ZUCCHINI!!!!!!

It is that time of year again. The time of year when gardens are bursting with Zucchini. I have selected two recipes I recently acquired to help you use up your garden zucchini. A classic to everyone, Zucchini Bread and a new, but odd sounding favorite, Zucchini Pancakes.

I scored the Zucchini Pancake recipe from my sister-in-law, Anne, who got it from Cusine at home. I am not kidding you when I tell you that these little babies ROCK all over your kitchen to your plate! They are so flavorful. I have made these twice since getting the recipe and I have learned a lot in the process. The first time I made these they were PERFECT! The second time I made them I took them to dinner at a friends house and this is where the learning began...

Zucchini's have an insane amount of water in them. All the watering you do to bring these babies into the world goes right into the zucchini...well, not all of it. :) As a result of all that water, you have to squeeze as much of it out of the zucchini to make sure the patty doesn't fall apart while you're cooking. Because I was taking this to a friends house to cook, I prepared as much as I could in advance. I made the semi-fatal error of adding the egg BEFORE I left my house. We didn't eat for over an hour after we arrived at our friends house and the freshly squeezed zucchini absorbed all the egg and then sweat out additional water. I waited to add the baking powder knowing the chemical reaction that would happen there, but I should have left the egg out too. They still tasted FABULOUS, but were much more wet than the first time I made them.

Zucchini Pancakes:
2 medium zucchini, grated (~5c)
2 t kosher salt

Stir Together:
1/2 c flour
1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
1 egg
1/4 c yellow onions, grated
2 T chopped fresh basil
1/2 t garlic, minced
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Combine zucchini and salt for 5 minutes, then rinse in cold water and spin in a salad spinner. Stir together zucchini and remaining ingredients (except oil). Heat 2T oil in a skillet over med-high. Drop zucchini mixture by 1/4-c measures, flatten, and fry in batches, about 2 minutes per side. Serve w/ marinara sauce.

Recipe #2 Zucchini Bread
There are so many different recipes for Zucchini Bread. The one part that is consistent in nearly all of the recipes is the amount of vegetable oil they require...ONE CUP!!! There are 124 calories in a TABLESPOON of canola oil! A tablespoon! Well, I had to fix that! Instead of using the full 1 cup of vegetable oil the recipe calls for, I substituted 1/2 cup of the oil with 1/2 cup apple sauce. To make this bread even more healthy, I went back to my vegan roots and used Ener-G egg replacer instead of real eggs. Egg replacer mimics the chemical reaction real eggs do in recipes. You seriously can not tell the difference!

I replaced the walnuts the recipe calls for with chocolate chips...seriously, who actually likes walnuts in sweet deserts? Nuts in sweets should be banned! And they are in my kitchen!

Zucchini Bread:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

I scored this recipe from Allrecipes.com, submitted by v monti. This recipe received 5 out of 5 stars by 1141 members! What do I give it? This bread is FABULOUS! I give it a 5! Despite replacing the oil with apple sauce and using the egg replacer, it turned out moist and yummy!!!!