Prairie Fare: Zucchini Season has Arrived

August 19, 2004

Prairie Fare: Zucchini Season has Arrived

By Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service

It’s not easy being green, so the song goes. It’s especially difficult if you’re a zucchini.

Think about it. If you were a zucchini, many people would be trying to get rid of you at this time of the year, leaving you on neighbors’ front porches, in cars with open doors, on office break room tables or worse yet, they’d leave you in the garden and let you become next season’s compost.

Then they’d make jokes about you, like this one e-mailed by a friend of mine:

“So, this guy walks into his doctor's office. He's got a carrot in one nostril, an asparagus stalk in the other, a zucchini in one ear and a green onion in the other ear. He says, ‘Doc, I'm not feeling well!’ The doctor looks up at him and replies, ‘Looks like you're not eating right!’

If you were a zucchini, you should be proud because you’re a healthful food. In fact, your name is from an Italian word meaning the “sweetest.”

You’re low in calories, a good source of vitamin C and you contain no fat or sodium. Eating more produce, including zucchini, helps reduce heart disease and cancer risk by helping decrease saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet.

If you were a zucchini, you’d be considered a versatile member of the kitchen crew. If you had a shiny, tender, dark green rind, you would be most desirable because we food specialists suggest avoiding zucchini with dull, pitted or bruised rinds.

Cooks and bakers would add you to all sorts of recipes, grated or chunked because you blend well with other tastes. From zucchini bread to soups and casseroles, you’d find a role in many menus. You might be stuffed with fillings as a main dish or served raw as an appetizer with a dip.

But what if there’s too much to use in fresh form? Zucchini can be frozen in recipe-size portions. These are the guidelines for freezing from the USDA-funded National Center for Food Preservation:

Wash and cut zucchini in 1/2-inch slices. Water blanch 3 minutes. Cool promptly, drain and package, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal and freeze. To preserve grated zucchini for baking purposes, wash and grate. Steam blanch in small quantities 1 to 2 minutes until translucent. Pack in measured amounts in containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Cool by placing the containers in cold water. Seal and freeze. If watery when thawed, discard the liquid before using the zucchini.

Try some new zucchini recipes this season, like this national 5-A-Day recipe. For more healthy recipes featuring fruits and vegetables, visit the Produce for Better Health Foundation Web site: www.5aday.org

Chicken, Rice and Summer Vegetable Casserole

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red sweet pepper, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 lb. chicken breast cut in chunks
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 c. brown rice
3 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

Coat the bottom of a large, heavy-bottom saucepan with vegetable oil. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper and zucchini to the pan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are very soft, about 5 minutes Add the chicken and turn the heat up to medium high. Stir until the chicken is cooked lightly on all sides. Add the tomatoes, rice, chicken broth and salt. Bring the broth to a boil and then adjust the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Let the casserole simmer until the rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in the pepper and parsley and serve.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving has 151 calories, 6 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu

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North Dakota State University
NDSU Agriculture Communication
NDSU Extension Service
ND Agricultural Experiment Station