Season: SPRING/SUMMER
Zucchini is part of the squash family and is usually seen in yellow or green colors. It is a highly nutritional vegetable and quite versatile.
I was introduced to zucchini when I moved to the United States in the year 2000. I was amazed at the versatility of this cucumber-like vegetable. This vegetable has been a part of my diet ever since. Especially helping me with weight loss when I replace rice with zucchini. The only thing that I am not a big fan of is using zucchini pasta. Something feels so wrong about it.
It is a sweet vegetable and goes well with seafood, other vegetables, and spices such as warm curry spices to rosemary and thyme.
Buying:
Always buy organic. When purchasing zucchini, make sure it is erect and not bruised. Also, it should feel heavy for its size. Do not buy small or large zucchini. The small ones are underdeveloped, and the large ones are tasteless.
Storing:
Zucchini is best stored in the refrigerator and should be consumed within 4-5 days of buying it.
Prepping:
I usually rinse zucchini under cold running water and then chop off the ends, and it is ready to be used (with skin-on). If you shave off the skin, then it becomes challenging to cook with this vegetable.Cut it in roundels, dice it, straw it, thinly slice it, play with it, but remember not to overcook this vegetable.
There are many ways to cook zucchini:
- Saute it in olive oil and salt and serve it with pasta.
- Ratatouille is one of the best things you can make with zucchini.
- Bake it with cheese and rosemary and thyme, yum!
- Salt, batter, and deep-fry roundels to make zucchini bhajiya.
- Serve it raw as a salad, especially if you can get yellow and green zucchini.
- Use it with kebabs and grill.
- Make zucchini bread zucchini over pizza, or even on a pie.
- Grate zucchini along with spices and bread, and egg, and make zucchini meatballs.
- Carefully stuff it with meat and bake.
- Use zucchini instead of pasta for lasagna sheets.
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