Zucchini preparing to double in size every 15 minutes. This year, summer reached its full bounty early in the northwest. It has been hot and dry since May. This early summer has produced some unusual phenomenon, even for Vashon. My flowers came on extra-early. We’ve had one red tide that closed beaches. Some people have reported seeing unusually large bugs. I don’t have bugs, however I am suffering under the weight of a different Northwest summer infestation, summer squash.
What was I thinking? I know my reasoning. I love the patty pan squash. The Butterstick come on earliest and are so tender. Of course, the standard green zucchini is so useful and will produce under challenging, usually cold, conditions. Okay, I could have planted three plants, but what if one died? I planted two of each variety for safety sake. I was clearly out of touch with reality.
Now, I didn’t start all that many seeds, only six seeds per variety. I didn’t expect all eighteen seeds to sprout and survive to transplant stage. I did manage to give some starts away. The rest I consigned to the compost pile.
Being reluctant to throw viable baby plants on the compost pile, hubby snuck out to the garden with the remaining babies and tucked them in here and there. They survived and thrived, bloomed and bore.
Thus, I am developing my rounds for delivering summer squash to willing recipients. I think I’ll start giving it away at my flower stand. So far, I’ve refused to stoop to midnight summer squash raids where I dump oversized zucchini on innocent people’s doorsteps, so far.
Now, we are eating summer squash. We like it best simply steamed and bathed in butter. Since I pick it about ten minutes before it goes into the steamer, it couldn’t get more succulent and fresh.
Saturday night we had roast veggies featuring summer squash.
****
Recipe
3 Tlb. Olive Oil – pour in 9 x 13” baking pan
2 Tlb. Favorite seasoning mix. (I used Zataar from All Things Rich)
2 Cups each Patty Pan, Yellow Butterstick, and Zucchini Squash - cubed
2 Walla Walla Sweet Onions
1 Large beet
½ Head Cauliflower
1 Cup Broccoli Shoots.
Mix veggies with oil and seasoning until coated. Bake 400 for an hour or until beet chunks are fork tender.
Serve with a sprinkle of your favorite grated cheese.
********
Since we have leftover veggies for Sunday night, I tried something different for our Sunday Dessert.
Summer Squash Crumble
Crust:
1 Cup flour
¾ Cup Rolled Oats
1 Cup Brown sugar
½ Cup butter (1 stick)
Melt butter and mix into dry ingredients until crumbly. Press ½ of the mixture into buttered 8 x 8” baking pan
Filling:
4 Cups Summer Squash sliced into bite size pieces
¼ Cup Lemon Juice
½ Cup Sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
½ Tsp. Nutmeg
½ Tsp. Vanilla
Mix ingredients and cook in saucepan on top of stove until squash is tender
Thickening:
¼ Cup lemon juice
2 Tlb. Flour
¼ Cup sugar
Mix thickening ingredients together. Stir to eliminate lumps. Slowly add thickener to the filling while stirring.
Add thickened filling to 8x8 pan and cover with remaining crust.
Bake 350 for 35 minutes.
Hubby loved the crumble. It has a pleasant sweet tart flavor.
Pasta Sauce:
6 Cups shredded Summer Squash
3 Sprigs off of the Rosemary Bush (about 7” or 1 tsp. ground)
4 Leaves Sweet Bay
2 Sprigs thyme (1tsp ground)
1 Large handful Sweet Basil leaves (2 Tlb. Dried)
Cook Summer Squash with herbs until mushy. Pick out stems of herbs and puree in blender. An immersion blender works great. Return sauce to stove.
Add:
¼ Cup dry white wine (or 2 TLB. Lemon juice)
1 Cup Onion
3 Large Cloves Garlic
1 Cup Mushrooms
1 Cup Olives
1 Pound Sausage
¼ Pound Pepperoni
Simmer two or three hours until all flavors are blended. Serve hot over pasta.
Can sprinkle with favorite shredded cheese.
I will freeze the leftover sauce, since this would serve 8 people.
*****
In the past I’ve made zucchini pickles. We still have a jar or two left in the garage. Perhaps one could make wine or beer with summer squash. We’ve used it in salsa. I’ll add some to my sauerkraut and summer relish.
And it will keep producing until frost, which may not happen until December.
What do you do with your summer squash? I’d love to hear your ideas for using it. You can post your favorite recipe by clicking the comments button at the top of the page.
What was I thinking? I know my reasoning. I love the patty pan squash. The Butterstick come on earliest and are so tender. Of course, the standard green zucchini is so useful and will produce under challenging, usually cold, conditions. Okay, I could have planted three plants, but what if one died? I planted two of each variety for safety sake. I was clearly out of touch with reality.
Now, I didn’t start all that many seeds, only six seeds per variety. I didn’t expect all eighteen seeds to sprout and survive to transplant stage. I did manage to give some starts away. The rest I consigned to the compost pile.
Being reluctant to throw viable baby plants on the compost pile, hubby snuck out to the garden with the remaining babies and tucked them in here and there. They survived and thrived, bloomed and bore.
Thus, I am developing my rounds for delivering summer squash to willing recipients. I think I’ll start giving it away at my flower stand. So far, I’ve refused to stoop to midnight summer squash raids where I dump oversized zucchini on innocent people’s doorsteps, so far.
Now, we are eating summer squash. We like it best simply steamed and bathed in butter. Since I pick it about ten minutes before it goes into the steamer, it couldn’t get more succulent and fresh.
Saturday night we had roast veggies featuring summer squash.
****
Recipe
3 Tlb. Olive Oil – pour in 9 x 13” baking pan
2 Tlb. Favorite seasoning mix. (I used Zataar from All Things Rich)
2 Cups each Patty Pan, Yellow Butterstick, and Zucchini Squash - cubed
2 Walla Walla Sweet Onions
1 Large beet
½ Head Cauliflower
1 Cup Broccoli Shoots.
Mix veggies with oil and seasoning until coated. Bake 400 for an hour or until beet chunks are fork tender.
Serve with a sprinkle of your favorite grated cheese.
********
Since we have leftover veggies for Sunday night, I tried something different for our Sunday Dessert.
Summer Squash Crumble
Crust:
1 Cup flour
¾ Cup Rolled Oats
1 Cup Brown sugar
½ Cup butter (1 stick)
Melt butter and mix into dry ingredients until crumbly. Press ½ of the mixture into buttered 8 x 8” baking pan
Filling:
4 Cups Summer Squash sliced into bite size pieces
¼ Cup Lemon Juice
½ Cup Sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
½ Tsp. Nutmeg
½ Tsp. Vanilla
Mix ingredients and cook in saucepan on top of stove until squash is tender
Thickening:
¼ Cup lemon juice
2 Tlb. Flour
¼ Cup sugar
Mix thickening ingredients together. Stir to eliminate lumps. Slowly add thickener to the filling while stirring.
Add thickened filling to 8x8 pan and cover with remaining crust.
Bake 350 for 35 minutes.
Hubby loved the crumble. It has a pleasant sweet tart flavor.
Pasta Sauce:
6 Cups shredded Summer Squash
3 Sprigs off of the Rosemary Bush (about 7” or 1 tsp. ground)
4 Leaves Sweet Bay
2 Sprigs thyme (1tsp ground)
1 Large handful Sweet Basil leaves (2 Tlb. Dried)
Cook Summer Squash with herbs until mushy. Pick out stems of herbs and puree in blender. An immersion blender works great. Return sauce to stove.
Add:
¼ Cup dry white wine (or 2 TLB. Lemon juice)
1 Cup Onion
3 Large Cloves Garlic
1 Cup Mushrooms
1 Cup Olives
1 Pound Sausage
¼ Pound Pepperoni
Simmer two or three hours until all flavors are blended. Serve hot over pasta.
Can sprinkle with favorite shredded cheese.
I will freeze the leftover sauce, since this would serve 8 people.
*****
In the past I’ve made zucchini pickles. We still have a jar or two left in the garage. Perhaps one could make wine or beer with summer squash. We’ve used it in salsa. I’ll add some to my sauerkraut and summer relish.
And it will keep producing until frost, which may not happen until December.
What do you do with your summer squash? I’d love to hear your ideas for using it. You can post your favorite recipe by clicking the comments button at the top of the page.
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