Holy Zucchini Batman!!

I love summer produce and getting food from the garden, but right about this time every year I get overwhelmed. There is so much produce I don't know what to do with it all before it goes bad. I can only can & preserve so much of it. This week I feel like Bubba Gump, but instead of 50 ways to serve shrimp, I'm coming up with ways to use up an insane amount of zucchini. Just look at all this veg in my fridge.....awesome, but I need to seriously cook like crazy.  Especially, considering my parents are giving us another load this weekend when we visit them on the eastern shore.

So, I woke up this morning feeling motivated, but I've learned that in order to keep up my momentum I need to reward myself....what better way to do that than have a nice breakfast. I sauteed some zucchini in garlic & olive oil, tossed in some eggs and a hint of milk to make an omelette. Top that off with some sliced grape tomatoes, italian seasoning (harvested from my patio garden of course) and a smidgen of parmesan cheese. What I ended up with is a super yummy, mediterranian inspired omelette. I also got my protein and first serving of veg in for the day.

BTW, a small side note: I cooked this in my eco-friendly nonstick pan (they use ceramic instead of that nasty PFOA that is used on traditional nonstick pans), that is made by Cuisinart. It works fantastic. We received it as a wedding gift and my husband likes it so much he's been cooking breakfast almost every weekend for me. 

I still have a ton of zucchini left so here's how I'm using it:
-Its not summer without zucchini bread. I make several loaves, slice them up and then store the slices in the freezer so I can enjoy the summery snacky goodness for a few months. ITs also great for breakfast on the go.
-On the indulgent side, I love making chocolate zucchini bundt cakes. The zucchini keeps the cake super moist and whats more decadent than chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked in?!
-Breaded & baked zucchini fries are always a yummy snack. I like to served it with homemade roasted  tomato ketchup or a good marinara for dipping sauce.
- Here's an awesome recipe from Gourmet magazine that we love for parties: Zucchini Bacon Fritters
-We also love grilling off the zucchini and other veg with some fresh mozzerella to make paninis. The grilled vegetables also freeze surprisingly well.
-There's a family dish I love in the summer that my Great Aunt Jeanette calls LOMO. We have no idea where the name came from. Essentially all you do is saute about 2 sliced onions with some ground beef (I prefer ground turkey to cut the calories & fat).  Drain the excess fat from the pan.  Then add about 4 diced Roma tomatoes, 2 whole zucchinis (sliced into rounds), garlic, rosemary & oregano.  Let this cook covered until the juices reduce down and form a kind of stew. Then add a handful of Parmesan cheese.  This is a great way to use up extra zucchini from the garden as well as tomatoes. We usually will make batches of it and store it in seal a meal bags in the freezer. When we heat it back up, its great served over rice.

I hope this gives you a few ideas on how to enjoy your own zucchini explosion at home. I'll be posting form Maryland's eastern shore this weekend, who knows what I might get into to post about..
After that, the long awaited wedding wrap up (I finally got my wedding proofs). Hope you have a great weekend and can stay cool in all this extreme heat this week. Happy Summer!