Zucchini Casserole

Tammy is doing a recipe swap with summer squash and zucchini and I thought I should join the party. The timing on this made me laugh since I made up a version of this yesterday for lunch. Of course, I have no photos of that or of the real recipe! Trust me when I say that it is really good and that when I make it again I'll take some pictures. Also, just have to say that I am SO jealous of people who have this stuff coming out of their ears. We love it, but only one plant came up and there are just blossoms at this point. I'm hopeful that we'll get some and the farmer's market will supplement. The zucchini we ate yesterday came from two huge baseball bat sized zucchinis that Mike got at a gig from one of his fans. Maybe more will show up in our lives :)



Here's the original recipe:
3 cups diced zucchini--seeded and peeled
1.5 cups diced carrots

Boil these together until slightly tender and drain well

1 can cream of celery soup (or substitute homemade)
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz sage and onion dressing mix (dry)
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all together, reserve 1/3 cup for topping and add remaining amount to zucchini and carrots. Place in a casserole dish, top with reserved dressing mixture and some grated cheese if desired. It is really yummy!



Yesterday I had some left over homemade white cheese sauce and the end of a huge zucchini. I took out the center of the zucchini and boiled the outside shells in salted water for a few minutes until soft. I chopped up the insides, some green beans from the fridge, a few mushrooms, a chopped carrot, some red/orange/yellow pepper pieces that were lying around and some onion. All of these were cooked in a touch of olive oil until a bit tender. Seasoned them up with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Then I mixed in the white cheese sauce, a bunch of a bread crumbs from the freezer(some were finely chopped and some were bigger pieces) and put the entire mixture in the shells. Topped it off with a tiny bit of grated cheddar and some cooked pieces of bacon from the freezer and broiled in the toaster oven until the cheese was melted and the bacon was crispy and sizzling. It was really good and used up a ton of odds and ends that I had around. My favorite way to cook! Especially since Mike and little guy both liked it a lot too.

The rest of the big zucchini was chopped find to be used in soups or sauces this winter. The other one got shredded up and frozen for muffins, bread, or pasta dishes in the future.

I love summer and all the bounty. Now if only I could get my tiny garden to grow. Anyone have any produce they need used up here in Milwaukee? I'd be happy to give it a new home :)

Heather