- We are in peak zucchini season
and if you haven't gathered by now,
zucchini is one of my favorite veggies.
It's not only healthy but incredibly versatile
and can be baked, grilled, sauteed, and of course eaten raw.
So today I thought I would share five easy zucchini recipes
that are perfect for summer.
I'll show you how zucchini can replace pasta in dishes,
be baked into crunchy and salty chips,
be turned into a light and fresh summer soup,
be leveraged as a base for tortillas tacos,
and to be turned into lightly sweetened zucchini muffins.
There's so many tasty ways to use summer squash
so grab a handful of them
and let's flip up these recipes together.
The first recipe we'll make our zucchini muffins
and they're moist, healthy,
and a great way to start the day.
Line a muffin pan with 10 liners,
and I'm using 10 rather than 12 as I like them
filled all the way to the top
then preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
and grab a medium zucchini.
Slice the end off the zucchini and use a box grater
to grate it up.
You'll need one and a half cups of shredded zucchini
and this measurement is the raw zucchini
before you've squeezed the liquid out of it.
I'll usually dump the grated zucchini into a measuring cup
to make sure that I'm close.
Place the zucchini into a nut milk bag
or a few layers of cheese cloth
and bring out all of the liquid.
You'll notice that I tend to twist then squeeze,
then twist then squeeze, just to make sure that
I get every last drop of water out of the zucchini,
because if you don't squeeze the zucchini hard enough
and remove all of that liquid,
you may end up with soggy muffins.
In a medium mixing bowl add the zucchini
and three large eggs,
a half a cup of apple sauce,
four tablespoons of maple syrup,
which is also a quarter of a cup
and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
Those of you who've made my baked goods
know that you don't taste the vinegar
but it reacts with the baking soda
to add a little extra fluff to the muffins.
In a separate bowl, add one and a half cups of almond flour,
half a cup of tapioca flour, a quarter cup of coconut flour,
one teaspoon of baking soda, two teaspoons of cinnamon,
half a teaspoon of nutmeg and half a teaspoon of salt.
Give that a stir to mix all of the dry ingredients together
then pour the wet ingredients on top and stir again
until you have a well blended muffin batter.
(upbeat music)
Scoop the batter into the muffin cups
and you do want them filled pretty much to the top.
What I'll often do is at a large scoop
to each of the 10 muffin cups
and then go back and scoop again just so I can make sure
that the batter is evenly distributed.
(upbeat music)
Place the muffins in the oven and bake them
for about 28 to 32 minutes,
or until they're lightly golden on top
and a toothpick comes out clean.
Given the moisture in these muffins,
it's best to slightly over bake them
rather than under bake them as you don't want them
soggy in the middle, but when they're done
they should be beautifully golden on top
and super moist in the middle with a cozy,
slightly sweet and spicy flavor
and just look at all of that nutritious zucchini as well.
For the next recipe,
preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit,
which is a low and slow temperature
because we're gonna bake thin and crispy zucchini chips.
Amanda Lynn is your best friend when it comes to slicing
one large zucchini very quickly and into evenly thin slices.
And while you can use a knife to do this as well,
just before warn *that if your slices are slightly thicker,
they may get crispy on the edges,
but stay soft in the middle.
I set my mandoline on the thinnest setting,
which is 116th of an inch for wafer thin and crispy chips.
And if you're in the market for a new mandoline,
I highly recommend mine, which I'll link to below.
Add the zucchini slices to a small bowl
and drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on top.
Then use your hands to gently mix the zucchini slices
with the oil, trying to make sure
every piece is lightly coated and that means
you'll sometimes have to pick apart several slices
to try to coat them, but don't stress
if you don't get them all individually coated,
just try to get most of them.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper,
and then place those zucchini slices on the baking sheet.
You can place them really close to each other
as they'll shrink when they bake
and if your zucchini was extra large,
you may even need three baking sheets.
Once the zucchini is all on the baking sheets
lightly sprinkled the slices with kosher salt.
You can always add seasonings as well
and I have a few flavor ideas for you on the full blog post.
Bake the zucchini chips for two to two and a half hours
until they're lightly golden on top and crispy,
then turn off your oven and let them cool in the oven
for another 30 minutes.
When they're done simply remove the crispy zucchini chips
with your fingers.
If you've sliced them extra thin, as I recommended,
they'll almost have the same texture as kale chips,
just very lightweight and airy,
but with a delicious salty crunch.
And if you plan to store these make sure to keep them
in an airtight container because if they're left out,
they will start to reabsorb moisture again,
though, to be honest, I can easily polish off
an entire batch of these all by myself in one sitting
so there's rarely leftovers.
Next, let's make some zucchini soup
and this creamy zucchini soup is dairy free
as there's a secret ingredient,
which I'll show you in a second,
but first slice and dice one onion,
and then place that in a bowl to take over to the stove.
You'll need four zucchini for this recipe
or about one and a half to two pounds worth.
My zucchini are so jumbo today
that my three zucchini equals two pounds
so that's all I need.
Cut the ends off those zucchini then slice them
in half lengthwise and then slice across
into little half-moon pieces.
These don't have to be perfect
as you're just going to boil them,
but try to keep them evenly sliced so that they cook evenly
and then add them to another bowl to take over to the stove.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil or avocado oil
in a large pot on medium high heat and add the onion,
saute the onion for four to five minutes
or until it's softened and translucent,
then add two minced garlic cloves
and saute for another minute.
Add the zucchini to the pot along with
three to four cups of vegetable broth or chicken broth.
I prefer my soup to not be super thin
so I usually use three cups of broth,
but if you like a thinner more watery zucchini soup,
by all means add four cups of broth.
And here's our secret ingredient to thicken the soup,
a quarter cup of raw cashews.
Lastly, add one teaspoon of kosher salt
and a quarter teaspoon or so a freshly ground black pepper.
Give that a quick stir to mix everything together,
bring the soup to a boil then add the lid,
reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes
or until the zucchini is tender.
While the zucchini soup is boiling,
chop up two tablespoons of fresh herbs,
and you can use a variety of tender green herbs.
I'm using a dill and parsley combination today.
When the soup has boiled for about 15 minutes,
remove the lid, add the two tablespoons of fresh herbs
and two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
then use an immersion blender to blend it up.
If you don't have any immersion blender,
you can also transfer the soup in batches
to a high powered blender.
It'll actually come out slightly smoother
in an upright blender rather than an immersion blender.
So it's up to you on the look and texture you prefer.
This creamy vegans zucchini soup
using soaked and blended cashews to thicken it
was inspired by my trip to Bali years ago,
as I had a similar soup in Ubud
and it was utterly delicious.
Lay a little portion of the soup into a bowl
and if you'd like you can drizzle a little bit of
extra virgin olive oil on top before serving
along with a sprinkle of fresh herbs
for the perfect summertime soup.
Next step we're making my zucchini noodle caprese,
which might just be the zucchini noodle recipe
I make most often.
And to start, let's make my basil pesto recipe from scratch.
To do that lightly toast two tablespoons of pine nuts
in a pan on low heat for a couple of minutes,
then remove those to a small bowl
then add a quarter cup of raw cashews
and toast those for another few minutes
until lightly golden and remove them to the same bowl.
Add the toasted pine nuts and cashews to a food processor
along with one packed cup of fresh basil leaves,
one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice,
a quarter teaspoon or a three finger pinch of kosher salt
and a little freshly ground black pepper.
Add the lid to the food processor and turn it on
then stream a third cup of olive oil through the top.
The basil pesto will start to blend but a lot of it
might splat towards the outside of the container
so you can stop and scrape down halfway through
then blend again.
And if you feel like you need a little bit more oil
for a thinner consistency,
feel free to add a little bit more.
This homemade basil pesto is vibrant green
and vibrant in flavor unlike store-bought pesto's
that always seem to be funky in color
I find that they're either a weird muted yellowish green
or a fluorescent green from added preservatives.
It's always shocking to me that store-bought pesto's
aren't just a simple basil green as they should be.
All right, let's make some zoodles.
You knows zucchini noodles are my jam
and they have been for nearly a decade
since I first went gluten-free.
To make zucchini noodles cut the ends off
three mediums zucchini place them individually
on a spiralizer and turn the handle
to make zucchini noodles.
I have a separate video that walks you through
how to make zucchini noodles five ways.
So if you don't have a spiralizer
make sure to check that out,
but I think you should buy a spiralizer anyway,
as I use it all the time in my recipes
and I'll link to my favorite one below.
Once your zucchini are all spiralized
add them to a large mixing bowl
and then use kitchen scissors to snip them in a few spots.
Zucchini noodles can get very long and cutting them makes
them more manageable to stir with other ingredients
and to serve up so that you're not doing
a whole lady in the tramp slurp though
there's nothing wrong with that.
Next, slice up eight ounces of cherry tomatoes
or grape tomatoes.
And I just love how the vibrant red color
of the cherry tomatoes compliments the green
from the basil pesto which you'll see here in a second
and then slice up eight ounces of
small little balls of mozzarella.
These are called ciliegine
and hopefully I didn't butcher that pronunciation too badly,
but they're small brown mozzarella balls
and they're perfect as they're the same size
as the cherry tomatoes.
Add the tomatoes and mozzarella
on top of those zucchini noodles,
then pour all that fresh basil pesto
that you whipped up on top.
Give it a stir to make sure the pesto coats
all the individuals zucchini noodles
and then transfer it to a serving bowl.
And if you're serving this for a dinner party or crowd,
it's always nice to add
a few extra fresh basil leaves on top.
And that's how easy it is to make
my favorite zucchini noodle caprese.
The last recipe I'll show you today
is my taco stuffed zucchini boats,
which are a healthy gluten-free
and low carb way to make tacos.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit,
and then slice four zucchini in half length wise.
Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds
inside the zucchini.
You wanna take enough flesh out
to make room for the taco filling,
but you don't wanna scrape out too much
otherwise you'll have a wimpy zucchini boats.
I usually scrape one time through to remove all of the seeds
and then scrape another time just to clean them up.
(upbeat music)
In a pan on medium heat add one pound of ground beef,
I'm using 90% ground beef and use a spatula to break it up,
continue breaking up the meat while it browns
for about seven to 10 minutes
and when it's about 90% of the way done
add two tablespoons of taco seasoning.
I have a separate recipe for homemade taco seasoning,
which again is much fresher than store-bought
and it's just a simple blend of a few spices.
Now, somehow I managed to not feel myself
adding the taco seasoning to the meat,
but this is what it looks like
after it's all mixed together.
So just stir that up, remove it from the heat
and then add it to your zucchini boats.
The easiest way to do this is to use a large spoon
and carefully pour it sideways into the zucchini.
And if you didn't over scrape the insides of the zucchini,
you should have the perfect amount of taco meat
to fill the inside of the zucchini hubs.
Now to soften the zucchini,
you'll bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes
or until the tops are lightly browned.
And this is why I said you can slightly under cook
the ground beef on the stove
because it's still going into the oven for a bit.
While the zucchini boats are baking,
you can prepare your favorite taco toppings.
I'm slicing and dicing two roma tomatoes,
because I think tomatoes are an essential on tacos,
and I'll also slice up some green onions,
but you can use red onions as well if you prefer.
When the zucchini boats come out of the oven,
the zucchini should still be soft,
but firm enough that you can pick them up
and they'll still have a little bit of a crunch to them.
And now you can add all of your favorite taco toppings.
I'm starting with some dollops of sour cream,
though if you'd like to keep these dairy free,
you can use a cashew sour cream,
and I've got a recipe for that on my website.
Then I'll add a few small handfuls of diced tomatoes
to each zucchini boat and a few small handfuls
of thinly sliced green onion.
Another essential on tacos,
at least in my opinion is avocado or guacamole
and I just thinly sliced half of an avocado
and I'll lay those slices on top.
Lastly, I'll add a few fresh cilantro leaves
for that Mexican flair and because fresh herbs
make everything taste better
and then I'll squeeze a little fresh lime juice on top
and that's it.
That's how you make tortillas taco stuffed zucchini boats.
In addition to the five tasty zucchini recipes
I just shared with you don't forget that
there's a few more favorites already on my channel,
including zucchini lasagna,
zucchini bread, zucchini fritters, zucchini fries
and zucchini pasta with lemon garlic shrimp.
But I have even more zucchini recipes on my website
and to make things easy for you I've rounded them up
into one blog post and I've left a link for that
in the description box below.
If you're a zucchini lover like me,
make sure to give this video a thumbs up,
share it with your family and friends
and let me know what zucchini recipes
you'd like to see me make next.
(upbeat music)