Cooking with Zucchini

I'm always pretty crazy with my food cravings but it's almost comical while I'm pregnant. I've been eating more black bean green enchiladas than you can imagine for the last 27 weeks and I just don't seem to get sick of them. I thought I might as well try to add some more nutritional value to these enchiladas so I started adding zucchini. The first time I chopped it and sauteed it with the onion and garlic. I've since simplified and now I just shred it with the large holes on a cheese grater right into the pan of beans while they're cooking. I probably add one or one and a half cups of grated zucchini and I adjust the flavoring by adding more seasoning (cumin, paprika, garlic salt, salt, pepper, enchilada sauce). You would never know there's a green veggie hiding in the enchiladas and it's a great way to sneak them into your kid's bellies.

I've also been sneaking small chunks of zucchini into our smoothies and if you use some sweet fruit, you can't taste it. I get so much satisfaction watching my daughter and husband gulp down my smoothies without having any clue that there's all these raw green veggies in them.

I also like making sauteed zucchini one of two ways because it's easy and a good way to eat a green veggie. For the first, I slice zucchini into 1/4" rounds, then saute with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Remove from pan and sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. If I'm cooking Asian food that night, I season it differently. I cut it the same way, then saute in olive oil and season with salt, pepper, chicken bouillon powder and won ton soup seasoning (you can find this at Uwajimaya in Seattle).

Now that it's in season I will have to make some zucchini bread (recipe coming soon) and zucchini pancakes. Both delicious options for cooking with zucchini. If you have great recipes for zucchini, please share in the comments section. Would love some more ideas.