 cup batches to make zucchini bread/muffins later in the year. You can also freeze and add to soups later as well.

  11. Anonymous says:

    I’ve always heard zucchini are prolific, but my two huge plants are producing only ONE squash every 3-4 days!!!! Several of the leaves are covered with white stuff, and one of the main stalks looks diseased – I don’t know how it got that way and don’t know how to fix it (google searches seem to reveal that there’s not much to be done). SO, I’m stuck with these two huge plants near my entry door and I have to look at the cursed things every time I enter or leave my house. So much for prolific.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Here’s all the zuke recipes I like to use: http://feedingthecrew.blogspot.com/search/label/zucchini

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