Zucchini Side Dish without tomatoes?

[Tripper]

Anyone have a suggestion for a zucchini side dish without tomatoes? I've already decided on a side dish that contains tomatoes so I don't want to duplicate that ingredient (although fresh tomatoes at this time of year are hard to overdo!) Any suggestions are appreciated.

[jmckee]

Coarsely grate zucchini and salt lightly in a colander, then weight down with a plate.

Wrap it in a towel and wring out excess moisture.

Saute some finely chopped sweet onion or shallot in a nonstick pan. Add the zucchini and saute, tossing lightly until just barely tender.

Add a liberal splash of cream and let thicken.

Turn into a buttered gratin dish, top with shredded swiss or other cheese and a sprinkling of bread crumbs. Run it under the broiler to finish.

[chef chicklet]

Zucchini steamed with baby shrimp, water chestnut, onion, and then drizzled with a soy, ginger, garlic and hot chili paste.

You can also stuff them with an Italian stuffing of garlic, bread crumbs, mushrooms, onions, and a salami or proscuitto and good melting cheese, top with more cheese and bread crumbs

[GEC]

I make this "Courgette Crumble" all the time. It's zucchini and potatoes with a walnut-bread-cheese-rosemary crumble topping. I use sharp Cheddar cheese rather than Lancashire.

http://www.toomanychefs.com/archives/...

[veggiemelt]

My favorite way is chopped and roasted with a touch of sea salt and oil. Drizzle with balsamic or sherry vinegar as a sweet finish. I also like them shredded, egg washed, and dipped in flour that's heavy on black pepper, and fried like pancakes. Yum!

[Emma47]

Grated Zucchini Sauteed in Butter. This is from one of Julia Child's books; it was the first dish I cooked from Julia. I'm working from memory here but it doesn't need to be exact. Grate the zucchini. Toss with about 1 tsp salt for every pound of zucchini (2 cups grated). Let drain in a colander at least 10 minutes. Rinse and squeeze out water until dry. Saute in olive oil and butter with a little garlic until tender. I like to add some parmesan or you can add sauteed shallots.

[weezycom]

a friend recently had them done this way and recommended to me. I likey very much. And so simple!

Cut zucchini into chunks similar in size to what you would do for hash brown/home fries potatoes. Stick some cornmeal in a bag, toss in your zucchini chunks and shake to coat well. fry up like hash browns in a non-stick pan with some canola oil. Brown & flip. Add S&P and drizzle some creme fraiche or thinned sour cream over.

[RGC1982]

Saute with quartered white or brown mushrooms and red bell peppers in garlic and butter. Add a little oregano, salt and pepper. Just be sure to cut the peppers to a similar size as the zucchini pieces and don't overcook the zucchini. These three veggies are one of my favorite side combos, and there is not a tomato in sight.

[DGresh]

sliced and baked at high heat with a sprinkling of parmesan, salt and pepper is really good and really easy.

[lgss]

Zuke with quinoa and hummus or pesto?

[pcdarnell]

I just slice them about 1/4" thick, half or quarter them after that, depending on size, than saute with some onion or shallots and a little garlic. When they are crisp-tender and a little browned, sprinkle with some lemon zest, salt and pepper. Finish with a quick squeeze of lemon juice. Sometimes I throw some thyme or oregano in there.

[LisaPA]

That is almost exactly what I did a few days ago. Zuke, onion and garlic half-moons, sauteed in olive oil with S&P. But I didn't add lemon. Yum!

[Foodie in Friedberg]

We must look like zucchini lovers, since our fridge is full of shared zucchini. In an effort to go beyond my usual steamed or satueed zucchini offerings, I did a quick online search and found the following recipe for zucchini squares (http://southernfood.about.com/od/zucc...). It does include Bisquick as an ingredient, but the result was well worth the price of a box and the sneers I'll probably get from some on this board (in my defense, I have a 13-month-old running amok at meal-prep time!).

Tonight I'm cutting one of the bigger ones into "steaks" and grilling them (just salt, pepper, and olive oil) then topping with fresh pesto. I have no idea how it will turn out, but at least it is different than the usual steamed.

[dfrostnh]

I like Bisquick. It's a nice, reliable product. This looks like a great recipe to try. Thanks! (And I'll publicly admit that I have several of those grocery store Bisquick recipe booklets.)

[fmcoxe6188]

Growing up my mother always used to really simply sautee sliced zucchini with just garlic salt and pepper in just a little olive oil (sometimes a little parsley) and then sprinkle parmesan cheese over them. I still get cravings for this dish.

[LindaWhit]

My mother always used to sauté green beans, zucchini, and garlic and onions together for a green veggie side dish. You could give it some oomph with a healthy sprinkle of Aleppo pepper.

[cocktailhour]

Zucchini fritters or patties. Shred zucchini, mix with a batter and fry in spoonfuls. Or, mix with eggs and herbs ad flour and form into patties. I ony have a vague recollection of these, so I can't give amounts. But they were delicious and I am sure you could find a recipe. I have been happy with baked or fried sticks, as described above.

[janetms383]

I make zucchini pancakes all the time. I make them just like latkes, only using shredded zucchini. After you shred it, make sure to squeeze the zucchini dry.

[jujuthomas]

that's what I was going to suggest - I made zuke pancakes Sunday and have been enjoying the leftovers all week! I even had one for breakfast this morning.
I used:
2 cups shredded zuke
1 cup bisquick
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup egg beaters
onion and garlic powders, salt and pepper.
still refining my recipe, must add onions next time!

[cinnamon girl]

I love zucchini pancakes too - especially warm with cold gazpacho ... it seems destined to be since they're in season together. I use Patricia Well's recipe from Bistro Cooking. She shreds 2 med zukes (8 oz/250g), unpeeled, in the food processor or by hand. Layers it into a colander w/ salt and lets sit 30 mins or so. Then squeezes it out by hand. Adds:
1 egg
2 tb cream
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tb flour
and fries in equal parts of peanut oil and butter (1 tb each for each batch).

If I want a smaller batch I just leave out the cream and it works out great. They're nice with a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche.

[katecm]

I cannot recommend this enough. It is so simple and so wonderful. Make sure you use enough salt and pepper. I've done it with other nuts, but almonds remain my favorite.

Also, I have sliced the zuke in advance and tossed it all up at the last minute. Very quick:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/08/my-...

[karykat]

I happened upon this recipe and we make it often. Love it. Very fast. And doesn't quite taste like zucchini to me. Somehow I think I started using butter in this, and browning it with the almonds. Think I will get back to the olive oil.

You have to watch the almonds closely. You want them browned but not burned. As katecm says, it's very fast. And goes with a lot.

We've done a similar thing with browned butter with toasted almond slivers, tossed with steamed green beans.

[janetms383]

I made oven fried zucchini sticks this last weekend and they were really good! I believe this was a Weight Watchers recipe.
Season flour with italian seasoning, salt & pepper. Beat egg whites (but I used the whole egg). Cut zucchini into sticks, dip in flour, then the egg, then roll in panko crumbs. Spray a baking sheet 4 times with cooking spray. Lay the coated zucchini in a single layer. Bake at 475, turning once approx 10-15 mins.

[LindaWhit]

These sound VERY good - and easy, janetms - thanks!

[cheesecake17]

These are awesome! One of my favorite recipes to make- thanks for reminding me. I don't season the flour with Italian seasoning, but I season the breadcrumbs with chili powder.

[LindaWhit]

That's what I was thinking - you could use all sorts of different spices to add a different taste.

Of course, it would need a marinara-type sauce for dipping - a roasted red pepper sauce would be excellent!

[cheesecake17]

Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara is good for dipping if you don't have time to make your own.

[janetms383]

The recipe called for seasoning the flour, but when we were eating them, we did say that perhaps it would be better to put the seasoning in the panko because when you dipped the floured stick in the egg, most of the seasoning got left behind.

[Gio]

You might want to consult the following web site for the ultimate in multi-zucchini recipes:
http://basic-recipes.com/veget/zucchi...

[tzurriz]

We have a crazy overabundance of zucchini right now (and I didn't even plant any! Thanks Sis). Anyway, I've found the BEST salad, seriously, it is now one of my all time favorite salads:

2-3 medium/small zucchini or one very large one
1/2 a red onion
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2-3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
parmesan cheese

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off long thin strips of the zucchini. Shred the whole thing this way into a large bowl. Dice the onion finely and toss with the strips. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Taste to adjust seasoning to your taste. Pour over the zucchini and onions. Use the peeler again to get strips off the parmesan, as much as you want. Or you could grate it I guess. I like the strips though.

Marinate for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better.

Oh so good. Trust me, try this. You'll love it!

[hotoynoodle]

steam the zukes, let cool and slice lengthwise. hollow out the center. saute that flesh with garlic, scallions, oil, chili flakes and toasted pine nuts. add finely chopped black olives and shredded mint and/or parsley. if you're not having cheese with the tomatoes, you can add feta or parm to this mix. stuff it all back in the boats. you can serve this warm or room temp. you can also top with bread crumbs and run under the broiler a few seconds.

you can shred the zucchini like noodles and use them as faux pasta, kinda like spaghetti squash.

i've also made these zucchini pancakes which were amazing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/din...

[icey]

Similar to the recipe above, I chop my zucchini and put them in a non stick pan with S&P and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic. I sautee them til they are tender and have some colour and then I toss in a nice sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley. So simple yet so delicious.

[critter101]

Here's one for Lost and Found Zucchini Casserole...it's tasty:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs...

[Gio]

Preheat oven to 425F. After washing the zucchini cut off each end then slice in half lengthwise and place in a shallow sided roasting pan. . Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, minced garlic then drizzle with EVOO. Turn to coat zucchini with oil and place cut side up. Cover cut side with freshly grated Parmagiano or Romano cheese. Bake till tops of zucchini are bubbly & brown but still slightly al dente.

I have served this as a side dish, then if there are a few leftovers, for another meal I have sliced them in half rounds and added them to a aglio olio sauce for pasta.

[danna]

Boil coarse chopped zucchini or yellow squash w/ some onion. Drain, and chop again. drain again. whisk together some eggs and milk, season(s&P,cayenne,herbs). Put the veggies in a buttered gratin, pour over custard mixture, sprinkle w/ cheese, then breadcrumbs, bake.

Sorry I'm not specific w/ amounts, this is a standard southern way to make squash casserole. If you want to be fancy, stuff it in a halved zucch. shell for baking instead of a dish.

[greygarious]

I was once served a zucchini gratin that was half-inch cubes of Velveeta and zuke, topped with grapenuts cereal and baked - I can't remember if there was any onion, milk or cream. I am ashamed to admit that I really liked it and made it a number of times. It's been years; time to resurrect that one. It's also VERY kid-friendly.