Zucchini Banana Bread

For all my talk on this blog about being creative and trying new ingredients, I am a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast. Most of the time, my breakfast will be either Greek yogurt or oatmeal. The Greek yogurt will be plain, topped with fresh fruit (typically berries) a bit of honey and some granola. The oatmeal will be steel cut, cooked in milk and then flavored with brown sugar or maple syrup and topped with fresh and/or dried fruit and nuts. Every so often there will be a deviation with pancakes, eggs and toast, a bagel, or maybe (when I can get it) something a bit sweeter, but overall I am fully committed to my yogurt and oatmeal routine.

Banana bread, however can very easily tempt me off the beaten path. The aroma of it fresh from the oven brings back childhood memories of the loaves my mom would bake, and there was nothing better than cutting a thick piece as soon as it was cooled just enough to touch and immediately covering it with butter that would melt into the steaming slice. So good, so perfect...

Lucky for me, over ripe bananas are fairly common in out house, and my wife will quickly turn them into loaves of banana bread that we can easily freeze to be ready to reheat when the craving calls. After my daughter was born, the quest to get more vegetables into her lead my wife to combine a banana bread and zucchini bread recipe into one. This does very little to change the taste, so the little one will gobble them down happily and be none the wiser to the hidden veggies. That is, if I leave her any!

Share Contents Used:
Zucchini

Ingredients
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 large zucchini, washed and shredded
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup plain yogurt

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. This recipe will yield one 9x5 loaf or 4 mini loafs (shown). Coat the inside of the loaf pan(s) with butter and then sprinkle with flour, set aside.

Place the flour, baking soda and powder, salt and all the spices in a mesh strainer and shake into a large bowl to sift out any clumps. Using the fine side of a box grater, shred the zucchini then place onto a clean tea towel, roll up and wring to squeeze out as much water as you can. Place the zucchini in a clean bowl and mix together with the mashed banana and apple sauce. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, oil and sugar until combined, then add the banana/zucchini mixture and continue to mix on low while you add the dry ingredients, turning off the mixer when everything is just combined. Remove from the mixer and stir in the yogurt.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan(s) and bake for 1 hour for the 9x5 pan or 25-30 min for mini loaf. Test by sticking a toothpick into the center of the loaf, it's done when the toothpick comes out clean. Let the pan cool for a few minutes and then while wearing oven mitts, carefully remove the loaf from the pan (turning the pan upside down and giving it a light shake will usually do the trick) and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.  

Vegetable Stuffed Zucchini

Prior to being overrun with various summer squashes from my CSA, I had thought of stuffed squash as a winter dish when the acorn, butternut and other winter varieties are plentiful and your choice of fresh local produce is severely limited. Its not just the squash, but the fillings as well with combinations of breads, sausage, dried fruit and other hearty flavors that one associates with cooler weather. However, with 2 pounds of week 11 zucchini still in the fridge when another 3 pounds of yellow squashes arrived with week 12, I was going to have to get past my seasonal preconceptions. 

Since I'm using a summer squash, it only makes sense to fill it with other summer ingredients, and the recipe I found not only accomplishes that, it does it with several other items I have from recent shares! The combination of sweet corn with spicy jalapeno is fantastic and black beans add a slightly meaty texture that really ties everything together. All the colors in this dish really shout summer as well, the bright greens, red and yellow along with a earthy brown from the beans truly make this dish as pleasing to the eye as to the taste buds!

Stuffed Zucchini, adapted from Spark Recipes

Share contents used

Zucchini

Jalapeno pepper

Onion

Corn

Ingredients
2 medium sized zucchini
1 tsp olive oil
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup corn (cut off the cob of a fresh ear)

1/3 cup chopped tomato
1/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

Salt and pepper
2 tbs grated parmesean cheese
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry the zucchini and then cut in half lengthwise. Using a  spoon, scoop out and discard the seeds and surrounding pulp. Place the prepared zucchini shells, cut sides up, in a shallow baking pan. If they are not sitting flat, you can use a vegetable peeler to take a strip of two off the uncut side to create a flat surface.

In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat then add the jalapeno and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, corn, tomato and black beans and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes until everything is heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper to taste then remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Spoon the bean mixture evenly among the four zucchini halves then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until zucchini is cooked through and the cheese has started to brown. Serve immediately.

Zucchini Fritters

Mid July and the zucchinis have started their annual campaign to take over the world. I still had a couple left from the week 10 share and then the week 11 arrives with bonus extra zucchini! And I thought I could avoid the zucchini stampede by not planting any in my garden...silly Ben. Anyway, it is what it is and to keep up with the influx I need recipes that use up a lot of zucchini at once, so my thoughts on the topic quickly turned to fritters. 

Once you shred the zucchini and remove the excess water (more on that below), a pound of them will yield only 7-8 small fritters, so if you are cooking for a group you can easily use up a couple pounds of zucchini. They also freeze well, up to 3 months if well wrapped, so double or triple the recipe and you'll be set with a quick snack or side dish for weeks. Just pop them in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until they are heated through and crisp.

The recipe I used below is from smitten kitchen.

Share contents used

Zucchini (I had yellow ones, they taste the same as the green)

Ingredients
1 pound zucchini, shredded
1 tsp kosher salt
2 scallions, sliced thin
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying (I used olive oil)

Preparation

Heat your oven to 200 degrees and place a sheet pan inside. Wash the zucchini and trim off the ends. Using the shredding disk in your food processor or the coarse side of a box grater, shred the zucchini. 

Place the shreds in a colander and mix with the kosher salt, then set the colander over a bowl for 10-15 minutes to allow the salt to draw out some of the excess water. Transfer the zucchini to a clean tea towel then roll up the towel, trapping the zucchini inside. Over your sink, wring the towel as hard as you can to squeeze out more water. You'll be amazed how much will come out (zucchini is mostly made up of water) and this is essential to good fritters because if you skip this step the final result will be very mushy and not as flavorful. 

Remove the zucchini from the towel and place in a clean bowl with the scallions then season to taste with salt (go easy as there will be salt remaining from the water removal) and pepper. Mix in the egg, then combine the flour and baking powder, add to the zucchini and mix well. Heat the oil over medium heat in large, heavy skillet until it starts to shimmer. Place 3 or 4 dollops of the zucchini mixture in the pan and flatten them slightly to form rough disks around 3 inches in diameter.

Cook for 3-4 minutes until nicely browned then flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Move to a sheet pan in the warm oven while you cook the rest of the fritters. Serve hot with your choice of dipping sauce.  I mixed some sour cream with salt, pepper and a bit of lemon juice for a cool, tangy accompaniment. Use your imagination as the fritters will go well with spicy or sweet sauces also. 

Gnocchi with Summer Squash and Fresh Tomato

True to my Italian roots (well, half of my roots anyway) one of the first recipes that I developed for myself as I became more interested in cooking was homemade marinara. I've been using that basic recipe for a few years now and am proud that I can’t remember the last time I bought a jar of sauce. That recipe (used here as part of a lasagna I made a little while back) holds true to the common image of a pot of sauce bubbling on the back burner for hours as the tomato, onion, garlic, basil and whatever else was in grandma’s secret recipe melds together into a thick, dark red sauce that covers the entire house with an aroma which upon smelling you immediately have to grab the nearest chunk of bread and dunk it in the pot.

Summer, however brings with it a wonderful bounty of fresh tomatoes and the opportunity to create a very different type of tomato sauce. With minimal effort, a ripe tomato fresh off the vine can be reduced down to a light yet flavorful sauce with wholly different characteristics from marinara. For this dish I started with a basic fresh tomato sauce as a base and then added the squash for another layer of flavor. I used the little round squashes from the week 9 share, but regular zucchini or yellow squash will work just as well. Gnocchi is a nice alternative to pasta with plenty of very good packaged varieties available, it can be a great way to change things up on a pasta night.

Share Contents Used
Summer Squash
Tomato
Parsley

Ingredients
3/4 lb summer squash, chopped into a half inch dice
1 lb fresh tomato
1/4 cup shallot, chopped fine
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbs parsley, minced
1 lb package of gnocchi
2 tbs grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Preparation
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Take the tomato(s) and cut a shallow cross through the skin on the bottom, then place in the boiling water for 1 minute.  Remove from the water and immediately place in a bowl of ice water to cool. Return the water to a boil and cook the gnocchi per package directions. While the gnocchi is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan then add the shallot and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.  Remove the tomato from the cold water, peel off and discard the skin then remove the core and coarsely chop.  Add the chopped tomato to the pan along with the crushed red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until the tomato has started to break down and form a sauce, about 5 minutes. Add the squash and butter and stir until the butter is melted. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the squash is soft, 3-5 minutes.  Uncover and stir in the parsley and Parmesan then season with salt and pepper.  Add the cooked gnocchi and stir to coat.  Serve immediately with more Parmesan on the side.