Zucchini Cakes

Makes 4 cakes (2 small servings)

Ingredients

1 cup zucchini grated, squeeze out moisture in towel

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

sprinkle of ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon paprika

3 cloves garlic, minced (I like garlic so if you don’t, try 1-2 cloves)

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients, except olive oil, in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once heated, add patties and cook until golden brown. About 3-4 minutes per side.

Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt!

I made these for myself for breakfast and I loved them. I premade the mixture the night before so that it was ready to go in the morning. I am definitely making these again, very flavorful and easy to make. 

Zucchini Bites

Makes 12 bites

Ingredients

2 cups zucchini, grated

2 eggs

1 cup yellow onion, diced

1/2 cup cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

1/2 cup garlic and herb bread crumbs (if you use panko just add some seasoning)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray.

2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach; if you skip this part, the middle of the zucchini tots will be really soggy while the outside gets crispy and no one wants that. I use a kitchen towel and squeeze out the moisture until it is pretty dry.

3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.

4. Fill the muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.

These were delicious! I enjoyed them warmed up but Ian liked them cold too. They were a mix between quinoa bites and little quiches. There was more egg texture than the quinoa bites but for how little ingredients there were, they were very flavorful. No need for dipping sauce or anything. I took them for lunch and my coworkers enjoyed them too! If you have extra or XL size zucchinis coming out of your garden I definitely recommend this recipe.

Nutritional Facts:

4 bites = 240 calories, 11 g fat, 23 g carbs, 13 g protein

If you want to make them even healthier use 3-4 egg whites and panko bread crumbs. 

Cucumber Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients

1.5 cups frozen strawberries (6-7 strawberries)

1 cup cold almond milk

½ cuke deseeded and peeled

1-2 TBS honey or agave nectar, to taste

Squeeze of lemon, optional

Directions

Blend!

This turned out pretty well! You taste strawberries more than cucumber and the cucumber made it very refreshing. Stay tuned for a homemade lemonade recipe!

Cheezy Zucchini Rice

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup long-grain white rice

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium or 2 small zucchini, grated

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

splash of milk, as needed

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan or a deep pan over medium heat.

2. Add the rice and stir to coat. Toast the rice, stirring often, just until it starts to turn golden. It sounds weird but it makes the rice not as fluffy/soggy and I think it produces a little nutty taste. Don’t burn it though! I think this step took us about 7 minutes.

3. Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and cover.

4. Cook, covered, for 15 - 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

5. Remove from the heat and add the butter, grated zucchini, cheddar, and garlic powder. No need to squeeze out the extra moisture in the zucchini on this one. Stir until well incorporated.

6. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

7. Stir again and add salt and pepper to taste and a splash of milk if you'd like to thin out the texture a little bit.

Ian and I absolutely loved this and it will be made again in the near future. Cheesy, a little nutty plus a healthy vegetable, I didn’t feel guilty about this one. Warming it up for leftovers was great too. I’m really going to miss having zucchinis from our garden…