squash

its growing. in a barrel in my front yard. this is truly a feat for me, because every single houseplant i have ever had has died a sad, slow, death. in fact, even the pretty flowers that i had on my front porch (and have replaced twice) have suffered at my hand (suffered and died). needless to say that our little garden doesn't look all that great (okay, it looks pathetic) but someone we have some little munchkin pumpkins growing- and growing crazy i might say- but we have some real possibilities in some tiny little cherry tomatoes (or roma's are not looking good at all) and then there's the squash. and honestly, the only reason i wanted to plant this little garden in the first place was for the zucchini. i just realized i keep referring to it as squash, when i don't have any squash growing in my garden, its strictly green zucchini.
and its awesome!

this big beauty showed up out of nowhere....or i guess it was growing for days and had been painfully neglected. oh well. it still tasted great.
so today while i feasted on various zucchini cuisine, i thought i'd share a couple of my all time favorite ways to eat zucchini:

1) fried.
okay, so sam's mom makes the best best best fried zucchini in the world. sam and i have tried to recreate it and we fail almost every time. its dipped in egg white, flipped in flour, crisped to perfection in a LOT of butter, and seasoned to your hearts desire.
it sounds easy enough, but for some reason we cannot mimic the tastiness that she produces.
i need fried zucchini right now. pronto.

2) roasted.
i like to slice my zucchini in circles (and if its big then i'll cut the circles into moons) place them in a pyrex dish, drizzle olive oil, garlic, salt, a little pepper (if i'm sharing with the kids) and a couple tablespoons of parmesan cheese on them. i set my oven to 400 and roast them for about 20-25 minutes. wonderful.

3) in this recipe: rice with summer squash
i didn't put in any onions (because i hate onions) and i added a little extra pepper to my own portion and some parm (because i think that the carrots in it make it a little sweet) but for a quick meal its very tasty. plus, i think it would make an impressive side at a family gathering. or for a more complete meal- add chicken.

4) in this muffin: zucchini muffins.
i've already blogged about the amazing-ness of this recipe. i have several muffins in my kitchen right now. the kids are warming up to them (not as sweet as blueberry, but i think they rock) and i reduced the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg to help the kids- i think it was a bit to much spice for them.

5) and my favorite is a little dish i call chicken/tortellini/zucchini.
now, i usually use both zucchini and yellow squash, but when i only have a garden of zucchini, i just use that. however, sam's parents garden is INSANE, and i have access to a bountiful supply of various squashes. i have varied this recipe off of a ravioli and squash recipe i found in a real simple years and years ago.
what i do:
cook 1lb of fresh (or if mine were in the freezer) cheese tortellini's.
set my oven to 400 and roast 3-4 zucchini/yellow squash (cooked just as i mentioned above, only i will add a little bit of red pepper flakes)
sautee up some chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little garlic.
when all have cooked- add together in a big bowl, mix generously with parmesan cheese.
and devour. i think this dish tastes well tepid too.
that's my way of saying, i eat it all night long and rarely remember to get it in the fridge for leftovers. oooh, and it reheats wonderfully.

i am officially hungry. and need to work on a small sewing project before it becomes midnight.