Happy National Zucchini Day!

In honor of this national celebration of the giant green squash, I decided to share with you some ways we've been enjoying the bounty of our garden. Even if you don't have a garden, zucchini are really cheap this time of year, so I hope you can use one of the following recipes to take advantage of the savings!

The pasta pictured above is Farfalle with Zucchini and Gorgonzola from Serious Eats. We halved the cheese because we like a milder blue cheese flavor, but besides that we stuck to the recipe. This was Kyle's favorite way we've prepped zucchini so far (besides cake). 

Above is a Zucchini Potato Frittata from the kitchn. We omitted to bacon to make it slightly healthier, and it was still very good! We made it twice in two weeks, which for our ever-changing menu is a big deal. This and the next preparation have been my favorite so far. 

This is adapted from a grilled zucchini salad from the kitchn. We don't have a grill, so we used a different technique for the zucchini. We made it twice. Once, pairing the zucchini with uncooked cherry tomatoes as in the original recipe, and the second with cooked full size tomatoes. The amounts are very flexible, but here's a basic outline of the recipe:

Zucchini and Tomato Salad

2 medium zucchini

1 to 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or 3 to 4 regular tomatoes, diced

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved

2 tablespoons basil, chopped or chiffonaded

1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat up a cast iron pan. Cut the zucchini into quarters. Add olive oil to the cast iron pan and cook the zucchini on all sides until charred, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the zucchini and dice. If using good tomatoes, combine everything together and you're done. If you're tomatoes aren't amazing and they need a little help to be more flavorful, char them as well in the cast iron pan for a few minutes. Either way, this is a really easy summer side dish to throw together! Add some beans and grain and you've got a whole meal.