The summer squash and zucchini are just starting to come in from my garden. It won’t be long before I am overwhelmed. I only planted two zucchini plants this year, so although I have a lot of zucchini, it is still manageable. However, this year I went wild and planted 3 crook neck squash and 3 yellow straight neck squash on purpose and 2 on accident (and I think I have a volunteer next to my eggplant). I compiled a list of summer squash recipes last year to address the abundance, and decided it was time to do it again this year. If you have any favorite summer squash recipes that you would like to share, please leave me a link or recipe in the comments and I will include it in the list.
Recipes that are in my meal rotation now:
~Zucchini Potato Skillet
~Sautéed Summer Squash and Zucchini
~Sautéed Squash with Onions Shelia at KnitsCooksCrochets prepares her yellow squash in a similar manner only she sautés her onions in butter instead of olive oil.
Most of the above recipes allow us to savor the fresh picked squash. As we tire of eating it every.single.day I will move to recipes where the squash will acquire more flavor from the recipe’s other ingredients.
Recipes that you will find on my Menu Plan in the near future:
~Chicken Pesto and Couscous Salad
~Pasta and Vegetables in Lemon Parmesan Sauce
~Skillet Squash (might not be the real name, but Lori at A Frugally Old-Fashioned Homemaker did not name it. I miss your post Lori, Thanks for keeping your blog up!). Another great tip from Lori: Use yellow squash in place of zucchini in zucchini bread.
Zucchini Frittata is the frugal recipe of the week at I’m Losing It Here. Laura says her family also likes zucchini casserole. Which is basically lightly steamed squash tossed with toasted bread cubes, diced pancetta or bacon, garlic cheese and a milk and egg mixture to set the casserole. Very easy to put together, and very pretty when made with different types of squash. Laura also loves to add grated zucchini (moisture squeezed out) to sour cream and diced green onion for enchilada filling.
~Zucchini and Chicken Pasta with Parmesan I know this is a zucchini recipe, but Liz at The Frugal Engineer said it would work well with squash instead of zucchini (I hope you are doing well Liz! Thanks for keeping your blog up too!).
Visit Amy at The Finer Things in Life . She compiled a wonderful list of zucchini recipes many of which could be adapted to include summer squash. And since I am passing on zucchini recipes, visit Kara’s Kitchen Creations. She has tons of wonderful recipes including Zucchini Brownies, Cinnamon chip Zucchini Brownies and Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.
~Zucchini Frittata (I don’t know if this can be adapted to squash or not, but it sure looks delicious).
~Zucchini Pancakes and Summer Squash Breakfast Burritos. If you are really over run with summer squash and need to step your consumption to three meals a day than try these recipes.
Squash Tips:
~If you have a choice, choose smaller squash since they have less seeds.
~Grated summer squash can be used to replace carrots in carrot cake!
~You can freeze your squash. Cut it up into bite size pieces or shred it then freeze it. Erin at $5 Dinners cuts up summer squash along with zucchini, carrots, onion,and celery then freezes it so she can pull it out and add it when she makes Zucchini Freezer Soup.
~You can pickle squash! Kendra at New Life on the Homestead has a recipe for Squash Pickles that I am excited to try.
~You can easily grill squash. Cut yellow squash in half, coat the cut side with you favorite marinade, and grill it alongside your steaks.
~You can eat it uncooked. Try adding some to your next salad.
~Summer Squash is a broad term that includes all squash that reach maturity in the summer (instead of fall like pumpkins). When I am in the garden I am inclusive in my definition, but once I step into the kitchen I tend to limit my definition to the yellow varieties.
What is your favorite way to eat squash?
N.B. I have discovered that neighbors are more willing to accept my overflow, If I bring it with a couple of recipes for how it can be prepared.
This post has been linked to Food On Fridays.
Dan@retrooregon says
Thanks for visiting my post and leaving the link for the recipes. I was hoping there was a way to freeze some of these squash. We will try it!
Struggler says
Your recipes have such wonderful names – Squash Puppies is my fave 🙂
I think we'll take a stab at growing zucchini next year…
Elizabeth says
Yum; I love squash and zucchini! We aren't growing any (no room) but I love this time of the year because you can get it super cheap.
My favorite way to cook zucchini is in pasta 🙂 This recipe is what I use the most:
http://theunemployedlibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/04/recipe-pasta-and-vegetables-in-lemon.html
Thanks for the great recipes!
Melissa says
Who knew that three cucumber plants could produce so many cucumbers?!
I haven't tried Lori's recipe for freezer pickles, but I'm going to!
http://littlehouseinthefoothills.blogspot.com/2009/06/freezer-pickles.html
LivingSoAbundantly says
I will definitely have to bookmark this link. Thank you so much. =)
Georgia says
What a wealth of resources! 🙂
Jill says
Hi!
I found your blog through Sheila's and I saw she commented about your squash recipes and I just had to come by! My family loves squash. Thanks so much for sharing these great recipes!
Blessings, Jill
Alea says
Melissa – I accidentally over planted cucumbers seeds this year, so we are going to be over run before the year is out. I guess this is the year I will learn to pickle!
Sheila – You did leave a comment but it was somehow lost when I edited the post to add more photos. Your recipe sounds a lot like my Sauteed Squash with Onions, which happens to be my most favorite way to eat squash! i am going to add your variation, butter sounds like a wonderful addtion!
Laura – You are so with it! I don't know what I am posting tomorrow, let alone next week.:D I will add the link as soon as I see it go up. I will just copy and paste your other suggestions and if/when you write posts on those I will update it with a link.
Laura says
Thanks for these great links! We had several squash plants last year (zucchini, crookneck and pattypan) and were overrun, so only have two zucchini this year. We figured we could get the others at the farmer's market if we needed or wanted them.
Our two favorite recipes are zucchini fritatta (recipe up on I'm Losing It Here next week!) and zucchini casserole. It's basically lightly steamed squash tossed with toasted bread cubes, diced pancetta or bacon, garlic cheese and a milk and egg mixture to set the casserole. Very easy to put together, and very pretty when made with different types of squash.
I also love to add grated zucchini (moisture squeezed out) to sour cream and diced green onion for enchilada filling.
Sheila says
I thought I posted to this earlier but I guess not. Thank you so much for all the squash recipes. I can't wait to try them. I've already picked out a few to try really soon. We love squash in this family. I cook squash one way–saute' some onions in butter and add the sliced yellow squash–cover and let it cook down. I used to make zucchini with onions and tomatoes but I haven't made that in ages. Thanks for sharing.
Melissa says
Wow, great list! Thanks for including my link, too.
We're not growing squash this year, but we're up to our eyeballs in cucumbers!