Zucchini Wars

Anyone that grows a garden knows about zucchini plants. They are out to take over the world! At least their world. . . their plant life world. . . Case in point, my garden:

Truthfully, we have some lovely zucchini plants this year, more than we really need, and yesterday I was excited to see a great big zucchini amongst the vines and leaves.

"Oh boy", I thought. "I can make my zucchini casserole that I love. Finally. I've been waiting forever!"

So I brought it in and today is the day. Only thing is, my recipe calls for 8 cups of sliced zucchini. As I was chopping zuks today I started to get worried. I ran outside to check for any other zucchinis that I might have missed. I know they can double their size in an hour. All I could find was a teeny one that still had a flower on the end. I was desperate and grabbed it.

It looked puny next to the big guy. As long as I have 8 cups, I don't care.

I just made it! Yeah! Then I realized I'm out of Parmesan cheese. Dang! Oh well, I will improvise by just adding extra cheese. Here is the recipe. And mom, I think you can make this work for your diet as well:

Squash-Rice Casserole

8 cups sliced zucchini (about 2 1/2 lbs)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup fat-free sour cream (actually I use lite)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduce fat sharp cheddar cheese (umm, I use the real stuff)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain, partially mash with a potato masher. Combine zucchini mixture, rice, sour cream, cheddar cheese, 2 tbls Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and eggs in a bowl, stir gently. Cook in a 13x9 baking dish (use lots of cooking spray!), Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake 30 minutes. Yummy!

Here's some other fresh items we are having today:

Michigan blueberries, lovingly picked by us today


Red cabbage, from our garden