Zucchini in bread and pie?

Why is it that I used to write headlines for a living but can't come up with decent blog post titles? Oh well, it's recipes today.

After I picked up my share on Saturday, I spent most of the day cooking. This is what my kitchen looked like:

My kitchen is pretty small, so when I ran out of space, I moved to my table in the living room:

I found some great recipes to use with my share this week. The main ingredient is zucchini. I knew I had a couple of recipes I wanted to try using zucchini, so I traded in my rhubarb to get extra zucchini. I ended up with 3.5 pounds of zucchini, so I still have plenty left!
 
Here are the recipes:

Zucchini bread
(This is from my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I actually doubled the recipe and froze one loaf, and I’m so glad it, it is really good! Unfortunately, I do not have photographic evidence.)

• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Grease loaf pan, set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture.

In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, zucchini and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes (mine took a little less).

Zucchini Pie 
(This is courtesy of my co-op’s recipe blog and came highly recommended by a friend. It's also more like quiche than pie, but I'm leaving titled the same way they have it.)

• 4 cups thinly sliced unpeeled zucchini (I cheated and shredded mine with my food processor.)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley OR 2 tbsp. parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. sweet basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp. oregano leaves
• 2 eggs, well-beaten
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 can (8 oz.) quick crescent dinner rolls (I made Pioneer Woman’s Perfect Pie Crust instead.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In skillet, cook zucchini and onion in butter until tender (10 mins.), stir in parsley and seasonings. In large bowl, blend eggs and cheese. Stir in vegetable mixture.

Separate dinner roll dough into triangles (or make your favorite pie crust recipe). Place in ungreased 11-inch quiche pan, 10-inch pie pan or 12×8 baking dish. Pour mixture in.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. (I had to cook mine longer.) Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

As if I don’t have enough to eat, I made this pasta dish to use some of my cabbage. This is a very random assortment of ingredients, but I actually liked it. I was skeptical of the bread crumb mixture, but it’s exactly what the dish needs. I can't believe, I am saying this, but I actually liked it cold the next day for lunch just as much or more than for dinner the night before. Note that I decreased the amount of all the ingredients and didn’t measure anything very closely, which I realize is not much help.

Cabbage Tomato Pasta Toss 
(Recipe from AllRecipes)

• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 8 ounces bow tie pasta, uncooked
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 2 cloves garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup butter

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, vinegar, basil and parsley; set aside. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the cabbage during the last 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute bread crumbs, almonds and garlic in oil and butter for 6 minutes or until golden brown.

Drain pasta and cabbage; place in a large bowl. Add tomato and crumb mixtures; toss and serve immediately.

I really enjoyed all of these dishes, and I’m still eating them. I also still have asparagus and lots of lettuce to eat, but I did finish off the cherries.