Right recipes can turn zucchini from yuck to yum

When I was a little kid, Grandmother Mauer, usually a kitchen magician, cooked fresh zucchini until it turned to mush. And, she seasoned it so lightly that it had very little flavor. I dubbed it "Ugh Food."

Today, I like my zucchini raw or slightly undercooked and well seasoned with salt and fresh-ground pepper. Now, it's what I call "Ahhhh Food."

If you're growing zucchini this season you may be calling it "trouble." Since it's so darn prolific and fast-growing many gardeners can't work this green squash into their food plans fast enough.

Years ago reader Julia Arkus of Des Plaines sent me her original, kitchen-stained recipe that caused me to give zucchini another chance. Her zucchini bread recipe called for crushed pineapple and dates and she asked me to reduce the fat. It turned out many readers appreciated the leaner version as a delicious, family-friendly way to reduce their bumper crops of zucchini.

I don't grow zucchini so in the summer I turn to the farmers market for small, young zucchini no more than 4 inches long. Smaller means more tender texture and sweeter flavor. If you've grown zucchini, you know they can easily reach a foot long and be as big around as a baseball bat. Cut open one of those monsters and you'll find large, tough seeds.

Because it contains 95 percent water, zucchini is amazingly low in calories. You'd need 5½ cups of sliced zucchini to get to 100 calories.

What can you do with zucchini besides make zucchini bread?

You could grate zucchini and use it, half-and-half with grated carrots for a dandy zucchini carrot cake. I dust grated carrots for a carrot cake with sugar and let them sit for 20 minutes to drain. There's usually a half to two-thirds of a cup of carrot liquid (water) in the bottom of my bowl. Do the same with the zucchini (don't rinse or squeeze dry) and you'll have a flavorful cake that uses two excellent vegetables.

Try it on the grill. Simply split zucchini the long way into two halves and mist with olive oil for a leaner twist. Next, dust each half with salt, fresh ground black pepper and dried basil. On a medium-heat grill, zucchini should take about 3 minutes to the side. If the grill marks are golden brown, they're done.

Fresh, young zucchini never needs to be peeled, which makes it an ideal addition to tossed salads or even in slaw, mixed with shredded cabbage.

For a salad or slaw, use a mandoline or V-slicer with a julienne insert. If you're concerned that julienne zucchini will throw off too much water in the slaw, place the julienne zucchini in a clean (not terry cloth) kitchen towel and twist it tightly to wring out zucchini's water. Count this as part of your daily workout.

In late summer, or any time, zucchini can be a tasty addition to lean, stir-fries, as well as soups (if added very near the end since it cooks quickly).

Instead of being something you dread, this versatile, low-calorie, fat-free, inexpensive and abundant vegetable will be something you look forward.

Try this recipe: A few years ago I found a great zucchini recipe in Fine Cooking magazine. It called for too much butter and olive oil and mint for my taste so the next time I made it I cut the fat and switched out mint for my own fresh-grown basil. It's still a touch over 30 percent calories from fat, but a serving only delivers about a teaspoon of fat.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write him at don@theleanwizard.com.

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