How Healthy Is Zucchini?

Zucchini is a summer squash and is mostly available during the summer season. It is high in fiber, vitamin C, vitamin A, magnesium, potassium and antioxidants. And yet, it is low in calories, fat and sodium, which can help to manage weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure. With high contents of antioxidants such as zeaxanthin, and lutein, it is one of the anti-inflammatory foods that protects our cell membranes. Zucchini is definitely a healthy vegetable to eat. Zucchini skin contains high amounts of these nutrients; therefore, you will get the most nutritional benefits from eating the skin when cooking zucchini.

There are many ways to eat zucchinis. They are often used in soup, casserole, stir-fry, roasted vegetable, and salad recipes. They are also good in baked goods such as breads, cakes, brownies and cookies. It is summer right now as I am writing this article, and zucchinis are everywhere. This inspired me to find ways to make my favorite zucchini dishes without using my oven. I am happy to tell you that I did it, and I want to share these recipes with you! Because, the skin is where most of the fiber and antioxidants are, keep the zucchini skin on when making these recipes.

Stuffed zucchini is usually baked in the oven. However, my vegan stuffed zucchini is made on a stove top. The recipe is easy, versatile and only takes 30 minutes. This a light and delicious side dish. You can also make it into a complete meal by adding additional proteins. Beans, lentils, quinoa and couscous are good plant-based protein options to use. Chicken, pork or eggs are great animal protein sources to stuff inside the zucchini. So, feel free to turn this side dish recipe into a meal for yourself. The toasted panko bread crumbs add texture to this dish. You can always use crumbled crotons to save time or simply skip this step if you like. I only used two vegetables in addition to the zucchini to keep the recipe simple. You can add or replace them with your favorite vegetables such spinach or mushrooms. See how versatile this recipe is?! 

If you want a quick bread that tastes like a cake, you must try my chocolate zucchini bread. This chocolate zucchini bread tastes like a moist and soft cake because I steam the bread on the stove instead of baking it in the oven. This bread is low fat. I discovered by using whole milk plain yogurt, you can get a moist and richness texture without adding oil or butter. Zucchini has high water content; therefore, it is important to squeeze out the water to avoid the bread becoming too soggy when steaming. Since the bread is soft and moist, you can eat it as dessert too!

When we think about pizza, we think about oven baked pizza. What if you want to eat pizza but don’t want to turn on your oven? How about trying my pan fried zucchini crust pizza?  The recipe makes a personal size pizza, which is a great for singles; it is also great for snacks and as an appetizer.

The “pizza crust” is made from the grated zucchini, whole wheat flour, Romano cheese and egg. However, you can substitute the whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour or other types of flours. You can also use parmigiana cheese instead of Romano cheese. No need to add additional salt to the crust mixture since the cheese gives plenty of saltiness. You can make it into different flavors by adding dried herbs or spices. I kept my recipe simple. I only used jarred pasta sauce, mushrooms and turkey bacon, but you can top the pizza with anything you like, the sky is the limit.

 I hope you enjoy these zucchini recipes. Please let me know which one is your favorite.

Happy eating!