I’m in the middle of reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I’ve enjoyed many of Barbara’s books over the years and find myself engrossed in this one. If you’re a foodie, care where your food comes from and have a hankering to grow your own veggies, this is the book for you. If you don’t, well you should read it anyway. It’s really that good.
Now, Barbara’s daughter Camille loves to cook and she shares some really tasty recipes in the book using food they’ve either grown, raised or purchased locally. This particular recipe for Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies was one I had to try and try right now. See, my CSA is overflowing with zucchini. I love it, but everyone in my family is getting a bit tired of it. So, I’m working to come up with creative ways to use it. Zucchini bread is a fave – I bake and freeze for mid-winter goodness. But zucchini chocolate chip cookies? Really?
I was curious enough (and craving chocolate enough) to deal with a hot kitchen (it was 103 outside) to find out what they tasted like. With only basic ingredients, this easy to make recipe is located on the website Animalvegetablemiracle.org where you’ll find all the recipes in the book. It’s in a pdf format so be sure you’ve downloaded Acrobat reader (it’s free).
The results were fabulous. Granted, they’re not Toll House, however they are tasty. You don’t taste the zucchini at all making it perfect for veggie-aphobia kids. My 11 year old and his friend gave them a thumbs up and grabbed a handful on their way out to play. My husband mentioned they were light and cakey and smiled as he gobbled a few more. Excellent! This is the sort of recipe that you can sneak in a bit of nutrition and everyone is happy.
Tip: if you have super persnickety kids who don’t like anything ‘green’, simply grate or chope your zucchini super fine. They’ll never know it’s in there.
Try it and let me know what you think. Oh, and if you have any creative ways to use zucchini, please post it here. My family thanks you.
PS. Like the recycled glass salad/dessert plate featured in the picture? It’s available at Greenfeet and is totally affordable!
Tags: animal vegetable miracle, barbara kingsolver, chocolate chip cookies, cookie recipes, green living, sustainability, zucchini
I doubled the below recipe & put it in a big casserole dish. Please use the roasted fresh poblanos. That taught me that any good quiche should have poblanos. I didn’t write the recipe so it is long and wordy. ENJOY!
Green Chile and Zucchini Quiche
Makes 6 servings
This quiche gets its Southwestern flair from Monterey Jack cheese and canned chiles. But if you have a little more time, you should lose the canned chiles and make it instead with roasted fresh poblanos, which are even more delicious. (See Tips.) I like the contrasting crunch of Triscuits, but just about any cracker would do. Then again, you could make this quiche without a crust and save a little time. Just put it in an oiled pie plate and bake it.
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
24 whole grain wheat crackers (Triscuits) ground in a food processor (about 1 cup) or 1 cup dried breadcrumbs homemade (see Tips) or packaged
1 medium zucchini (about 6 ounces)
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
8 ounces Monterey jack cheese, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)
8 ounces whole-milk cottage cheese (1 cup)
One 4 1/2-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
Bottled salsa, optional
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Stir 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into the cracker crumbs. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch glass pie plate. Bake the crust in the center of the preheated oven until it begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
Meanwhile, grate the zucchini, preferably using the grating disk of a food processor. Toss the zucchini with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain in a colander for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium; add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini well with your hands to remove excess moisture. Add the zucchini to the onion and cook over high heat for 3 minutes.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until thick and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the Monterey Jack and cottage cheeses, the flour mixture, and remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter to the eggs and beat well. Stir in the zucchini mixture and chiles and pour the mixture into the crust. Bake the quiche in the center of the oven until the top is puffed and golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Set aside at room temperature 5 minutes, cut into wedges, and serve with salsa, if desired.
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this kind of cookie is new for me.. wanna try this one..
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