Zucchini "Fries"

I have a confession to make: I'm a blog stalker.

There are quite a few blogs I follow via RSS feed, but this one is one I tend to save for a rainy day. When this particular recipe for Crispy Baked Zucchini Sticks came across my plate from Shawnda, a.k.a. "Foodie Bride" a few weeks ago, though, I just had to try it! We did, after all, have a TON of zucchini growing in our garden.

I'll begin by saying I'm ecstatic that we have so much zucchini growing in our garden, simply because this recipe is pretty fantastic!


You start off by slicing up the zucchini however you want. I did mine in slices, but in the original recipe, Shawnda did hers in sticks.

Fill a ziplock bag with 1/4 C flour.

Beat 2 eggs with 1 Tbsp water in a shallow dish.

Combine breading mixture (2 cups Panko breadcrumbs, Salt, Pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper) in a shallow container.

Add the zucchini slices to the bag containing the flour and shake to coat

Using tongs (or your fingers or whatever you want), dip each flour-coated slice in the egg mixture.

Then dip the egg-coated slices in the bread crumb mixture and set aside.


When the slices are nice and golden brown, take them out and let cool for 5 minutes.

Serve with your favorite sauce - we tried Ranch dressing and it was a home run!


Thank you so much, Shawnda for this great recipes! Now we won't cringe when we see large zucchini growing in our garden :)

Zucchini Bread

My friend, Laura, recently asked if anyone knew of a great zucchini bread recipe to use up her influx of zucchini, so I offered this one up! I figured I could just email it to her, but then I'd miss out on all the rest of you fine readers having it as well!

This isn't some family secret recipe or anything; It's from my Better Homes and Gardens recipe book, so all I've done is follow the recipe, and it's an easy one!

I don't have pictures this time (sorry), but maybe I'll add them some day when I have some fresh zucchini to work with!

Here it is, though:

Zucchini Bread

Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 50 minutes
Oven: 350
Makes 1 loaf (16 servings)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 beaten egg
1 C sugar
1 C finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 C cooking oil
1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

Instructions:

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, zucchini and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.


Tip: You can substitute apple (peeled and finely shredded) for the zucchini to make Apple Bread.