"Apple" Zucchini Crisp

Ah, the eternal summer battle: Man vs. Zucchini. A friend let us come harvest their community garden with them this week, and we left with bags of produce, including lots of zucchini. And then I started wondering if it was really possible (as I had heard) to use a little kitchen alchemy to transform zucchini into filling for an  apple pie or apple crisp. It just didn't seem possible, but I still wanted to take a stab at it. Pie seems fussy at the moment, so I went the way of the apple crisp.

I wanted my zucchini to look as much like apples as possible, so I peeled mine and cut the seeds out of the middle. Later, I would realize the importance of this step (which wasn't mentioned in the recipe).

Add lemon juice and simmer the mixture to soften up the zucchini. Next, you add spices like you would with apple pie filling.

Cover the filling with your crisp topping ...

and bake until browned on top, bubbly underneath.

Well, it looks pretty darn convincing, don't you think? But don't eat it when it's hot - the flavors haven't fully melded and it is still easily recognizable as zucchini at this point. Neither my husband nor I cared for it hot.

My advice is to wait until it's cool and top it with vanilla ice cream. It isn't exactly a dead ringer for apples, but...it's still pretty good, considering the fact that it's a vegetable. And at this time of year, you could do worse with your leftover zucchini.

Personal Notes: I used whole wheat flour and halved the recipe, baking it in an 8x8 square pan.

"Apple" Zucchini Crisp

8 cups cubed peeled zucchini
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

TOPPING:
1-1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cold butter, cubed

In a bowl, combine the zucchini, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

For topping, combine brown sugar, oats and flour in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the zucchini mixture. Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and the zucchini is tender. Yield: 12-15 servings.

Oven-Baked Ratatouille

I remember one particular meal when I was living in France. The elderly lady with whom we did our home stay prepared a simple meal of baked fish with a wonderfully flavorful sauce of some kind. I had never tasted it in America and begged her for the recipe. Like many Parisians, my host knew a shortcut or two, and after some coaxing, she revealed the - gasp - jar her sauce had come from. It was nothing more than store-bought ratatouille, which I now know to be a famous Provencal vegetable stew and a great way to use up summer garden produce.

The version I made at home this week in an effort to recreate that moment comes from the popular Chocolate and Zucchini blog, the author of which lives in Montmartre, one of my favorite parts of Paris. It was a great use not only for our homegrown herbs, tomatoes, zucchini and farmer's market eggplant, but a fantastic excuse to use my Le Creuset. We served it over couscous for a light, flavorful dinner.

Ratatouille Confite au Four
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 eggplant (if you want to make the traditional ratatouille from Nice, hold the eggplant)
- 1 zucchini
- 2 green peppers
- 8 small tomatoes
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
-1 T. chopped basil
- olive oil
- salt, pepper
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Peel and slice the onion and garlic. Rinse the remaining vegetables, trim and slice them. Rinse the herbs. Combine everything in an oven-proof dish. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil (about two tablespoons). Toss a little more to ensure even coating.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. At this point the vegetables should be cooked but not colored, and there should be cooking juices at the bottom of the pan.
Remove the foil and bake for another 30 to 45 minutes, keeping an eye on the progress, until the cooking juices have evaporated and the vegetables have taken on a nice roasted aspect.
Remove the sprigs of herb, and serve immediately, or at room temperature, or cold. It gets even better the next day and the day after that.

What to Do with Zucchini?

There is one thing that can be counted on to grow well every year here: Zucchini. Perhaps no other crop is as prolific as this Italian squash. Last year I was craving zucchini bread and practically begged friends for zucchini via Facebook, but no offers came through. This year I will not be buying zucchini again, as our two plants are already producing plentifully.

Once the newness of zucchini begins to wear thin, one always starts to wonder what to do with it all. Here are a few suggestions that I have enjoyed in the past:

Healthy Stuffed Zucchini (with bulger and pine nuts)

Zucchini Bread with Pineapple (wonderfully sweet and moist)

Thanks to Pinterest, I am determined to also make:

Zucchini Lemon Cookies

Source: food52.com via Stacy on Pinterest

Chocolate Zucchini cake

Source: noblepig.com via Stacy on Pinterest

Zuni Cafe Zucchini Pickles

Source: thewednesdaychef.com via Stacy on Pinterest

Ratatouille

Source: tarteletteblog.com via Stacy on Pinterest

I could go on and on. I got so carried away, I created a whole Pinterest Board for zucchini recipes. Any other zucchini-related suggestions out there?

Healthy Stuffed Zucchini

A not very good picture of Stuffed Zucchini. Blame Food Network for this one.

Continuing my "light fare" theme for the week, my sister-in-law Chelsea recently introduced me to a light version of stuffed zucchini. This recipe comes from Ellie Krieger, the host of "Healthy Appetite" on Food Network, and it is amazing!

Instead of the typical heavy meat and cheese filling, Ellie bulks up a little meat with cooked bulgur (you'll never know it's in there), and adds tons of Mediterranean flavor with spices, currents and pine nuts. I loved this recipe! You can use the filling in any summer squash, bell peppers, or even eggplant. We weren't sure what this would taste like, but even my husband, sworn enemy of raisins, commented that the currents add a nice sweet note to the filling.

Note: To cook bulgur, simply mix one part bulgur with two parts boiling water, cover and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Stuffed Zucchini

6 medium zucchini

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small chopped onion (about 1 cup)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/2 pound lean ground beef (at least 90 percent lean)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 (14.5 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, strained and juice reserved (about 3/4 to 1 cup juice)

1 cup cooked bulgur (1/3 cup uncooked)

3 tablespoons dried currants

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted in a dry skillet over a medium-high flame for 2 minutes

1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

1/2 cup low-sodium tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Cut each zucchini in half crosswise. Using a melon baller, carefully scoop out zucchini flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch flesh intact on all sides and leaving zucchini closed at the bottom of each half. Reserve zucchini flesh for another use, or discard. Reserve zucchini tubes.

3. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion sand cook, stirring, until they are soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add ground beef, cumin, coriander and red pepper flakes and cook until meat is just done and no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Add bulgur, and diced tomatoes and currants and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pine nuts and parsley. Let mixture cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Using a small spoon or clean hands, gently stuff zucchini halves with beef-mixture.

4. Place zucchini halves in a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Combine reserved tomato juice, tomato sauce and salt and pour over zucchini. Cover tightly with foil and place in oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover and rotate zucchini. Re-cover, return dish to oven and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until zucchini is cooked through but still slightly firm. Place 2 zucchini halves on a plate and serve with tomato sauce.

Zucchini Bread with Pineapple

We are at the height of zucchini madness. Squash flourishes in the summer heat and many home gardeners find themselves heavy laden with an excess of zucchini this time of year. The best solution to this overabundance, in my opinion, is zucchini bread.
Here is a new recipe that I found for a slightly different version than the ordinary bread I made growing up. (Thank, Simplyrecipes!) Studded with raisins, nuts and crushed pineapple, and laced with aromatic spices, I loved this bread. It also uses olive oil instead of vegetable oil. In fact, with fruit, vegetable, nuts, good fats, antioxidant-rich spices- this is pretty much a health food. :-) So feel free to grow as much zucchini as you can next year.

Zucchini Bread with Pineapple

3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixer, beat eggs. Add oil, sugar, and vanilla; continue beating mixture until thick and foamy. With a spoon, stir in the zucchini and pineapple.
2 In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. A third at a time, add dry ingredients into wet and gently stir (by hand) after each addition. Add the walnuts and raisins, blend gently.
3 Divide the batter equally between 2 greased and flour-dusted 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.
Makes 2 loaves.