Since I started working at Blenheim last year, many of my conversations now revolve around vegetables. Specifically, what to do with them.

“How do you cook kohlrabi?” “What should I do with escarole?” “You eat that raw?” “Mint in salad? Really?”

The conversations get especially interesting when we have a million of something. Like now, with zucchini in massive abundance, we've exhausted the usual recipes. Here's a sample of the variety of things you can do with zucchini:

Grill it. Add some balsamic vinegar & diced elephant garlic, and throw it on the grill. It's a healthy, delicious complement (or alternative) to all the red meat you'll see at summer cook-outs.
Saute it. Slice your squash in 1/4-inch slices, then throw it in a stir-fry. Add it after the onions, but before the garlic and leafy greens.
Roast it. Cut it into cubes, and roast it with turnips, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or radishes, plus garlic and onions. (I never roast anything without garlic and onions!)
Make a casserole. Shallots, tomatoes, bread crumbs, and asiago - can't go wrong here.
Spiralize it. If you own a spiralizer, make zucchini noodles and enjoy carb-free "pasta." You can put pretty much anything on top of zucchini noodles - just pretend they're noodles. Great for summer because they're cold and light, as opposed to real noodles.
Bake it in bread. Of course, there are a thousand variations of this. Here's one recipe showing that zucchini bread doesn't have to be a guilty pleasure. The coconut oil makes this one extra good!
Freeze it. Cut it 1/4-inch slices, then in half. Keep it in a Ziploc in the freezer, and it'll stay good for months. Add frozen zucchini to a stir-fry or saute, and you'll barely notice it's not fresh.
Make soup. I haven't tried it yet, but this recipe for spicy summer squash soup is on my to-do list (minus the bacon). If you make it, let me know how it goes!
Eat it raw. Grate it over your salad, or dice it and add it to salsa. Or slice it and serve along with carrot sticks with hummus and dip on a veggie tray. Raw zucchini is really tender and mild-tasting.
Make a boat. Wegmans has a great recipe collection on their website, including three (3!) different kinds of squash boats: Mediterranean, Lemon dill, and Spicy black bean.

Of course, anything you can do with zucchini, you can do with yellow squash.

There are also some fancy-yet-simple recipes for squash in Alice Waters' "The Art of Simple Food," which is a wonderful book for anyone who loves vegetables, organic food, and/or seasonal cooking.

And yes, I do put mint in salad. :-)

- Kim

P.S. If you want more zucchini, we'll be at the Fredericksburg Market next week with plenty of it! And you can always email us at blenheimorganicgardens@gmail.com.