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VPR Cafe: The Many Ways To Use Zucchini

Melissa Pasanen
/
Burlington Free Press
A shaved summer squash and herb salad with parmesan and pine nuts is just one of the many ways you can creatively use zucchini.

Around this time of year zucchini is in abundance and the big question is, what can you make with this vegetable?

“I really think zucchini is all about the attitude,” says Melissa Pasanen, a contributor to the Savorvore Section of the Burlington Free Press. “You can do a lot of things with it and you just have to sort of think about it in different ways for every way you use it.”

Zucchini can be used in salads, chilies and even in chocolate cakes, says Pasanen.

Find out more about zucchini in Pasanen’s piece A Salad To Change Your Mind About Summer Squash.

Shaved Summer Squash and Herb Salad

Inspired by recipes by Ian Knauer, Michael Ruhlman, Martha Rose Shulman.

About 1 ½ pounds small to medium green (zucchini) and yellow summer squash
1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
1 lemon, scrubbed well
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cup packed fresh mint leaves
¾ cup packed fresh basil leaves
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted
1-2 ounces chunk best-quality parmesan

Trim stem ends of squash and using a sharp knife, mandolin slicer or good vegetable peeler, slice them into ribbons as thin as you can while keeping them intact. In a large bowl, toss squash with coarse salt to distribute evenly. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes.

While squash is sitting, zest lemon until you have 1 teaspoon of finely grated zest. Juice half the lemon to yield about 1 ½ tablespoons of juice. In a small bowl, whisk together zest, lemon juice, minced garlic and olive oil.

Pour off liquid that will have come out of squash and taste a small piece. If it is too salty to your taste, rinse squash ribbons in a colander. Either way, roll squash gently but firmly in a clean kitchen towel to remove excess moisture. Rinse and dry the large bowl in which they were sitting and place squash back in it. Coarsely chop mint and basil leaves and add to squash. (Don’t do this step too far ahead as sliced herb leaves brown quickly.) Drizzle lemon and olive oil dressing over squash and herbs and toss gently with fingers or tongs to combine. Season well with freshly ground pepper.

Transfer salad to a serving bowl and top with toasted pine nuts and shards of Parmesan shaved with a vegetable peeler. Ideally, serve immediately although salad can be refrigerated for a couple hours if necessary

Chocolate-Zucchini Cake

(Adapted by Melissa Pasanen from “The Classic Zucchini Cookbook,” by Nancy C. Ralston, Marynor Jordan, and Andrea Chesman (Storey, 2002))

Makes one 9 by 13 cake or two 9-inch round cake layers
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
One-half cup canola oil
2 cups white whole wheat flour, such as King Arthur brand, or half white flour and half whole wheat flour
One-third cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 and one-half cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
One-third cup nonfat or low-fat buttermilk
One-quarter cup natural unsweetened applesauce
3 cups finely grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture (about 1 large or 2 medium, no need to peel)
Frosting (see below) or confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. In a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stovetop, melt together chocolate and oil just until they whisk together smoothly. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a standing mixer, or using a handheld electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in chocolate mixture, vanilla, buttermilk, and applesauce and finally, flour mixture. Stir in zucchini. Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. When completely cool, frost if desired or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar right before serving.

Free Press testing note: We cut the fat by subbing in applesauce for half the butter, added whole grains through the use of white whole-wheat flour, and reduced the sugar but one-half cup in this recipe. As with all recipes baked with white whole-wheat flour, it tastes better if left to “rest” a day  – although it’s very good right after baking too.

Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting

2 tablespoons butter1 cup (about 6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (8-ounce) package low-fat cream cheese, such as Neufchatel, at room temperature
1 and one-quarter cup confectioners’ sugar

In a small microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, or in a small saucepan on the stovetop, melt together chocolate and butter just until they whisk together smoothly. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then, in the bowl of a standing mixer, or using a handheld electric mixer, cream together chocolate mixture and cream cheese until smooth and thoroughly combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and blend on low until fully incorporated, stopping to scrap down sides once or twice. Frosts two 9-inch cake layers or one 9 by 13-inch cake.

The VPR Café is made possible by Otter Creek Kitchenware in downtown Middlebury, offering over 70 lines of kitchenware, and by Kimball Brook Farm, organic milk and cream from Vermont grass-grazed cows.

Ric was a producer for Vermont Edition and host of the VPR Cafe.
Liam is Vermont Public’s public safety reporter, focusing on law enforcement, courts and the prison system.
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