Challenge Ingredient: ZUCCHINI

Let me just say that I am excited for this challenge. But also not. See, I love to make zucchini bread, and I get excited when it's zucchini season this time of year every year. My zucchini bread recipes is my great-grandmother's recipe. Here's the "also not" part -- I don't share this recipe. It's the one thing I've chosen to keep to myself, as "the secret family recipe." So I'll make zucchini bread for you if you want, but I won't ever give you the recipe. Sorry. So I'm excited for this challenge (because I know it's the perfect time of year to make my zucchini bread -- her best I've ever tasted, by the way), but I'm also not excited because I have to figure out something else to make for the challenge. :)


Quick facts:

• Zucchini plants have big beautiful yellow flowers.
• Like the tomato, the zucchini is actually a fruit. Botanically speaking. According to Wiki, it's the "swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower."
• Zucchini are low in calories and contain good amounts of folate, potassium, vitamin A, and manganese.
• When choosing your zucchini, longer is not always better. Immature zucchini have better flavor, and longer may be a sign of fuller maturity.
• Choose zucchini that have firm, dark green skin. Old zucchini are soft and wrinkly.

(Sources: Wikipedia: Zucchini and How to Pick Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.

For more information on how to choose zucchini (specific to what you're making with it), click here.

Get your recipes posted by Sunday night, and happy cooking or baking!

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On posting:

When you tag your posts, please tag them with only these three tags: your name, the current challenge ingredient, and what type of dish it is (dessert, salad, side dish, bread, etc.). Please don't tag with previous challenge ingredients or preparation methods. Sometimes a dish can fall into two categories; when that's the case, go ahead and post two.