Recipe - Lemon Zucchini Cookies (Betty Crocker, sort of)

 Lemon Zucchini Cookies

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. vanilla

2 t. lemon juice

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ginger

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini

2 1/2 c. flour (1 c. whole wheat + 1 1/2 c. white flour)

Beat sugars and butter until creamy. Add everything else except eggs, zucchini, and flour. Mix really well. Add eggs and zucchini. Mix together. Stir in flour. The dough will be really wet and sticky.

Scoop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 9-11 minutes, until very lightly browned on edges.

Cool and drizzle with lemon glaze. Makes 3-5 dozen.

Lemon Glaze

1/4 c. butter, melted and very warm

1 T. lemon juice

2 c. powdered sugar

Mix together and beat until smooth. Work fast so the butter stays hot. Drizzle over cookies. It will set as it cools.

Thursday Recipe - Flourless Peanut Butter Zucchini Brownies

Yeah, you read that right. Flourless peanut butter zucchini brownies. I have zucchini because I planted some and it grew. I'm still proud of my green thumb. I've been known as the zucchini killer for quite a few years now. Nice to know that a change of location also changed my black thumb green.

I was making zucchini brownies (and banana brownies with this recipe) because I had a pile of zucchini and a pile of overripe bananas. My youngest is allergic to wheat but she loves brownies and chocolate, too, so when I stumbled across this recipe, I knew I had to try it out. But since this is me cooking, I couldn't do it the way it was written. What I came up with is very tasty, not vegan, but wheat-free. This is my version.

Flourless Peanut Butter Zucchini Brownies

3/4 c. peanut butter (I used chunky)
1/4 c. honey
1/3 c. sugar (because I like it sweeter, you can leave it out if you want)
1 c. finely shredded zucchini (don't squeeze out the water! You need it)
1/4 c. cocoa
1 egg
3/4 t. baking soda
Chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate to help boost the sweetness)

Mix everything except chocolate chips in a bowl until well blended. Spread into a greased loaf pan (I used an 8 inch loaf pan). Sprinkle chocolate chips generously over the top. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Let cool completely in the pan. Refrigerating overnight is best. Cut into bars and keep what you don't devour immediately in the refrigerator.

Thursday Recipe - Zucchini Patties

Look at this! I have zucchini from my yard! I know what you're thinking: Why is she celebrating that? Everyone has zucchini in their yard. No one wants to take any more off my hands.

I have killed zucchini every time I planted it for the last twenty years. Seriously. I plant it and it dies. I haven't been able to grow it at all. Until now. New house, new yard, new gardening zone—everything is growing here. Except my oregano which died this week but I think that has to do with it being in a bucket and getting baked in the late afternoon and not getting enough water.

Back to zucchini. I picked the first two yesterday. I only planted three seeds, but they are huge and beautiful and producing already. I can't wait to have more zucchini than I can deal with. That will take a lot of zucchini. My freezer is still mostly empty and I *love* zucchini bread and zucchini cake and stuffed zucchini and zucchini patties...

Here are links to zucchini recipes:
Stuffed zucchini
Sautéed zucchini
Zucchini cheese pie
Minestrone soup
Zucchini bread and butter pickles
Zucchini bread/muffins
Zucchini fudge cake

Today's recipe also features zucchini. It's a cross between potato pancakes and egg foo yong, except it features zucchini. I like to serve them like pancakes, except with salsas instead of syrup.

Zucchini Patties

4 c. grated zucchini (larger grate rather than finer, you want big shreds)
1/3 c. grated onion
1/3 c. grated carrot
1 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. dried oregano
2 eggs
1/4 - 1/2 c. milk
oil

Toss vegetables together. Add flour and spices. Toss to coat. In separate bowl, beat eggs until smooth. Stir in 1/4 c. milk. Pour over zucchini. Stir to coat. You want a really thick mess. If it is dry, add milk 1 T. at a time. It needs to be wet enough to stick together, but not thin enough to drip.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Scoop out 1/3 - 1/2 c. of the zucchini mixture. Drop into the pan and gently pat to spread it out into a patty. It will stick, so use your mixing spoon or another spoon. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Gently flip over and cook for another 3-4 minutes until browned well on the other side.

Serve hot with plenty of salsas and/or spaghetti sauce. Or just eat them plain, that's what I like.

*You can make this with gluten-free bisquick instead of flour and it works great! You can also substitute rice milk or almond milk or even water for the milk, just don't use the vanilla or chocolate flavor.

*You can add 1 c. of shredded sharp cheddar if you want a cheesy patty. Just toss it in with the vegetables.

Thursday Recipe - Sautéed Zucchini

I think my black thumb curse is finally lifted! Or at least changed to a brown thumb. One of the dozen zucchini seeds I planted survived. I have zucchini in my garden. Only one plant, but with zucchini, that's plenty. I also have tomatoes (HUGE bushes with LOADS of green tomatoes right now), a few spindly hot pepper bushes, a few onions, a very short row of yellow wax beans, and some popcorn. It's the best garden we've grown in years.

Back to the zucchini. There are several ways to deal with it. Giant baseball bat size zucchinis are great for stuffing or grating up and using in recipes like zucchini muffins, fudge cake, or zucchini pie. Medium size ones are great for chopping up into pickles. And teeny little ones are great for slicing and sautéing. This recipe makes a great vegetable side dish for a summer dinner party.

Sautéed Zucchini

3-5 small zucchini, sliced into circles about 1/4 inch thick
2 T. butter
1 t. Italian herb mix (make your own with oregano, basil, sage, thyme, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, garlic, and dried onions. And maybe a pinch of lemon zest. That recipe sounds good for next week...)
salt to taste

Heat butter in a large frying pan over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Toss in the zucchini slices. Fry for a few minutes, stirring often, just until the squash wilts and some slices get browned. Sprinkle the herbs over the top. Salt to taste. Toss it once to mix in the herbs then serve.

This also works great with crookneck squash, yellow squash, pattypan squash, or any other summer squash with a tender skin. Use the tiny baby ones if you've got them.