The first summer Rocky and I were married we didn’t have a vegetable garden, but the following spring I knew I wanted to make one in the raised bed on the south side of our rental house. So we planted peas, broccoli, carrots, green beans, sweet peppers, watermelon, and zucchini. Lesson #1 for first-time gardeners: Don’t spread yourself too thin.
Lesson #2: Don’t beat yourself up when your broccoli, peppers, and watermelon don’t make it.
Lesson #3: If you plant zucchini, you will need to find friends to share it with, or many many MANY recipes.
The go-to recipe for most people with an overwhelming amount of zucchini is bread. It’s easy, tastes good with or without butter, and is a good way to get your kids to eat some veggies.
The very first time I made zucchini bread, I followed my mom’s recipe, which called for “2 cups grated zucchini.” After making a huge mess with the cheese grater and finally making two cups worth, I was vowing to never make zucchini bread ever again. It turned out great though, just like I remembered when I was a kid.
Then my husband approached me with two comments. First: “Do I taste cinnamon?” Yes, of course, it’s in the recipe. “Zucchini bread doesn’t call for cinnamon.” To which I showed him my mom’s recipe, which indeed called for 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. To which he showed me
his mom’s recipe, which was the EXACT same recipe – minus the cinnamon…
It was our
first second married
argument discussion.
His second comment: “You should just chop the zucchini in the blender.”
Really?!
I read his mom’s recipe: Put 1 cup oil in blender and fill with chunks of zucchini until 3 cups. Blend until free of chunks, but not too long.
BRILLIANT!
I never was a big fan of the stringiness of grated zucchini in my bread and muffins anyway.
So that’s the big zucchini bread secret I wanted to share with you today. Maybe it’s not such a big secret. But it sure was news to me. And I love it. You don’t even need to peel the zucchini, leaving the skin on the chunks gives nice little green specks in the bread (which might not be so great if you have picky eaters).
So tell me… is this idea news to you? Or has the rest of the world been making zucchini bread this way forever??
(oh and tell me, cinnamon or not?? :)