It’s that time of year again, when the zucchini vines are producing vast numbers of the tubular green squashes. So many, in fact, that the joke that makes the rounds every year (and never seems to get old) has people leaving the veggies on a neighbors’ doorsteps in the middle of the night and then running like the wind.
Enough of that. In an effort to use the zucchini in as many different ways as possible, I’ve been collecting recipes for everything from a smashed zucchini salad with toasted chickpeas and peanuts to zucchini-pineapple bread to zucchini lasagna. In case you run out of ideas, at least a dozen cookbooks dedicated to the green squash are offered for sale online and on bookstore shelves.
But how much of the stuff can one eat? Turns out a lot, since every one of these recipes produces a different flavor profile. And the stuff is chock full of vitamins and minerals, so it’s good for us.
Here is my absolutely favorite zucchini bread recipe, taken from a cookbook published by a group of women’s volunteer organizations in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Not fancied up with chocolate or other unnecessaries, it is absolutely addictive.
Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini (if taken from the freezer, drain well before using)
1/2 c. cup raisins
Directions:
Beat eggs in mixing bowl.
Add oil and vanilla and mix.
Sift together dry ingredients and add to liquids.
Mix in zucchini and raisins.
Pour into 2 greased loaf pans
Bake 1 hour 5 minutes at 325° (or until a tester comes out clean)
This bread freezes well.
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