Summer of the squash

Since joining an Astorian farm share, I've delighted in exploring the great biodiversity that I didn't know occurs in upstate New York from garlic scapes to fava beans and husk cherries (which, as I just learned, as not cherries at all, but rather tiny tomatillos). However, in addition to the diverse, new things I get each week, there are some things that just keep coming in abundance. For the last month or so, I've received several pounds of zucchini in my allotment. I was going back over the emails from the farm share, and I think since the season started I've probably received around 20 pounds of zucchini or other summer squash.

A bounty of squash should be taken as a gift, and naturally, that's how I looked at it for the first few weeks. It's great roasted in the oven or sauteed on the stove, and even better grilled at such times as I find myself near a bbq. Soon I had to get more creative though because the quantity of squash coming my way was too much to enjoy. I started hiding it in things like corn bread and brownies. When that still didn't quell the tsunami of squash, I started frying mass quantities of it. I'm actually kind of disgusted at the quantity of olive oil I've gone through after frying so much zucchini over the last month.

This veritable zucchini banquet includes a garlic zucchini soup, zucchini fritters, and a nice slice of zucchini bread for dessert.

One of my favorite things to do with zucchini is to thinly slice it and then saute it in garlic and olive oil, and then serve it with tomato sauce like pasta. I realize this is not a particularly nice photo, but I wanted to post it so that I can say I made the tomato sauce using farm share tomatoes. Yep. I did that.

Anyway, I thought if some of my readers are also trying to eat seasonal and finding the winding down of summer squash (as it transitions into the inevitable march of autumn squash) abundant, you might appreciate some of the following recipes:

Best zucchini fritters I have ever made. These are the appetizer in the zucchini banquet pictured above.

For those of you who prefer your olive oil saturated zucchini the traditional Italian restaurant way, this is a good one for fried zucchini.

Of the two separate zucchini brownie recipes I have tried, this was definitely the superior one. They're just so moist! And not at all tasting of zucchini!

Of the two separate zucchini bread recipes I tried, this one is far better. Also, the more nuts you add, the better off you will be.

I can't say enough positive things about this zucchini garlic soup. Then again, I put a minimum of 4 cloves of garlic in almost everything I make, so this is not surprising.

I think the summer squash season is finally winding down as we only got 3 pounds (!) this week, but that still leaves me plenty to work with. If any readers have some great squash recipes, feel free to send them my way!