Yummy Zucchini Recipes, Serving Ideas, and Food Tips

whole zucchini, slices, leaf, stalk, and blossom

 

Zucchini/courgette is a mild tasting summer squash. It’s botanically a fruit, but treated as a vegetable in the culinary world. It is harvested when the seeds and skin (epicarp) are still soft and edible.

Zucchini seeds contain many types of phytonutrients that help fight inflammation and oxidative stress. The edible top (or crown) of a zucchini can be used in cooking. It is flavorful and versatile, offering a way to minimize food waste and enjoy a unique part of the vegetable. 

See "Health and Nutrition Benefits of Zucchini" for more. 

Tip 1: Much of zucchini’s antioxidant content is found within zucchini’s skin, so it’s a good idea not to peel your squash. Scrape the skin instead. Please see the section about zucchini in the post "Three Green Summer Veggie Superstars," to learn more about zucchini. 

Tip 2: Select zucchini that has bright green firm skin and moist light yellow flesh. Those are the ones that have a mild taste and are rich in fiber and nutrients.

Without further ado, look below for recipes, prep tips, and serving ideas that feature ZUCCHINI! 

"Awesome Vegan Zucchini Lasagna" is an original recipe from me, Nancy Andres. Although the lasagna is low-carb and gluten free, it's colorful, hearty, and delicious. 

Here's how to slice zucchini for the recipe...

This is zucchini lasagna, when it's ready to be put into the oven.

vegan zucchini lasagna is high protein as well as flavor

Another great way to serve zucchini is by grating or slicing raw zucchini pieces into a salad for good health and crunch.

dish of red-skinned potato salad with zucchini, scallions, parsley, and seasoning

Add zucchini to ratatouille, a dish that combines zucchini with eggplant, tomatoes, and other summer veggies. 

For a simple yet flavorful taste treat, munch on lightly steamed zucchini that has a splash of balsamic vinegar or drizzle of olive oil on top.

Assemble slices of a medium zucchini, 1 small can (14.5-15.5 oz.) of drained and rinsed great northern or other white bean, a small can of tomato sauce or 4 roma tomatoes chopped well, chopped onion, 3 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 cups greens (I used baby kale-other options include spinach, chard, mixed greens, or collards) and combine for a simple sauté.

1 medium zucchini sliced, 1 small can great northern beans, 1 small can tomato sauce, 2 cups baby kale, seasoning, and parsley garnish for this simple zucchini sauté

 

Cadry at Cadry's Kitchen graciously contributed her recipe for squash blossoms. Here's a link to this mouth-watering recipe, "FriedSquash Blossoms with Cashew Cheese (vegan)."

 

Squash Blossom Recipe and Photo from Cadry Nelson from Cadry's Kitchen

These stuffed squash blossoms are fried envelopes of warm cashew cheese. What’s not to love?

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Do you enjoy eating zucchini and which ways do you like to prepare and serve it?

Please comment below.

I love to learn new things from my readers and respond to questions. I appreciate every comment and welcome feedback.

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Delighted to be the featured blogger at the Aug 22, 2025 edition of Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot. Thanks a million Melynda for selecting me and my blog Colors 4 Health. I'm so excited and honored. 

Here's the Link

Please say hello by commenting. Let me know if there are any of my plant-based foods or recipes you liked reading about or want me to post in the future. Are you curious about ways to promote a healthier lifestyle? Do you want to know which colors are healing, calming, stimulating, and joy inducing? I'll do my best to answer questions, hear your feedback, and fill your requests!

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The Comfort of Crows, My Favorite Read This Year

 

Front Cover Art by Billy Renkl, provided by Spiegel & Grau

The Comfort of Crows A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl was published by Spiegel & Grau on Oct. 24, 2023. I just learned of its publication this year and now shout its praises.

I am in awe of the narrative and illustrations in this literary devotional. The book contains fifty-two chapters that represent the passing of seasons, both personal and natural. Renkl's prose seems poetic to me. The interesting details about flora and fauna found in her backyard and neighborhood as well as her feelings, thoughts, and ideas about the people, places, and things she notices, cares for, and even dreads, is universal in scope.

The Comfort of Crows is a reflective work that uses the natural world as a means to examine life, loss, and the passage of time. While the book delves into the beauty and fragility of the natural world, it also intertwines those observations with insights about personal experiences including aging, family, the impact of the pandemic, and climate change.

 

Renkl is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss and Graceland, At Last: Notes On Hope and Heartache From the American South. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, where her essays appear each Monday. A graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Carolina, Renkl lives in Nashville.

The Comfort of Crows was illustrated by Billy Renkl (the author’s brother). Look below for a sample of one of the fifty-two original collages he assembled and see the illustrator website to learn more about their creation. 

Billy Renkl grew up in Birmingham, AL, attended Auburn University (BFA, Visual Communications) and the University of South Carolina (MFA, Drawing). He teaches drawing and illustration at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN.

Collage Art by Billy Renkl, provided by Spiegel & Grau

During the past few weeks I have taken a break from blogging to devote more time to nurturing my mind, body, and spirit. Reading this book has been a balm to my soul and an inspiring part of my selfcare practice.

I encourage you to check it out too.

For more about nature see:

"Unique Ways Colors are Key to Survival."

"Awesome Reasons Why Mourning Doves are Fascinating."

"Exciting Desert Spring Flowers for Wordless Wednesday."

Before I sign off, here's a quote from The Comfort of Crows that resonates with me.

“What if resting, all by itself, is the real act of holiness? What if honoring the gift of our only life in this gorgeous world means taking time every week to slow down? To sleep? To breathe? The natural world has never needed us more than it needs us now, but we can’t be of much use to it if we remain in a perpetual state of exhaustion and despair.”

― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

Have you read a book this year that inspired or motivated you? Which one or ones are they? Please comment below in the space provided.

I feel joyful when I find non-fiction that is truly memorable, and this book is it!

Have you read anything written by Margret Renkl before? If not, who is your favorite author or authors?

Do you think you'd like to read this book? Why or why not? Please share that too.

I read and appreciate all comments, but am not able to publish those with links. Thanks for understanding.

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