Zucchini Crescent Pie

Now that zucchini season is over, I might actually post all my new recipes. I've been way to busy to blog. But, we had so much zucchini this year. My sweet neighbor brought me hers, and I grew my own. For the first time ever I grew a garden. I was pretty proud of myself. I never thought I'd get sick of zucchini, but I did. I hated to see it go to waste so I would cook it in some form every single day. I tried a ton of new recipes, but still have some of my old favorites. This was one that I made multiple times. I loved it. It came from Taste of Home.

Ingredients
1 package (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise and quartered (my zucchini were HUGE, so I just guessed on this one. I don't really know how much I used. And I cut the pieces very small.)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I left this out)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup cubed fully cooked ham
1 medium Roma tomato, thinly sliced

Directions Separate crescent dough into eight triangles; place in a greased 9-in. pie plate with points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides to form a crust; seal seams and perforations. Bake at 375° for 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender; stir in seasonings. Spoon into crust. Combine the eggs, cheese and ham; pour over zucchini mixture. Top with tomato slices. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My friend at work gave me this recipe. It was yummy!

Ingredients:
1/2 C softened butter
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
2 C grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 C sour milk (add 1-2 tsp vinegar to make milk sour)

Topping:
1 C brown sugar (I used about 3/4 C)
1 C chopped nuts (I used almonds)
1 C chocolate chips
Combine and sprinkle over top before baking

Cream butter, oil, sugar & eggs. Then mix in zucchini and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Last add sour milk. Pour in greased cake pan. Sprinkle with topping and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. (Baking time varies - just check with toothpick and it's done when it comes out clean.)

Black Bean & Zucchini Quesadillas

I found this recipe on health.com and I love it. We have an abundance of Zucchini, which I am grateful for, but I was tired of making the same stuff over and over so I was looking for something different. This was so easy and so good. I'll post the actual recipe, but I changed the measurements (or didn't measure)

Ingredients

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

2 tbsp salsa

1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini

corn tortillas

4 tbsp shredded cheese

Directions

1. Combine beans and salsa in small bowl, mash with a fork. Stir in zucchini

2. Layer 1 tortilla with half the bean mixture, sprinkle with 2 tbsp cheese, top with another tortilla

3. Repeat with remaining tortillas

4. In broiler or toaster oven, cook quesadillas 1 minute on each side until cheese is melted and bubbly.

***I used a whole can of black beans and approx 4 tbsp salsa. I probably used about 1 cup or more of zucchini and I didn't measure the cheese. I was also lazy and didn't mash the ingredients. I used flour tortillas instead of corn.*** 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I loved this bread! I wanted a recipe for zucchini bread with chocolate chips and found several, but this one came from Paula Deen from the food network website.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspons vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup choped pecans (I didn't add these)
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 tablespoon orange zest (I didn't have an orange so this was left out as well)
whipped cream for serving

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, pecans, chocolate chips, and orange zest. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaves from pans and cool. Chill before slicing. Serve with whipped cream.

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

I just realized I have had this in draft mode for a few months, along with several others. The bad thing about that is, I forgot where I got this recipe from to link back to them to give them credit. At least it wasn't their original recipe, but it still makes me feel bad. I tried looking for it but I couldn't find it, so I apologize for not giving credit to the appropriate person for this recipe. I didn't grow Zucchini in my garden this year, but thankfully had neighbors who did and were nice enough to bring them to me all the time. This was actually better than I thought it would be.  (I know I took a picture so when I find it I'll update this.)

Zucchini Pizza Casserole
source: Taste of Home

Yield: 6-8 servings.

4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (left this out)
1 can (15 ounces) Italian tomato sauce
1 medium green pepper, chopped

1. Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze out moisture.

2. Combine zucchini with the eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

3. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture.

4. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; add green pepper. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through.

Hamburger Zucchini

My friend Anne was telling me about something she makes with Zucchini. I decided to make it, without really having a recipe, and it was so yummy! And it was so fast and easy. Used fresh garden tomatos and zucchini. Yum yum.

Ingredients

Hamburger

taco seasoning (I only used 1/2 a packet)

zucchini

tomatoe

cheese

Directions

Brown and drain hamburger. Add taco seasoning. Add zucchini and cover. Cook for about five minutes. Add tomatoes and cheese and cook until cheese is melted.

Baked Zucchini Fries

My friend gave me some zucchini and so I searched for some recipes. I have a few I'll post, but these turned out so good.

I got this recipe from here

Baked Zucchini Fries
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Aggie’s Kitchen

About 1 lb. zucchini
1/2 c. Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs (If you don’t have or can’t find any Italian-style panko bread crumbs, just add 1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp. onion powder to 1/2 c. plain panko bread crumbs and you’ll be good to go. Either way, mix the bread crumbs with the parmesan cheese and set them aside.
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (the crumbly stuff, not shreds)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Whisk 2 eggs together in a shallow pie plate and set aside.

Cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut the zucchini in half so you have two short, stubby pieces. Set one piece on its end and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut that half in half, making 2 planks. Repeat with the remaining halves (so you’ll get 16 planks per zucchini).

Stack 2 planks on top of each other and cut into strips. Thicker strips will yield “meatier” fries with more zucchini flavor while thin strips will be crispy and taste virtually nothing like zucchini. When all the fries are cut, blot the pieces with a paper towel.

Working with a small handful at a time, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg, shake them to remove any excess, and then roll them in about 2-3 tablespoons of bread crumbs at a time, adding more as needed; you just don’t want to work with all the bread crumbs at once because they’ll soak up moisture from the egg and won’t stick to the zucchini. Place the coated strips on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the zucchini strips have been coated.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the prepared oven then remove from oven, flip the fries, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is not soggy and the coating is crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately with Pizza Sauce or Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.