Summer time often means that it is time to figure out what to do with those summer squash that just keep growing and manage to hide out in the large leafy plants and before you know it you have a monster summer squash on your hands.
We really enjoy this Costata Romanesca variety of summer squash. We think it has superior flavor to a zucchini and is prolific and we like that when it is cooked it maintains its shape rather than disintegrating into mush. The unfortunate thing (or fortunate thing?) is that they can get rather huge if unnoticed or forgotten about on the plant. In one week's time, a squash that was tiny and still had its flower on the end can get to be over a foot long and very large around.
We usually just cut up a large chunk at a time with the big ones and use it as needed in a dish, saving the rest in the fridge for another dish. Here, we wanted to share with you some easy methods to prepare a summer squash.
A side dish: pan roasted summer squash with rosemary
large summer squash
olive oil
rosemary
salt
Begin by chopping your squash into nice sized wedges.
Drizzle with olive oil, dash of salt, break up your rosemary and sprinkle onto the wedges.
Bake for 30+ minutes until squashes have are baked to desired doneness.
Enjoy on the side with many meals.
A side dish: squash, green bean and garlic tempura
summer squash chopped
green beans stems removed
garlic cloves peeled
2/3 c white flour
2/3 c arrowroot or cornstarch
2Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c carbonated water or beer (we used beer for this recipe)
extra flour for dredging veggies
canola oil
Mix all dry ingredients and add carbonated water or beer gradually until consistency of mixture is a light batter. Dredge veggies into flour and dust off excess. Dip floured veggies into tempura batter.
Deep fry in enough oil to over a few tempura battered veggies at a time. Too many wet veggies will lower the temperature of the ot oil and the tempura won't cook as well or evenly. Do this in small batches and drain onto paper towels or onto a cookie sheet.
tamari
brown rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil
mix these ingredients for a tempura dipping sauce
Enjoy the tempura veggies on their own or paired with a simple udon noodle soup of veggies, broth and noodles or with a stir fry dish (with summer squash of course!)
A side dish: zucchini butter (or any summer squash "butter")
This last side dish was passed along to me so I can't claim it as my own. But, we did try it out and ate it with a pasta dish. It was very tasty and I would like to make it again since we surely will have more squash.
check out the original posting here at Food52
http://food52.com/blog/7500-jennie-cook-s-zucchini-butter
We substituted the butter with olive oil and instead of shallots we used some multiplier onions and garlic.
And lucky me, with the roasted summer squash and tempura veggies I got to enjoy them cooked for me especially. What a treat! Hope you are also enjoying the many ways for cooking summer squashes this summer season.
What recipes do you love to use?
Enjoy!
