Poor Misunderstood Zucchini

At this time of year, anyone who has a garden usually has a boat load of zucchini to get rid of.   This is a very versatile (and prolific!) vegetable, but so often laughed at or misunderstood.   It's one of those "like it" or "hate it" veggies.  But zucchini actually is very good for you!  Not only is it low calorie, but has lots of vitamins and minerals and even some lutein.  It is a good source for potassium, too.   Yellow summer squash falls into the same category as zucchini, and tastes almost the same.
     Some of my favorite ways to prepare zucchini are the following:
 - Slice it in thin slices or cube it up, and saute with butter and oil and garlic and maybe some onion.
 - Include it in stir-fries
 - Cut small ones in half and scoop out the insides.  Fill with partly cooked rice mixed with shredded carrots and cheese and seasonings you like.  Stuff back in the shells and put into a flat baking dish.  Pour diluted tomato soup over all, cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until the squash is tender. 
 - Mix with beans and rice or with couscous
 - Cut large ones on the bias into half inch slices.  Bread with flour, egg and bread crumbs and pan fry the slices in butter and oil until tender.  Serve with a dollop of spaghetti sauce or put some shredded cheese on top and let it melt. 
 - put diced zucchini into pasta salads
 - mix cooked zucchini with spaghetti sauce and serve over your favorite pasta
 - make a cream sauce and add a little grated Parmesan, then add small diced zucchini and serve over fettuccine
 - put into omelets or mix with scrambled eggs

Of course, most people think of zucchini bread when it comes to this vegetable - and that's good too.    But, in my humble opinion, the best baking use for zucchini is this excellent cake!  It is moist, needs no icing, and you cannot tell there's zucchini in it!   If a person never told anyone there is zucchini in this cake, nobody would ever know!   I got this recipe out of a library book long ago in the 1970's, so I don't really remember the source.   But I have made and served this cake for years and everyone loves it.   Yes, it has a bunch of calories (I'm pretty sure of that!), but once in a while it's good to indulge.   I make this cake only once or twice in a summer and that's about right.   Something to look forward to when summer comes.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cake (recipe follows)

A serving of this delicious cake that nobody would guess has zucchini in it!

CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI CAKE

2 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. baking cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter or margarine (I usually use 1/4 c of each)

1/2 c. vegetable oil (like Wesson)

1 3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. buttermilk (I use 1/2 c. milk mixed with 1 T of vinegar and let sit for 15 min)

2 c. grated zucchini (let sit for a while and then squeeze dry)

1 c. chocolate chips

3/4 c chopped nuts

     Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and set aside.   Cream together the butter, oil and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, using a mixer at medium speed.   Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in vanilla.  Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.  Stir in zucchini.  Pour batter into greased and floured 13 x 9 baking pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and walnuts.  Bake in a 325 oven for 55 minutes or until cake tests done.