Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Cucurbit Domination


When A. told me that the house we're renting had a vegetable garden, I was all excited. Then the landlady told me we were welcome to whatever was in the garden, and I was overjoyed.

But when I got here and inspected the garden, I realized that although there are a few tomato plants, a couple of underwhelming pepper plants, some beets, and about half a dozen snap bean plants, the vast, VAST majority of the small garden is completely filled with cucurbits.

There are a few winter squash plants--mostly some variety of butternut squash--that I was pleased to see, and I can sort of deal with cucumbers because we like eating sliced fresh cucumbers with vinegar and salt in the summer and pickles all the time, but zucchini? I am mostly ambivalent about zucchini. And those yellow summer squash? Nope. What's the point? They have no taste that I can discern.

And yet, of course, cucurbits are the most prolific of plants. We have been absolutely overrun with summer squash and zucchini. The brushy area next to the garden is littered with cast-off summer squash, because I gave the kids permission to pick any they see and have contests to see who can fling them the farthest.

I've made some half-hearted attempts to cook the zucchini, but only A. and I will eat it, and we're not really that enthused about it. Which pretty much leaves me with zucchini bread. The children will eat that form of zucchini. Of course they will, because it's just a kind of cake with token shreds of zucchini. This means that I use about one zucchini a week by mixing it with large quantities of flour and sugar. That leaves me with, oh, about a dozen zucchinis in a week that I'm not using.

I might freeze some for stealth chili additions in the winter. Or I might just let the kids use them for bow and arrow target practice. Probably that.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have Cuddy take some to his new teacher? Mary in MN

Anonymous said...

Roasted tomato sauce. I dispose of lots of zucchini this way. Chop everything you normally put in sauce (I use quartered tomatoes, onions, red peppers, hot peppers, garlic, eggplants, lots of basil and oregano along with zucchini) into as many roasting pans as you have. Load the oven and let it roast at 350 or so until it is browned and cooked to mush. I stir it once or twice while it's roasting and I bet it takes close to 3 hours to get it to the point I like. I do this in the evening, shut the oven off and leave the pans until morning. Scrap it all into a pot, pull out the stick blender and whiz it until it looks good. Simple and the best sauce ever. I used to pressure can it. This year I got lazy and just froze it in ziploc bags. The nice thing is I don't have to blanch and peel the tomatoes anymore. You never notice them after roasting and the stick blender has attacked them.

Sheila z

Becky said...

You can always slice vertically, scoop out a bit, stuff with any leftovers you have, sprinkle with cheese and broil or bake. It might be a way to entice the kids into eating it...or not...

tu mere said...

Guess having the kids set up a zucchini stand wouldn't work 'cause I'd wager just about everyone in your community has the same problem. The recipe from Anonymous sounds really good except I've never heard of a stick blender.

Kristin @ Going Country said...



Sheila: Brilliant. Totally going to do that with Finny's Sauce, a tomato sauce I've written about more than once that roasts the tomatoes and garlic. I usually roast an onion along with them, and now I am definitely going to add zucchini. I always freeze it. Way easier if you have the freezer space.

Mere: There are tables set up all over the place outside houses selling zucchini and cucumbers. An immersion blender is just what it sounds like: a stick-shaped plastic-covered thing that you can put right into soup or whatever to puree it. I keep thinking I should get one, and then I don't because it's just one more piece of equipment and I already have so much. Maybe someday.

Anonymous said...

The volunteer squash near the failed beans (I'm still hoping, though), yields yellow squash and green squash (more promising). Apparently two plants grew up together. I picked a yellow one today. Sky ran off with it. I did not mind.
Mil

flask said...

i was going to recommend the roasted tomato sauce, but i am late to the party.

but also this:http://www.fromthegrapevine.com/israeli-kitchen/recipes/zucchini-olive-and-goat-cheese-bread

FinnyKnits said...

The little farming town we moved to just had their fall harvest festival with...zucchini races. Imagine an adorable painted setup like a lemonade stand, but instead of a tabletop, they had boards from table height to the ground to serve as runways. You bring your zucchini, stab some wheels and accessories (provided) into the thing and race it down the boards. First to the end without falling off wins. Love.

FinnyKnits said...

The little farming town we moved to just had their fall harvest festival with...zucchini races. Imagine an adorable painted setup like a lemonade stand, but instead of a tabletop, they had boards from table height to the ground to serve as runways. You bring your zucchini, stab some wheels and accessories (provided) into the thing and race it down the boards. First to the end without falling off wins. Love.