Air-Fryer Zucchini

For a healthy and yummy veggie option, I tried these air-fried zucchini slices and thought they were pretty good. Enjoy!

Air-Fryer Zucchini

Calories per serving: 30-50

Ingredients:

• zucchini
• desired seasonings (I used garlic salt and pepper)
• powdered Parmesan cheese
• bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Thinly slice one zucchini (makes approximately 3 servings, depending on size). 
2. Toss with your desired amounts of garlic salt, pepper, powdered Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs.
3.  Air-fry for about 12 minutes or until crispy at 400 degrees, tossing the pieces halfway through cooking.

Marsha's Notes:

I tried to make this with grated Parmesan, which just kind of clumped up and burned in the air-fryer, so be sure to use the powdered Parmesan that will more evenly coat and stick to the zucchini. Air-fry until either tender, or keep cooking longer until as crispy as you like. There are no real measurements because zucchinis vary in size, so just use enough of everything to lightly coat each piece and then adjust to your tastes.

Creamy Chicken Sausage Orzo Bake

This recipe feels a lot like a take on the viral TikTok pasta/Merry Me Chicken recipes. It has lots of flavors that my family likes, including a vegetable that my kids will eat, so I had to try it. For some of us, this was the first time ever having orzo pasta, so yay for new culinary experiences! Everyone liked it, but Scott and I especially thought it was good. 

Creamy Chicken Sausage Orzo Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb orzo pasta (uncooked)
• 1 lb chicken sausage, sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes, drained
• 1 (5.2 oz) Boursin cheese (Garlic & Fine Herbs)
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for topping)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Fresh basil, julienned, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. Combine everything in the dish: Add orzo, chicken sausage, zucchini, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, seasonings, cream, and broth. Stir until evenly mixed. Nestle in the Boursin cheese right in the middle.
3. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25–30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
4. Mix in lemon juice so the Boursin melts into a creamy sauce, taste and adjust salt, then sprinkle Parmesan on top.
5. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes, until bubbly and golden.
6. Rest 2-3 minutes before serving — the sauce thickens as it sits. Top with fresh basil.

Marsha's Notes:

This orzo pasta does continue to soak up the sauce as it sits and cools, so you may want to add a little milk to your bowl when you reheat the leftovers. I was worried initially that the entire dish was going to be too liquid-y, but prepared as described above, the pasta did eventually soak up the liquid.

I found that reheating it with just a small amount of milk and a sprinkling of fresh parmesan worked beautifully! I did one minute in the microwave, stir, then an additional 30 seconds, depending on your portion size.

Sauteed Zucchini and Corn with Bacon

Always looking for more ways to get the boys to eat vegetables, so this bacon and zucchini corn recipe seemed like a safe choice, since the boys eat both of those veggies. And it was a hit! I got the original recipe from Belly Full, here: https://bellyfull.net/corn-zucchini-saute/#wprm-recipe-container-24715

To use an entire onion, and because our family of five can currently eat an entire side dish in one sitting, I decided to double the recipe and have leftovers, so my version is just a touch different, but basically the same.

Sauteed Zucchini and Corn with Bacon

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg sliced raw bacon, diced
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 small diced red onion
• 2 zucchinis, diced
• 2 small pkg frozen corn
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• Parmesan, if desired

Directions:

1. Sauté bacon in a large nonstick skillet until crispy and the fat has rendered, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain off excess fat if needed.
2. Add in the butter and onion; sauté for 3 minutes until softened.
3. Add zucchini and frozen corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 4 minutes.
4. Add in garlic, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Add Parmesan, if desired. Cook, stirring occasionally, until corn is tender, about 3 minutes more.
5. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Marsha's Low Carb Taco Chicken Zucchini Boats

The original recipe calls for buffalo wing sauce and blue cheese, but I wasn't sure my kiddos would eat that, so we did more of a taco chicken recipe instead and everyone liked it. I'm always excited to have a new way to get my kids to eat some veggies!

Marsha's Low Carb Taco Chicken Zucchini Boats

Calories per serving: 331 (per zucchini)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium zucchini
• 1 lb ground chicken, or two large cans
• 1/2 pkt ranch seasoning (about 2 Tbl)
• 1/2 pkt taco seasoning
• 1 cup shredded cheese or enough to cover the zucchini halves, whatever flavor you like

Directions:

1. Wash zucchini and then cut length-wise. Find a baking dish large enough to hold all the halves placed side by side, flat-side up. Spray the dish with non-stick spray. Scoop out the middle of each half for filling and place in sprayed dish. For a milder flavor and more tender finish, peel zucchini, but don't peel until after you have scooped out the center because the peel helps make the halves more stable so they don't break while you scoop. Go slow and gentle.
2. Raw Chicken: In a frying pan, cook the ground chicken. Our chicken gave off it's own liquid, which I took advantage of to help distribute the seasonings around. If you cook off all of the liquid before you add the seasoning, then you may need to add a little water back into the pan to get things stirred up evenly.
3. Canned Chicken: If using precooked canned chicken, if the meat is moist enough once drained from the can, you can just toss with your seasonings to coat and then distribute among the zucchini.
4. Evenly distribute the filling between all the boats. Top with cheese. Cover with foil (sprayed with non-stick spray if you think the foil will touch the tops of the boats) to help steam the boats. Bake at 350 convection (400 standard) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continuing cooking or broiling until cheese is golden and bubbly. Serve.
5. If desired, serve with a drizzle of ranch or blue cheese dressing. For a richer filling, add 4 oz of cream cheese to the chicken mixture.

Zucchini Sweet Pickles

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Zucchini Sweet Pickles

Day One:

1 heaping gallon of zucchini, peeled and seeded and cut into bite sized pieces 4 qts. heaping. 

1 gallon cold water

1 Tbl. calcium hydroxide (get at drug store) or slaked lime.

Mix all together.  Soak 24 hours in lime solution, stirring occasionally, to firm up squash.  Must use lime or it will be mushy. 

Day Two:

Drain, rinse, and let soak in plain ice water for 3 hours.  Drain and make syrup:

6 cups vinegar    

12 cups sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp mixed pickled spices               

Pour over zucchini and let set for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Day Three:

Bring everything to a boil in open kettle.  Boil until clear- from 45 minutes to an hour.  Seal in hot jars.  I put into a boiling water bath for 10 minutes to help seal.

Zucchini Bread

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs  
• 1 cup sugar 
• ¾-1 cup oil    
• 2-3 tsp. vanilla 
• 2 cups peeled grated zucchini
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking sode
• 3 cups flour
• 1-1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Mix all together and pour into a well greased loaf pan.  
2. For a crumb topping, mix 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup Bisquick together and sprinkle over top of dough.  
3. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.