Choose one: zucchini or yellow squash

[IamRainey]

You guys who think you're "zucchini-ed out" need to make ratatouille. There is never enough eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper and tomato at my house!

I make it in big batches because it just gets better and better as leftovers and also makes the base for a mean soupe au pistou. Then, as soon as we've gone through a batch, it's time to make another one. It's the flavor of summer at my house!

 

[humblehillsfarm]

You guys who think you're "zucchini-ed out" need to make ratatouille. There is never enough eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper and tomato at my house!

I make it in big batches because it just gets better and better as leftovers and also makes the base for a mean soupe au pistou. Then, as soon as we've gone through a batch, it's time to make another one. It's the flavor of summer at my house!

Would you care to share your recipe? I’m not a fan of eggplant but I’m sure I could find an alternative or omit it.

 

[DaisyG2317]

Zucchini!

The bread is healthy

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Zucchini!

The bread is healthy

Mother Earth News just featured a chocolate zucchini cake that was to die for. Healthiest cake I’ve ever had

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Eggplant may be an acquired taste but Eggplant Parmigiana with a marinara sauce is to die for.
There are dozens of variations but all are good comfort food.

 

[Beachcomber]

You could try "zephyr" squash. It's two-toned colored. The yellow part is like regular yellow squash & the green ends are more like zucchini. Not sure if it's open-pollinated for seed saving though?

 

[SueT]

I like yellow better because it is much easier to see the squashes, i.e., they're less ikely to be hidden and turn into giants lurking beneath the leaves.
I have 4 plants of each, and have had several zucchini monsters that got away from me, while none of the yellows have.

 

[IamRainey]

Would you care to share your recipe? I’m not a fan of eggplant but I’m sure I could find an alternative or omit it.

It's far more of a method than a recipe. But here goes.

Start with an eggplant (it really is pretty important so I'd at least give it a try; all these flavors are going to meld together so, for you, this could be a love it or hate it thing). Cut off the stem and blossom ends, cube it, place the pieces in a strainer and salt them generously. Let them sit over the sink overnight.

Take a couple zucchini and do the same.

These are robust bite sized cubes, mind you.

Next day, get a large or a couple medium size onions and cut them into bite size pieces. Caramelize them. I do that in the oven stirring them every 15 minutes or so. (And when I do them for ratatouille I also do a bunch to have in the fridge for other things like burgers and grilled cheese sammies.) When they're golden and jammy, set them aside.

Take a couple red and/or yellow bell peppers. Core them and cut them into bite size pieces. Put them in pan/baking sheet you did the onion in and roast them until they're browned and soft. Set them aside.

If you're using fresh tomatoes, plunge them in boiling water to peel them. Remove the cores. Squeeze out the juice and seeds but save them. Roughly chop the solid parts. If you don't want to do all that or if you want to make this in the cold months (I always do!) get some good canned or boxed diced or crushed tomatoes. Put them in a shallow pan with lots of chopped garlic -- you'll know how much is "garlic-y" for your family.

Now get some fresh basil. Lots of it. pull off the leaves and chop them. Gather the stems and tie them together in a bundle. Save the chopped leaves. Put the stem bundle in the pan with the tomatoes and garlic. Simmer them slowly until they lose some of their moisture and get fragrant. Salt to taste. Take out the bundle of basil stems.

At the same time, take that eggplant and zucchini that have given up most of their moisture and pat the surfaces dry. Brown them -- separately -- in olive oil. You can do this by roasting them in the oven, sautéing them or deep frying them in about 2" of hot olive oil. Your choice. I do them all at different times to get variety in the character of each batch. Toss the browned veggies with a little salt. Set them aside.

Now you've got cooked eggplant, zucchini, onions, and bell pepper ready to assemble. Into a deep heavy casserole (you want slow gentle heat) goes the eggplant, spoon over it a layer of onions. Sprinkle with some herbes de Provence and chopped basil. Add the zucchini and cover that with a layer of onions. Sprinkle with some herbes de Provence and chopped basil.. Layer on the peppers. Top with onions and some more herbes and basil. Pour over the tomato mixture. If you feel like it's needed, strain the seeds out of the tomato water and add as much as feels good to you. You're looking to end up with a substantial "stew" of veggies -- not too runny and not dried out.

Put the casserole in a 325˚ oven for 30-40 minutes or so until it's steamy but your tomatoes still have a nice color. Plunge a spoon down to the bottom to serve.

There are lots of ways to serve ratatouille. As an entrée it's great with polenta or rice or noodles. I like it with crumbled sharp Feta or goat cheese. My husband likes Parm. The very French way to serve it is with a poached egg with a runny yolk on top. It's good cold as a salad. It makes a great "sauce" for fish. It's great as a veggie with grilled meat. It's great with eggs in the morning. I make a brunch dish with individual casseroles of ratatouille topped by polenta topped with more ratatouille and bake that with an egg and cheese on top. You can assemble a bunch of these in advance and bake them on a baking sheet for impressive presentation. You can also use it as a "sauce" with fresh veggies.

For the soupe au pistou you just take whatever you have left, add chicken broth to make a soup. Throw in whatever veggies you have at hand or thing it needs. Heat it through to cook whatever fresh veggies you added and when you serve it serve it with a generous spoonful of pistou (which is the French version of pesto).

I learned the peasant way but if you go online you can find much fancier versions where the veggies are carefully arranged instead of going in the casserole. When you glam it up, it gets called a byaldi. (And that's the Thomas Keller version that the Disney movie Ratatouille was inspired by.)

It's not a fast meal. That's why when I make it I make a big batch. But it's great and you can enjoy it for a week.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Ya'll. I was looking up patty pan squash thanks to @Peaches Lee and found out that not only can patty pan squash be used in any baking recipe that calls for zucchini, BUT it can be left on the plant to mature into a hard-skinned winter squash that stores well for winter, serving both decorative, and edible purposes.

Needless to say, I've been down a rabbit hole. Essentially there are 3 members of the squash family: C. pepo, C. moschata, and c. maxima. They cannot cross pollinate with each other. The patty pan I was looking at is in the cucurbita pepo family. I also grow lots of winter squash, and it saddened me to narrow down my varieties, but I can still have some that are good for long-term storage, decoration, and tasty. So if I grow Honeynut squash (Cucurbita moschata) and Sweet Meat Winter Squash (Cucurbita maxima), I'll have visually appealing varieties that were disease resistant, great for fall decoration, great for long term storage, tasty, and won't cross pollinate. AND the patty pan doubles as a summer and winter squash. I am in zone 6b if anyone wants to know!

I have already had great success growing the honeynut squash. Sadly, my second most prolific was a sugarpie pumpkin but it is a member of c. pepo. I grew a jarrehdale pumpkin, but it was no prolific, producing only one fruit and I grew numerous vines. I also grew the Lakota squash with the same result. So I am trying the sweet meat winter squash to replace both the sugarpie pumpkin and the jarrahdale in hopes that it is also prolific. Perhaps fer experimental purposes, I may grow both sugarpie and patty pan next year, as I will have plenty of extra patty pan seeds to move to next year. That wasy if the sweet meat winter squash is a flop, I will still have pumpkins. If sweet meat is a success, it looks like I'll have a good game plan!

I told you I went down the rabbit hole!!

My other reason for obsessing over squash is obvious: chickens love it! It's a great way to get them some extra veggie nutrition in the winter.

In case anyone is in zone b6, I have a complete list of seeds that work well in my zone, as well as notes for when to plant, when to start indoors, how many to use per family, etc. All plants to the extent possible are chosen for long-term storage capabilities, food preservation, disease and heat resistant. Chickens and pollinators are in mind as well. All plants are edible. If anyone wants the list I'd be happy to share.

It's far more of a method than a recipe. But here goes.

Wow thank you for the time you put into this!! This sounds fantastic. On a related note to my lecture about squash, eggplant is in it's own family and would be an excellent addition. I've bookmarked this and took a screenshot. I'll add eggplants to my list as truthfully, I've never given them a good chance.

 

[IamRainey]

Wow thank you for the time you put into this!!

Happy to share! It's about my favorite food of all time! And it's healthy, inexpensive and low calorie.

If you're really interested in it, do look it up online. There are TONS of ways of making it. In France it's one of those family classics that everyone has their own version of.

I've been making it since I discovered it after college 50 years ago and my method has evolved many many times over the years. The version above is what we've come to really enjoy.