it’s a vegetable dish

Right now in the Bay Area, according to people that don’t live in a small SF apartment and therefore have a garden (a.k.a. not me), we are in prime zucchini harvesting time. And, also according to those same garden-havers, after a few weeks of this plentiful harvest, it’s quite possible that they just might be sick and tired of eating zucchini. There are only so many meals of roasted zucchini, baked zucchini, or zucchini soup a garden-haver can handle but, alas, the forever fruitful zucchini plant knows no bounds. If you happen to be related to a garden-haver suffering from this Garden Zucchini Overload (G.Z.O), you should relieve them of their zucchini burdens by taking some home and turning it into it’s most unrecognizable—and therefore most delicious—form: zucchini bread. 

Read more to see how to make it!

NON-GARDEN-HAVER ZUCCHINI BREAD

This recipe is adapted from The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and will make three large rectangular loaves or one rectangular loaf and a bundt. 

I don’t have anything against zucchini necessarily except that it always has seemed like a cucumber wannabe (and who could blame them seeing as how cucumbers are so delicious!). I do, however, have a knack for magically turning vegetables into more saccharine savvy dishes which is precisely what I did with these. I am not sure what tricky chef decided to name this tasty stuff “bread” but it’s clear to me that the title is a fortunate misnomer. Obviously more akin to a cake than a bread ever could be, zucchini bread is the original dessert in disguise. It has paved the way for other vegetable-turned-dessert favorites like carrot cake and sweet potato pie, all of which you should eat with abandon as after all, they are simply vegetable dishes…

I N G R E D I E N T S

4 small zucchini (about 2 pounds) 

4 cups (20 ounces) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups (21 ounces) sugar

3/4 cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

4 eggs

1/2 cup plain yogurt (not nonfat)

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

D I R E C T I O N S 

Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease the loaf and/or bundt pans and set aside. Wash and trim the zucchini and grate with a box grater onto layers of paper towels to absorb as much of the excess water as possible. It is preferable to use smaller zucchini in this recipe but if you have a large zucchini, be sure to remove the seeds with a spoon before grating. Put drained and grated zucchini in a bowl and set aside.

Then whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in another bowl and set aside.

In a third larger bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, eggs, yogurt, and lemon juice.

You should have three bowls: grated zucchini, dry ingredients, and wet ingredients.

Add the zucchini to the wet ingredients and mix gently to combine. 

Then gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until combined.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached.

Let the bread cool until it reaches room temperature before serving and be sure to share some with those generous garden-havers that gave you the zucchini in the first place!