3 ways to use zucchini

Zucchini!  We are seeing an abundance of zucchini in our garden right now! It always seems to be the first vegetable ready, and most years we have more than enough! I always love to find ways to use it up!  It’s one of our favorite side dishes at meals, and a yummy addition to both stir frys and omelettes! Here’s a few ways we like to use it up!

Zucchini Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

2 zucchini, chopped

1 onion, chopped finely

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

¾ tsp salt

3 cups chicken broth

1 jar chunky tomato sauce

1 can evaporated milk

2 potatoes, chopped small

3-4 ears of corn, cooked (or one can of corn)

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 ½ cups shredded cheddar

In a large pot, saute the zucchini and onion in butter. Cook until zucchini is tender. Add flour and salt. Stir. Slowly pour in chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Add potatoes, corn, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add cheese, and serve. This soup is delicious and can be altered to your taste!  Add any veggies that you love, or even sausage to make it your own.

Sautéed Zucchini

This is so easy and simple, but we all love it this way!  It makes a great side dish with meat on the grill, and is a fast way to cook up your garden zucchini.

3 small zucchini

1 small onion

1 TBL butter

pinch of salt

Dice onion.  Cook in butter in a pan over medium heat until onions are tender.  Add zucchini and salt.  Cook on each side for 3 minutes until zucchini are slightly browned on each side. Serve with you favorite meal.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini

2/3 cups vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease loaf pan. Combine dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir completely.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until just moist.  Do not overmix. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes and remove from loaf pan. Let cool completely. Slice and serve.

I love this time of year as our garden starts to produce so many good additions to our dinner table!  I am looking forward to finding new recipes throughout the summer to use with our garden veggies!