All gardeners, and their friends, neighbors and enemies, know this time of year: how much squash can you stand? In colder climates you won't be facing this for several more weeks, but here in California I planted the last week of March and peak squash is here already. Here are some things I'm doing with it.
In last night's great WFD diary, Melissa J talked about the gardener's most cherished produce, the tomato. Like so many of summer's delicious fruits, ripe tomatoes don't ship well so you don't find them in supermarkets. A homegrown tomato is nearly always much better than anything you can buy and your neighbors are usually happy to help with the surplus.
Summer squash is not the same thing. We grow them because they're edible and grow easily, but homegrown zucchini don't taste any different than store bought. And "grow easily" is sometimes a bug not a feature, since when ripe they take about 36 hours to go from "not quite big enough" to "too big".
I probably shouldn't have planted so much, but I've had very inconsistent results in my garden over the years so I try to fill up the space and see what actually produces. Last year my only good crop was green beans. This year the beans are starting slow, but boy do I have squash! So far I have zucchini, "eight-ball", and yellow crookneck.
3 big happy squash plants:
A month ago I had artichokes but they're done now:
My very first picking-size beans:
The current squash inventory - I've eaten several over the last couple weeks, gave some away, and just picked 2 small eight-balls. It's hard to keep up.
This doesn't show scale; the smallest zucchini, in back, is about 8 inches and that's the upper limit of "desirable" size. The two big ones are about 3.5 pounds each. The smallest of the eight-balls is about baseball size.
I planted mostly cherry tomatoes, this is about half of the crop so far:
Background (from wikipedia):
Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita native to Mexico and Central America... first cultivated in Mesoamerica some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago... Squash was one of the "Three Sisters" planted by Native Americans. The Three Sisters were the three main indigenous plants used for agriculture: maize (corn), beans, and squash. These were usually planted together, with the cornstalk providing support for the climbing beans, and shade for the squash. The squash vines provided ground cover to limit weeds. The beans provided nitrogen fixing for all three crops.
Summer squashes, including young vegetable marrows (such as zucchini [also known as courgette], pattypan and yellow crookneck) are harvested during the growing season, while the skin is still soft and the fruit rather small; they are eaten almost immediately and require little to no cooking.
Winter squashes (such as butternut, Hubbard, buttercup, ambercup, acorn, spaghetti squash and pumpkin) are harvested at maturity, generally the end of summer, cured to further harden the skin, and stored in a cool place for eating later. They generally require longer cooking time than summer squashes.
All these recipes are for "summer" squash. I say "zucchini" but they're all interchangeable.
For squash as a side dish, my basic not-very-creative approach is to saute with olive oil and garlic, and italian herbs.
Grilling is an excellent way to do summer squash, especially the round eight-ball and "patty pan" varieties that give you nice big slices that won't slide through the grill like zucchini spears will. Season some olive oil with garlic and thyme to brush on while cooking.
Vegetarians, or just frugal gardeners, will also look to use the squash as a main dish. I'm out of work so have lots of incentive to eat everything I grow.
This classic pasta with vegetables recipe has infinite variations.
Lemon Pasta Primavera
Lemon Pasta Primavera
For 4
2 medium carrots, cut in julienne
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium zucchini, halved, sliced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1-1/2 cups half-and-half
Seasoned salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 pound angel hair pasta
Melt butter in large skillet, over medium-high heat. Add carrots and cook 2 minutes. Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook 3 minutes. Add half-and-half, parsley, cheese and lemon peel; simmer 5 minutes.
While sauce is cooking, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, toss with sauce, and season to taste.
Because of its mild flavor, squash is great in strongly flavored sauces. Here are Asian-inspired recipes that are more often prepared with meat, tofu or other vegetables.
Zucchini Masala
for 2
2 tb vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tb minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)
1 tb garam masala powder
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 15-oz can tomatoes
Heat the oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, cook until the onion starts to brown. Sprinkle in the garam masala and stir well. Add the zucchini and saute until they soften. Add the tomatoes, cover, simmer 10 minutes. Serve with rice.
This easily turns into an Italian recipe instead of Indian: leave out the ginger and garam masala; add oregano and/or basil, serve with pasta and grated Parmesan cheese.
It's not any harder to make it Chinese.
Kung Pao Squash
for 2
2 tb vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 tsp minced ginger, divided in half
3 cloves garlic, minced, divided in half
1 tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 tb black bean paste with garlic
1 tb soy sauce
1 tb dry sherry
1/4 cup peanuts
Heat the oil in a wok or large saute pan over high heat. Add half the garlic and ginger and the red pepper flakes and stir-fry 30 seconds. True lovers of capsicum should of course add a fistful of those evil Szechuan red peppers. Add the onion and celery and stir-fry a couple of minutes. Add the zucchini and the other half of garlic and ginger and stir-fry a couple of minutes. Clear a space in the middle of the pan, add the bean paste, soy sauce and sherry. Stir it well and then stir to coat everything with the sauce. Sprinkle on the peanuts. Serve with rice.
I haven't yet invented Thai Green Curry squash; I think that's what I'm going to do with the yellow crookneck. That could be tonight. Onion, celery (I love celery and put it in everything), garlic, ginger, squash, coconut milk, green chili paste. Steamed rice, cilantro garnish.
Although summer squash are best when picked pretty small, there's really nothing wrong with the big ones. They will be a little tougher and maybe more bitter, so cook a little longer and stick to grilling or the spicier recipes. You need to remove the seeds and the stringier portion of the pulp.
There are also recipes designed to use the monsters. Stuffed zucchini is one of the classics, also zucchini bread and zucchini relish.
Here's a zucchini muffin recipe. It starts by cooking the squash with spices in a preparation like applesauce, so the chef named it "zapple".
Zapple muffins
Makes 18 muffins
- from "Serving Up the Harvest," by Andrea Chesman, Storey Publishing
For zapple sauce:
4 cups peeled, seeded and diced zucchini or summer squash
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For muffin batter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened, plus more for greasing pans
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
To make the zapple sauce: Combine zucchini and lemon juice in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until
tender, about 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, until slightly thickened. Let cool to room
temperature.
To make muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 18 regular-size muffin cups with butter. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a
large bowl.
Beat together butter and sugar in another large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk,
until smooth. Stir in zapple sauce until evenly distributed.
Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. The batter will be stiff; an ice cream scoop does a great job of distributing it.
Bake muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, until they have risen and a knife inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Turn muffins out of pan to cool on a wire rack.
I don't have a favorite recipe yet for relish or stuffed zuc, but a quick google will give you more choices than you want. I'll be making relish soon with some of those big guys, and all the recipes are pretty much the same except for how much sugar to use. Any of you who do have a favorite recipe for zuc relish, please share below.
Enough of this, I need to get back to the garden and fix leaks in my drip irrigation. It's way too nice a summer day to be sitting at the computer. I thought I was going to be home last night writing this, but then a friend invited me to the Giants game and what kind of fan would say no?
I hope something here hit the spot. Share your squash recipes and gardening tips, and tell us what's cooking at your place.