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Summer Squash: It’s Coming Whether you’re ready or not

By Linda Eckhardt on May 23, 2012

zucchini and yellow squash can be cut into matchstick too. yumsquashes take over the garden

As an ardent gardener, I look into the back patch of my vegetable garden and wonder if I’ve saved enough space for the zucchini. If you’ve ever grown any of the squashes, you will immediately see where they got their inspiration for the iconic science fiction movie , Invasion of the Body Snatchers. If you haven’t seen this movie in awhile, you might want to watch it before you put in that squash patch out back. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. Zucchini and other yellow squashes are delicious, cooked many different ways and the summer’s best producer. But their greatest asset is also their worst liability. They just grow and grow and grow.

Summer’s Smash: Huge Zucchini Mash

Those of you who garden know the zucchini’s deepest secrets. It can go from a nice, presentable vegetable on the vine one day, to a humongous baseball bat overnight. And what can you do with that? Well, first of all, cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard the seeds. Then you can use it for a vessel to serve other mixtures, or you can just whack it into submission, cook until tender and mash it like you would potatoes. Stir in some green onions and you have a brightly flavored summer delight that’s waaaayyyyy low in calories and carbs. Like about 3. Are you ready for that?

1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large garlic clove, smashed

2 pounds zucchini (can be one big baseball bat sized one or several smaller ones) whacked into pieces

1/2 cup water

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/3 cup chopped scallion greens

Sauté the pepper in oil and butter in a wide 4-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add zucchini, water, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil over moderately high heat, then cook at a brisk simmer, covered, until tender. Once most of the liquid has evaporated, transfer the mixture to the food processor.

Process zucchini to a rough puree then stir in green onions and more butter to taste. Serve hot.

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About Linda Eckhardt

Linda West Eckhardt, is an award winning journalist, food writer, and nutritionist. Her more than 20 cookbooks have garnered prizes including the James Beard prize for the best cookbook for a text she wrote with her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, entitled Entertaining 101, Doubleday. Their follow-up book, Stylish One Dish Dinners, Doubleday, was also nominated for a James Beard prize. Their next book, The High Protein Cookbook, Clarkson Potter, remains a best seller after 12 years. That book was designed to accompany low carb diet plans. Her ground-breaking book, Bread in Half The Time, Broadway Books, was named the Best Cookbook in America by the prestigious IACP, The Julia Child award. Her award winning radio work with Jennifer English, for a national show on the Food and Wine radio network, was nominated for a James Beard Prize for a show called, “I Know What You Ate Last Summer.”