71 Uses for Zucchini

My first bounty of the year, produced by someone else's garden

In the Midwest, in mid-July, most gardeners have a bigger problem than spider mites and rabbits in their garden. The once tiny zucchini seeds have now become an overgrown row of plants, providing far too many vegetables than one person, one family, or one city block could ever eat. The once highly anticipated plates of zucchini bread are met with groans and moans. Isn't there some other way to use up the crop?

I personally really enjoy zucchini bread and I can't imagine ever growing tired of eating it myself, though I do grow tired of making it. In preparation for the (hopefully) huge bounty of vegetables coming my way, I have compiled an exhaustive list of the best zucchini dishes I can find on the web. You'll note that not all of these are "clean." These are noted with an asterisk (*) though for all of them substitutions can (and should) be made. You'll also find that not all of the items listed are recipes, per se. Many are simply uses that some may not have already considered.

Main Dishes and Soups
1. Clean Comfort Zucchini Protein Lasagna
2. Clean Eating Shepherd's Pie
3. Cream of Zucchini Soup
4. Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Parsley Brown Butter*
5. Greek Style Stuffed Zucchini
6. Mexican Zucchini Cheese Soup*
7. Minestrone Soup
8. Patty Pan Soup
9. Ratatouille
10. Raw Zucchini Sushi Rolls
11. Simple Parmesan Zucchini
12. Stuffed Zucchini with Potatoes and Peas
13. Thai Tofu with Zucchini, Red Bell Pepper, and Thyme
14. Vegetarian Enchilada Pie
15. Zesty Zucchini Stir Fry
16. Zucchini Alfredo
17. Zucchini Bake with Feta and Thyme
18. Zucchini Carpaccio
19. Zucchini Casserole
20. Zucchini and Corn Tacos
21. Zucchini Curry
22. Zucchini and Green Chile Breakfast Casserole
23. Zucchini Pie (Savory)
24. Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Side Dishes
25. Baked Basil Zucchini
26. BBQ Zucchini
27. Fried Zucchini
28. Grilled Zucchini and Squash
29. The Pioneer Woman's Zucchini Cakes*
30. Thai Curried Zucchini Fritters with Spicy Peanut Sauce
31. Zucchini with Corn and Cilantro
32. Zucchini Dressing
33. Zucchini Fries
34. Zucchini Fritters*
35. Zucchini Hash Browns
36. Zucchini Oven Chips
37. Zucchini Provencal
38. Zucchini Tomato Cups

Desserts
39. Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes*
40. Chocolate Zucchini Whoopie Pies
41. Deep, Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Zucchini Cake*
42. Moist Zucchini Cinnamon Swirl Cake*
43. Sweet Zucchini Pie with Oatmeal Streusel Topping*
44. Zucchini Bars*
45. Zucchini Ice Cream*
46. Zucchini Mock Apple Pie

Baked Goods
47. Apple Zucchini Bread*
48. Chocolate Zucchini Bread*
49. Tropical Zucchini Bread
50. Zucchini Bread
51. Zucchini-Oatmeal-Cranberry Muffins - recipe coming soon

Uses for Raw Zucchini
52. Chopped and Added to Gazpacho
53. Diced or Sliced on Salads
54. Sliced in Sticks for Crudites
55. Thinly Sliced for Sandwich Toppings

Sauces and Condiments
56. Black Bean Veggie Salsa
57. Hot as Hell Zucchini Jelly
58. Zucchini Jelly*
59. Zucchini Pickles
60. Zucchini Relish
61. Zucchini Salsa
62. Zucchini, Squash, and Tomato Sauce
63. Zucchini-Tomato Sauce

Smoothies and Other Unexpected Uses
64. Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie
65. German Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie
66. Natural Facial Cleanser
67. Pizza Topping
68. Tropical Zucchini Smoothie
69. Zesty Zucchini Smoothie
70. Zucchini "Noodles"
71. Zucchini Smoothie

Clean Eating Cookies

Clean Eating Cookies Can Still Taste Delicious

Can you make cookies as part of a clean eating diet? Yes. Should you? Maybe not. The problem is not with the whole foods approach to eating. The problem is that cookies are yummy and way too easy to eat. If you are one of those people who can eat one cookie and be satisfied, good for you. I want 10.

The best method I have found for satisfying a cookie craving is to make sure the cookies satisfy a nutritional need. It is always best to make only a few cookies, announce to the entire household exactly how many there are, and then let the games begin to see who can withstand them the longest.

You don't need to purchase a specialty cookbook for healthier cookies. Almost any cookie recipe can be made with whole foods with just a few tips at your disposal:

• Sub whole wheat flour for all-purpose, or use a mixture of whole wheat flour and oatmeal.
• Sub agave nectar, pure maple syrup, or honey for sugar. I have often read to sub unsweetened applesauce but, unless you're making apple flavored cookies, I don't care for the way it turns out. Applesauce has its place, but not as a replacement for sweeteners.
• Use a tablespoon of ground flax seed and some water to replace butter, but this does add a bit of a flax seedy flavor to the mix, I don't care what anyone says. Counter the flax flavor with strong spices like cinnamon, cloves, or ginger.
• You can still make chocolate chip cookies with a clean approach. Use unsweetened, organic dark chocolate chips instead of the standard milk chocolate morsels. You'll need fewer of them and they taste even better than the traditional chips, in my opinion.
• Instead of, or in addition to, chocolate chips in cookies, throw in a number of dried fruits. Last night I made cranberry oatmeal cookies and they were fantastic, but you can also add dried, unsweetened coconut, raisins, or basically any other chewy fruit your heart desires. Just make sure they are in small enough pieces.
• Nuts are a popular addition to cookies. I love nuts, but I don't care for them in my cookies and neither does the rest of my family. The one exception: peanut butter cookies. Use freshly ground peanut butter and you will marvel at how much better they taste. For a tropical tasting peanut butter cookie, add coconut oil and unsweetened coconut flakes to the batter.
• If you have the time or the inclination to play around, use pureed fruits and vegetables to add flavor and moistness (Is moistness a word? Moistening? Moistocity?) to the batter. This is where many suggest applesauce, but I more often use pureed sweet potatoes. Take a look at organic baby food and you may find some true inspiration, believe it or not.

Check out this site for links to several clean cookie recipes online.

Clean Eating Spinach Stromboli

This is a very quick, very tasty meal that works for everyone in the family. Don't be afraid to play around with the ingredients. Basically any thinly sliced vegetables would work well. Last night as we were eating this, we thought about adding black olives and corn, which would be wonderful! All you need is:

olive oil
1/4 cup diced onions and green peppers (I buy them frozen)
1 can diced tomatoes or 2-3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup dried basil
1 clove garlic, diced
pizza dough (make it from scratch or keep an emergency can of pre-made on hand for those nights that you have to get the kids to gymnastics AND t-ball at the same time)
1/4 to 1/2 cup spinach
1/4 cup reduced-fat, shredded cheese
salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning


Add enough olive oil to a medium-sized pan to cover the bottom. Heat on medium-high.

Add chopped onions, green peppers, and diced garlic to the olive oil and heat until golden brown. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. No need to get overzealous with the salt. You have a lot of flavor going on here already. 

Stir in tomatoes and basil. If you're using fresh tomatoes, you may need to add about 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer uncovered for about five minutes. If you're using frozen spinach, make sure it is thawed and drained, then add it to the sauce. Fresh spinach may be placed directly in the stromboli.

Roll out your pizza dough and sprinkle with basil or Italian seasoning. Add a small amount of shredded cheese - you should be able to see the herbs and the dough through the cheese.

 Add sauce, then layer the toppings. At this point you can add fresh spinach and any other vegetables you desire. If you are a meat eater, you can add meat at this point too. Cover with the remainder of the cheese.

 Roll loosely, jelly roll style, with the seam facing down. I like to curve the stromboli, but you don't have to. Make several slits in the dough with a sharp knife, though you may have to use your fingers to widen them.

Cook for 11-13 minutes at 425.

Slice and serve!

Fresh Herb Salad

My garden may or may not flourish, but one thing that I have no doubt that I will have in spades are plenty of fresh herbs. Last year, I made salads out of handfuls of basil, oregano, mint, and whatever lettuce I could grab. Truly, if you have 1/2 cup of herbs, you can create a delicious salad out of items you have on hand. The following quantities are per person. You can double or triple this recipe easily.

I totally stole this image from Flickr.

Salad
1/2 cup lettuce
1/2 cup herbs
sliced onions


Dressing

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
several leaves of lemon balm or lemon basil
pinch sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


The directions are incredibly simple. Place all salad ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, pour the olive oil over the lemon balm, adding sea salt and black pepper to taste. Pour over the lettuce ingredients and serve.

Clean Honey Apples

My family loves apples, and one of my favorite ways to make them is stewed on the stove top. Before I started clean eating, I had no problem chopping up some apples and throwing them in a pot with plenty of brown sugar and butter. Since I have mostly given up sugar and truly watch what I eat, I have had to find a new way to make the same dish. I truly believe that, made like this, it is much better than it was before.

4 medium apples, cored, peeled, and chopped
1/2 cup organic honey
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom
pinch salt

Bring honey and milk to a slight boil on the stove top. Stirring constantly, adding the vanilla, cloves, cardamom, and salt. A trick I like to use is to spray a bit of olive oil or non-stick spray on a wooden spoon so that the honey doesn't stick during stirring.

Add the chopped apples and stir until coated. Leave the apples on the stove top until they reach the desired firmness. Our family likes them lightly softened, which takes about 10 minutes at medium-high heat. 

These apples are wonderful on their own, but also make a great addition to crepes or can be mashed and made into applesauce. For something really different, try using tomatoes instead of apples. 

Oatmeal-to-Go

This idea was inspired by this recipe. My kids love oatmeal and I love oatmeal. My husband buys the pre-packaged oatmeal bars and has one almost every day, which is high in sugar and quite expensive. Using this method, you can recreate the benefits of oatmeal at a lower cost and with no sugar.

Combine:

2 eggs, mixed

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup agave nectar

8 oz organic sweet potato/apple baby food

mix well

Add:

4 cups quick-cooking oats

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

mix well

Add:

1 cup skim milk (almond, rice, or soy milk is fine)

mix well

Add:

1/2 cup sugar-free, organic dark chocolate chips and then hide the rest of the bag so that you don't just eat chocolate chips for dinner

Line a cupcake tin with liners, and despite what some people might say, you can totally use leftover Christmas cupcake liners. No one will care. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Or, use a mini-cupcake tin and reduce the time to 20 minutes.

Variation:

Change the sweet potato/apple babyfood for apples and blueberries, and exchange the dark chocolate chips for dried cranberries.

Easy Sweet Potato Sticks

Original Recipe

My family loves sweet potatoes, so I thought this recipe would be a no-brainer. I decided this would be a more accepted recipe to my family, in light of the last fiasco that ended in virtual tears and literal plates still full of cauliflower.

Naturally, I changed things up a bit from the original recipe. First off, I found that one sweet potato was plenty for a family of four with two small children. Once I cut the sweet potato into sticks, I realized that two sweet potatoes, as the original recipe calls for, would provide a huge amount of sweet potato sticks.

I preheated the oven to 425, as the recipe stated, and seasoned with sea salt, paprika, cumin, and oregano. I felt that oregano didn't match with the rest of the herbs, but in the end it tasted okay. The one problem that I did find with this recipe is that the sticks didn't get crispy like my family likes. We still enjoyed them, but if I had used the convection feature on my oven, we would have had the preferred consistency.

Veggie burger, french cut green beans, sweet potato sticks

In the end, the recipe turned out great. It is a healthy alternative to chips or fries, and it is one that I will certainly repeat - maybe tonight!

How to Prepare Brussels Sprouts So That (Almost) Everyone Will Love Them

Brussels sprouts are in season and I could not be happier. Brussels sprouts are my favorite vegetable. I could literally eat them every night and never grow tired of them. I have tried multiple ways of preparing them, but generally I stick to the tried and true method of either roasting or sauteing them in oil.

For years, I hated the dreaded brussels sprout. I looked on in wonder and horror as those around me consumed the vile weed. Then, one day, I decided to make the dish for a dear friend of mine who was coming to visit. She has long claimed brussels sprouts to be her favorite food and I always wondered why. Then, it hit me. My problem with brussels sprouts was not the food itself, but the way it was prepared.

I had always encountered brussels sprouts that were boiled. When they are boiled, they become slimy, the aroma becomes more pungent, and many of the nutrients are cooked out. Some people really like boiled brussels sprouts, but it doesn't work for me. Others like them steamed, and I truly can't stomach them that way. Thus, I give you the recipes that turned brussels sprouts from a nightmare dish into a dream come true.

Roasted Whole Brussels Sprouts

Heat oven to 450F. Remove the bitter, outer layer of each brussels sprout and make a sharp "X" with a paring knife in the bottom. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the brussels sprouts on top (the amount doesn't matter as long as they are not stacked on top of each other) and sprinkle with paprika, freshly ground pepper, and sea salt. Roast for 20 to 40 minutes depending on how done you like your vegetables. I like them almost burned, but as I am told, I'm a giant weirdo. Don't forget to occasionally, and carefully, stir the vegetables. When they come out, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan.

Roasted Halved Brussels Sprouts

These are prepared in a similar way as that above, except instead of marking the "X" in the bottom of the brussels sprouts, you simple cut all the way through. You can halve the amount of time spent roasting, but you also have to stir more frequently.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

Halve enough brussels sprouts to fill a large sautee pan. Be sure to remove and discard the outer leaves. Heat a bit of olive oil in the sautee pan at medium-high and add the brussels sprouts so that the pan is filled, but not overly filled. If you need more, you may need to work in bunches. Sprinkle the sprouts with more olive oil, ground sea salt, and plenty of fresh or dried rosemary. Sautee until sprouts are lightly browned on all sides, unless you're like me and want to cook the heck out of them. I don't stop until they are blackened. I know they are done when my husband starts to complain about the smell. Either way, when you are satisfied, remove from heat, but keep warm until serving time.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Shredded brussels sprouts can be prepared in the same way as roasting or sauteing. The prep time takes longer, but the cooking time is much shorter. Shredded brussels sprouts can be served on their own, or make an excellent addition to other dishes. Try adding roasted or sauteed brussels sprouts to vegetable pancakes, strudels, warm salads, or baked pasta dishes. If your family is like mine, and balks at the idea of having to eat brussels sprouts, add them to casseroles and other one-dish entrees and they will likely never know the difference.

Additions and Accompaniments to Brussels Sprouts

I have friends who swear by adding chopped walnuts to their brussels sprouts dishes. Brussels sprouts already have a nutty flavor, and they say the chopped nuts enhance their essence. I don't care for walnuts, so it doesn't work for me. Another suggestion I've often heard is adding the juice of a fresh lemon to the finished product. I find that it works well with shredded brussels sprouts that have been sauteed. I often also add whole cloves of garlic to the sautee pan. This can add a big flavor punch, which is great if you like garlic and don't mind bad breath.

I often serve brussels sprouts on a bed of brown rice, couscous, or quinoa. Since a cup of brussels sprouts is very filling, only a small amount of sides are needed to have a full meal. I also try to add a small side of beans or cubed tofu to the dish so that I meet my protein requirements.

Nutritional Benefits of Brussels Sprouts

Like most vegetables, brussels sprouts are very low in calories and very high in nutrients. Brussels sprouts contain massive amounts of vitamins K and C, and are excellent sources of manganese, folate, fiber, potassium, iron, and vitamins A, B1, and B6. They are also a decent source of calcium and protein. Brussels sprouts are known to be detoxifying, and have been shown to fight/prevent certain types of cancer in over 50 dedicated studies. Studies have also shown that brussels sprouts have anti-inflammatory agents, which have been linked to improved cardiovascular health. It has been suggested that brussels sprouts are effective in the prevention of such diseases as Crohn's disease, IBS, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 2 diabetes.