Forest Girl Farm

By this point in the season, zucchini isn’t really a vegetable you plant so much as a situation you manage. One or two hills tucked into a raised bed can outproduce a family of six without breaking a sweat, and the ones that hide under the leaves always seem to turn into baseball bats overnight. Rather than let them pile up on the counter, here’s how I keep the harvest useful instead of overwhelming.

Grate it and freeze it now, decide later

The single most useful thing you can do with an overwhelming zucchini harvest is grate it and freeze it in measured portions before you’ve even decided what to make. Two cups per bag is a good default, since that’s what most bread and muffin recipes call for. No need to squeeze out the moisture before freezing — just do that later, right before baking, by pressing the thawed zucchini through a clean kitchen towel. Having a stash of pre-portioned bags in the freezer means zucchini bread is possible in January, not just July.

A zucchini bread that never fails

This is the recipe I come back to every summer because it’s forgiving enough to survive a chaotic kitchen with kids underfoot.

• 2 cups grated zucchini, moisture pressed out
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil (or half oil, half applesauce)
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup walnuts or chocolate chips, optional

Whisk the eggs, oil, and sugar together, fold in the zucchini, then stir in the dry ingredients just until combined. Split between two greased loaf pans and bake at 325°F for about an hour, checking with a toothpick after 50 minutes. It freezes beautifully once cooled, which makes it an easy thing to tuck away for a fall morning when nothing is growing yet.

Savory options when you don’t want another sweet loaf

Not every zucchini needs to end up in a dessert. A few savory go-tos that work well for a family dinner:

• Zucchini fritters — grated zucchini, egg, a little flour, and Parmesan, fried until crisp on both sides
• Sliced and grilled — brushed with olive oil, salt, and whatever herbs are nearby, then grilled until char marks show
• Shredded into pasta sauce — stirred into a simmering marinara, where it practically disappears but adds bulk and nutrition
• Zucchini & herb soup — sauteed with onion and garlic, simmered in broth, then blended smooth

Don’t fight the glut

The trick with zucchini is accepting that it’s going to keep coming whether you’re ready or not. Once you’ve got a bread recipe you trust, a savory dish you can make without thinking, and a freezer stash for later, the glut stops feeling like a problem and starts feeling like the garden doing exactly what it’s supposed to do this time of year.