If you polled farmers about garden humor, I suspect that you’d find out that the poor, prolific zucchini is a popular subject for jokes. That’s because, like rabbits, this summer squash greets life with a singular drive to be fruitful and multiply. I have one gardener friend who tells tales about drive-by” squashings”; these midnight capers involve sneaking from house to house to leave big bags of the squash on the doorsteps of unsuspecting neighbors, all in an effort to make sure that the squash glut gets eaten – just by somebody else.
That’s why we have recipes galore for zucchini; from bread to cookies, thrifty and clever cooks have found all sorts of ways to use up legions of the rapid reproducer, and do it in a way that combats the inevitable squash fatigue that comes with late summer.
But what’s really great about these recipes is that they’re also excellent options for the devious parent who stays awake at night plotting ways to sneak vegetables into the food of their unsuspecting offspring.
There’s almost an industry about this kind of cunning cooking. You might remember some flack over the publication of Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, which involved accusations of plagiarism by the author of a similar cookbook that dealt with sneaking good food into kids’ diets.
Well, there’s no controversy with this recipe. Zucchini Bread remains one of the easiest and most popular ways to use
up the surplus, and has the added value of irresistibility! Admit it, you’re already thinking of just how much butter one slice can handle. The Flour Head version has some added perks – including a unique addition of sunflower seeds and a healthy dollop of yogurt – both of which add a little je ne sais quoi to an old favorite. Best of all, it’s popular with all ages so it’s a perfect too to aid the dastardly deed of feeding little people squash and making them love every minute of it.
The key to sneaking good vegetable matter from the garden and into your kid is subtlety. So it might be wise to make this when the kids are not around. Or at least have the secret ingredient already prepped and ready to add to the recipe in a flash while you distract your kid with something like taking out the trash (even if you don’t succeed in assigning the chore, the inevitable whining will keep the juvenile mind occupied long enough for you to slip the zucchini into the batter unnoticed). And don’t be tempted to shortcut the shredding of the squash; you don’t want the vegetable to look anything like itself! After all, if you can’t see it or taste it – it isn’t really there! With this recipe – all they’ll taste is delicious.
One of the byproducts of using zucchini is that it adds lots of moisture to the recipe, so you’ll have a tender bite that tastes great at room temperature and lends itself to some butter-melting toasting, too! You’ll probably find yourself wanting to make this even when the garden isn’t overwhelmed with squash production.
Flour Head Bakery’s Zucchini Bread
1.5 cups All-purpose Flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground clove
½ tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup sunflower seeds
4 cups shredded Zucchini, shredded, about 3 small zucchini
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup whole milk plain yogurt
6 TB melted Butter
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Butter and lightly dust a 9×5 loaf pan with flour.
Place flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add pecans and sunflower seeds and stir with a wooden spoon. Set aside.
Shred Zucchini on the large shred of a box grater and set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, sugars, yogurt, and melted butter. Add the egg mixture and the shredded zucchini to the flour mixture, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated. The miixture will look quite thick. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes. Drop the oven temperature to 350 and bake another 35- 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, or a thermometer registers 203 degrees.
Remove the pan from the oven, and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15- 20 minutes, before removing from the pan.
For the best flavor, allow the bread to cool completely then place the bread in a plastic bag and let it rest for 12 – 24 hours before enjoying.