This is really just links to zucchini recipes

10 of them sorry

It’s 7:49 and I’m roughing up my intestines with muesli and everyone within one million miles of us is weed-whacking and chain-sawing and mowing and leaf-blowing and, like, clanging a giant tambourine, and just why, but what I’m sitting here chewing and wondering is if I actually like zucchini, and I think I actually do. Because even though the vibe around zucchini is that it’s a kind of accidental moral obligation—Oops, I grew it, we can’t let it go to waste!—I actually love its tender sweetness, its plushy, yielding green blankness. Just make sure to scrub off any grit embedded in its fragile skin or you will truly rue the day. When I make any kind of summer squash for my parents, I slice it into half moons and boil it in salted water until it’s fully tender (it will go translucent only after you drain it for some reason) and then season it with butter and salt. It is crazily good this way, and the only trick is to salt it a little while it’s still in the colander and really give it a minute to drain, shaking it vigorously LIKE IT’S A FUCKING MARACA IN MY MORNING SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD because it will continue to give up a lot of water for a while and you don’t want to dilute the butter. Why don’t I steam it? Because then I can’t force salt into it while it’s cooking. (See, also, artichokes, asparagus, green beans.)

Okay, here’s the rest:

1. Charred Zucchini and Corn with Basil and Ceasar-ish Sauce from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon. I know I just yap on and on about this cookbook, but my god! I dare you to check it out of the library without renewing it a thousand times and then finally buying a copy. I’ve made this salad twice in the past five days, once with the tahini the recipe calls for, and once with mayo, listed as an optional swap. We liked the mayo much better (but then again, I don’t love tahini, so sue me), and she brilliantly adds a ton of capers to the dressing. I topped with toasted pine nuts for crunch.

2. Squash Ribbons with Tomatoes, Peanuts, Basil, Mint, and Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce from Six Seasons by Joshua Fadden, another cookbook I know I’m always going on about. This is so simple and good. If you have vegetarians in the house, you can (always) just swap in Bragg’s liquid aminos for the fish sauce—also you can add tofu to make it a main (or I bet shrimp would be good in the green-papaya-salad way). Please note that I describe this recipe as “perfection” before jotting down the million changes I made to it because I am a nightmare.

   

   

3. In a similar vein, my own Zucchini Ribbon Salad from the diatribe website, where I used to develop their lower-carb recipes. This one skews lemon-dill-feta, the flavor throuple I often bed down with.

   

   4. Also from diatribe, the Enchilada Zucchini, which I had forgotten about until just now, but which I recipe-tested half to death so I can assure you it’s excellent! I would make it again now, except I seem to be incapable of making hot food for just Michael and me.

   

   5. The Zucchini-Lentil Fritters from Bon Appetit. These are absolutely astonishingly delicious. They seem like they won’t work—like there’s not enough batter to hold them together—but then they are perfect and crisp and incredible. I season them not with the called-for parsley and lemon zest but with chopped green chiles, cilantro, and the Indian spice mix panch phoron (full disclosure: I haven’t tried the brand I am linking to because I buy mine at the lottery-ticket-and-CBD-oil store that doubles as an Indian grocery). And then I serve them with mint chutney (the frozen brand Deep is excellent if you can find it).

   

   Photo by Emma Fishman for Bon Appetit

   6. The rich, tangy, spicy, vibrant Herby Summer Pasta with Zukes, Corn, and Lime, which I still make for company at least two or three times every summer. It is easy to de-gluten it (our favorite gluten-free pasta is hands-down the Jovial mafalda) or de-dairy it by swapping in canned coconut milk for the cream. This photo is so bad I’m going to make it very small.

   

   7. Also from the old Ben + Birdy blog, Zuke-a-Ganoush, a riff on the more famous baba-. It’s garlicky and minty and velvety and, shhhhhh, hot take, I’m not a huge fan of eggplant so I kind of like it better?

   

   8. From right here on Crone Sandwich, something I seem to have humbly titled The Best Minestrone, which is based on a Marcella Hazan recipe and really is delicious. The zucchini is optional, but if I need to make minestrone during squash season, I always add it.

   

   9. Also from here, the unctuous, velvety Long-Cooked Zucchini, shown brightened with a drizzle of chimichurri.

   

   And finally, 10.

   deb perelman
   ’s Braised Chickpeas (!) with Zucchini and Pesto from Smitten Kitchen, which is perfect (site and recipe both). No notes, ha ha ha, but actually! Okay, one note? I mistakenly thought I could see capers in the photo so now I add them and do not look back.

   

   This is Deb’s photo

   Whatcha got for me? Also, I’m sorry about not including anything sweet. I seem to have grown weary of shredding a giant watery zucchini into, like, the perfect chocolate cake? Prove me wrong!

Take care, dearest lovies. Keep tending and befriending, as Rebecca Solnit puts it so beautifully. Keep defending and resisting and expanding! All love to you!

xo