Monday, July 20, 2020

Zukes, Cukes, and Beans

It's mid-July and the garden is producing a bumper crop of zucchini, cucumbers, and string beans.




My problem is what to do with it all. Here's what we've eaten (and are still eating) during the last week. (The kitchen in MD is very dark and the only decent light is from from the hood over the stovetop where I took these slightly odd photos.

A meta-cucumber combination of cucumber spears dipped in tzatziki sauce. We also had tzatziki on zucchini fritters but we gobbled those up before I took any photos.


The classic cucumbers in sour cream. There was always a bowl of this salad in my grandmother's refrigerator during the summer.


Sweet and dill refrigerator pickles. My house will probably smell of pickles for days and my hands are stained with turmeric.


John threw some string beans in a half-full container of old dill pickles, and now we have pickled beans.


And we've eaten plenty of plain old steamed string beans.


But wait ... there's more! Zucchini marinara and zucchini bread (one loaf pictured, five more in the freezer). Chocolate zucchini cake is the next zucchini recipe I'm going to try — soon. 


I hope I still have zucchini on the vine when the corn is ready to pick soon so I can make this, this, or some mashup of both recipes. 


I hope you're enjoying summer vegetables, whether they're from your own garden, a CSA, a farm stand, or the grocery store. I think I could be a vegetarian during July and August!

19 comments:

  1. I continue to be jealous of your bounty -- I know you're feeling a little overwhelmed by the quantity, but it must be so nice to have fresh veg from your backyard!

    Another idea for that zucchini is to make zoodles. I have a little handheld spiralizer and make them occasionally, either as a main dish or a side.

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  2. I, too, am very jealous. Fresh vegetables right outside your back door! I am glad your garden is doing so well, Bonny, and I hope you have a fabulous week.

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  3. Everything looks so good Bonny! We don't grow zucchini since Fletch doesn't like it (and he's the gardener). And he doesn't want to grow cukes either - not sure why. I think next year we will definitely have one cuke plant! And, for cukes, the salad I made the other week - cukes, pineapple and radishes with a bit of cilantro simply dressed in fresh lime juice was DELICIOUS (and refreshing)!

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  4. Wish I lived near you! I miss my summer garden! Thanks for the tour and so many great recipes!

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  5. mmmm, I'm coming over to eat! We have plenty of zucchini and we are eating daily which I love to do. We didn't plant cucumbers and wished we did.

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  6. This is a favorite at our house: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a11361/cooking-with-ryan-zucchini-cakes/

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    1. Thanks, Lisa! Zucchini cakes will be on the menu at our house later this week!

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  7. I LUV zucchini bread...my mouth waters just thinking about it. All your garden bounty looks delicious. Do enjoy.
    Cheers~

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  8. I love veggies at this time of year! I go to our local Farmer's Market every Saturday morning. This week I came home with 2 kinds of frying peppers: Jimmy Nardellos and Shishito. The Shishito peppers are a lot of fun, you pan fry them whole and one in ten is hot (like a mild jalapeno) and the Jimmy Nardellos are just about the best tasting frying pepper you can get. I also got onions, scallions. broccoli, wax beans, cherry tomatoes,yellow squash, & peaches. My meals are all built around the vegetables!

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    1. I've never heard of Shishito peppers, but I am definitely going to look for seeds for next year. They sound like real fun! All of your vegetables sound quite delicious and I'm sure you are eating quite well!

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  9. That recipe for chocolate zucchini cake is DIVINE - we love it! I make it in a 9x13 pan and skip the frosting, it is rich enough without it. :)

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  10. shhhhhh. I'm not quite as far along as you in my harvest! My garden is for our food pantry in our county. I do love zucchini breads. I should plant patty pan squash next year. ITs tiny and so good. Great green thumb ma'am

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  11. This is impressive! (and cukes in sour cream sounds so good right now! My nana always had that in her fridge too!)

    Tonight, I am making green beans saute'd with bacon (and we are going to try making some bread crumb coated beans for happy hour on Friday!)

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  12. Wow! I just saw a grilled zucchini cheese sandwich out there somewhere too! I'd be done about week one with a lot of zucchini. I have made the chocolate cake in the past though and it was good!

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  13. It all looks very delicious. Look how healthy you are eating all those wonderful veggies. Stay safe.

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  14. Yes, I remember many summer meals that were cucumbers in vinegar or a mayonnaise 'sauce' and corn on the cob.

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    1. The makings of delicious summer meals, and ones we dream about in winter!

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  15. My "garden" is not very big, but we've enjoyed a few zucchini so far and are popping a couple of cherry tomatoes in our mouths everyday! :)

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  16. I could be a vegetarian ALL YEAR (well, except for four steak nights, and the occasional BLT during the summer) and now I know I just need to be your neighbor to make that happen :-)

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Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment! :-)