I love yellow summer squash – in moderation. It seems however, that a squash plant is a plant that keeps on giving and giving and giving. Then you have to figure out what to do with all the excess squash. So far we’ve stewed it, fried it, grilled it, baked it with Italian seasoning (delicious), and given much of it away.
I’m not a great cook and I don’t pretend to be. I can hold my own and that’s about it. But there are times when you have to get creative and take drastic measures. In other words, I pulled out the cookbooks, something that intimidates me. To complicate matters even worse, I reached for a cookbook I like but rarely use – Italian Cooking: The Definitive Encyclopedia of Fabulous Italian Food by Capalbo, Whiteman, White, and Boggiano. I rarely use this cookbook because it describes things that I don’t have a clue about or have an idea how to find at my local grocer’s. Plus it uses the metric system first along with the standard U.S. measures, which means I sometimes have to do math (never a good thing) or I glance at the wrong number in the margin. However, I was bored and feeling adventurous.
What I found was a delightful recipe for summer minestrone. The recipe called for green and yellow courgettes, which I assumed were zucchini and squash. I was desperate to use the squash and didn’t bother to look it up – that and the fact that I didn’t want to look it up. Other ingredients included olive oil, onion, tomato paste, Italian plum tomatoes, new potatoes, garlic, chicken stock, basil, and Parmesan cheese. Thank goodness my willingness to be adventurous paid off and I have a new recipe to keep on hand. Now I have to find something to do with all those tomatoes.
What summer vegetables do you enjoy?
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i would love to munch so many italian foods, italian foods are the best in my opinion and they are very tasty “-~
i would love to munch so many italian foods, italian foods are the best in my opinion and they are very tasty .:`
what i like about italian food is the tomato sauce and pasta'”~
what i like about italian food is the pasta and spaghetti. they are so yummy.”‘
i always love italian food, they are really tasty like indian foods.;”,
try grilling your squash, split squash in half and hollow seeds out, rub with olive oil and fresh garlic, salt and pepper. Put on grill on lowest heat possible turn until center is soft and outer layer is still a little firm, add FRESH parmesan cheese load it down(where u have hollowed it out) and wait till cheese turns golden brown. This is great. Enjoy
i love Italian Food specially those juicy pastas. They are really delicious.-,~
Wow, thanks for all the great ideas for squash. I’m going to have to try the stuffed sqash as soon as possible (sounds delicious) as well as look up the Pueblo receipe.
@Donna Lea Simpson – What a wonderful idea. I know of two local churches that have food banks and also cook for the elderly – I’ll call them.
Ellie, those fritters sound great. I was just looking at the NYT online, and there’s a column, inviting comments, about how to use summer squash. Some of the suggestions sound really good. The link is:
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/the-squash-challenge/
My favorite is squash fritters. They look like small pancakes and have same ingredients as bisquick pancakes, plus the grated squash.
Allyson, that stuffed squash recipe sounds wonderful. I’m definitely going to give it a try.
I’m also a big fan of cucumbers and tomatoes. My favorite salad (once I can get “real” tomatoes at the farmers’ market) is tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta with a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.
I love squash! It was the first food I ever ate and I have loved it since!!
My favorite recipe is quick and easy stuffed squash. Split two large squash in half, lengthwise and hollow it out. Microwave shells for 4 minutes to warm and soften. In a skillet, sautee 1 medium chopped onion. Add 1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey works well too) and brown. Lower heat and add a few spoonfuls of sour cream and italian seasoning. Let simmer. Turn off heat and add a small can of sliced black olives. Spoon mixture into the squash. Sprinkle Italian Bread crumbs on top. Put in the broiler for 5 mins or until bread crumbs brown. It takes about 15 minutes and is absolutey delicious.
I love tomatos and cucumbers. If I want to pretend to be healthy for a few hours: I slice tomatos, cucumbers, carrots, and celery. Arrange them on a plate then drizzle (I actually mean saturate) them in zesty italian lite salad dressing. I figure the lite dressing means that i can guiltlessly use twice as much.
Wow lucky you that you can use all of this squash. Are you familiar with the New Mexico Pueblo Indians use of squash in their dish called Calabacitas? It’s very good and easy to make
Donna, that sounds like a fantastic program.
In my city we have a program called ‘Grow A Row’ that encourages gardeners to grow fresh produce for the food bank. Something to consider! Fresh produce is so often the most neglected part of a person’s diet, if they have to concentrate on buying for a whole month at once, things that keep well.
Our summer squash plants haven’t started bearing fruit yet, so I guess now I know what I have to look forward to. I like it best grilled, but there’s only so much grilled veggies a family can eat. We also planted zucchini, but if that produces a lot I’m happy. I can make zucchini bread and freeze it. Can you make “squash” bread?
What I’m going to have an overabundance of is tomatoes and cucumbers. The tomatoes can be used for canned salsa and frozen spaghetti sauce. But the cucumbers we end up giving away. There’s only so many ways to use a cucumber.
I love summer squash, and that soup recipe sounds fantastic. My mother used to lightly steam it and then put a milky/butter/peppery sauce over it…wonderful. I mostly just steam it, or roast it. However, I also cut thin little strips of summer squash, zucchini, and carrots, saute them in olive oil, and serve them with marinara sauce & cheese on top (I pretend they’re pasta).
My favorite summer vegetable? I guess it would have to be asparagus. But honestly, I just like to try all kinds of summer veggies. I recently bought some kale at the farmers’ market, sauteed it with olive oil, garlic, and a bit of red pepper, and then mixed it in with some whole wheat pasta and Parmesan cheese. Delicious!