We have a lot of zucchini right now. I think that’s the case for most people who grow it, and like most, I’m always looking for ways to use it in interesting and tasty recipes. I’ve made several dozen zucchini muffins over the last week or so, and frozen them. This is the recipe I used, although I altered it a bit. I cut the sugar in half (and they are officially approved by my two-year-old) and used ground flax seed instead of the Ener-G egg replacer (don’t know what that is, and I typically use ground flax + water in baking recipes that call for an egg). I also used maple syrup instead of agave nectar, and skipped the crumb topping. I’ve made them with pecans and walnuts, and both are fantastic. I love the fact that I have about 50 whole wheat, zucchini-filled muffins in the freezer right now.
Today, I decided to see what I could do with this recipe for zucchini cakes. I know, a Paula Deen recipe seems like the last thing on Earth that I’d cook, but this worked amazingly well with the adaptations I made, and it used up a ton of zucchini. My guys both loved it, so I thought I’d share. I only had one yellow squash on hand, so I used that and five zucchini. I used a mixture of dry oats and bread crumbs instead of just bread crumbs. I also used Daiya vegan cheese (mozzarella – I buy it in bulk at the food co-op) instead of the Parmesan cheese. And instead of an egg, I used a tablespoon of ground flax seed (I didn’t add any extra water at this step, because the zucchini was still pretty moist even after I pressed most of the liquid out of it). I was out of Italian seasoning, so I used Old Bay instead. And I added half of a bell pepper to the food processor when I was chopping the onion, simply because it was taking up space in the fridge. If you eat eggs and dairy, by all means use the ingredients called for in the recipe. But this recipe worked great with the substitutions I made, so it’s pretty flexible, and can easily be adapted for people who are sensitive to those ingredients or choose to not eat them.
There was no way that I was going to fry anything in half a cup of butter, so I decided to bake my creation instead. Instead of making cakes, I turned it into a casserole and just baked it for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees. We devoured two thirds of it at lunch today, along with some fresh ears of corn from our backyard.
Right now, I’m loving recipes that use up lots of zucchini. And a recipe that has zucchini as it’s primary ingredient is likely to be pretty inexpensive at this time of year… if you aren’t growing your own, chances are someone you know is, and will be more than happy to share!
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