Grilled Zucchini

Follow my adventures in finding out how my local CSA produce was grown, growing my own produce, and embracing my inner “homemaker goddess” in the Good Eats series.

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been lucky enough to get an abundance of peaches and zucchini from our Hen House CSA. And while peaches and zucchini aren’t exactly great partners when it comes to food combinations, they both have their merit.

Here is a look at last week’s Hen House CSA pick-up. It included two pounds of ground chuck from Good Natured Family Farms, a gallon of 2% milk, Heirloom Tomatoes and Zucchini from Twin County Family Farms, Peaches from Bader Farms, and a Missouri Watermelon.

Both Hubs and I have been craving a peach pie. So we threw caution to the wind and used the majority of our peaches to make the delicious dessert.

Before I go any farther, let me be clear. The peaches we get from Bader Farms are like no other I’ve had – unless someone I know has a peach tree on their property. They are sweet and juicy – never hard – and taste like candy with a pit. As far as I’m concerned the Bader Farms are like “Peach Gods”. But back to the pie…

I’d love to tell you we took a great series of pictures while we were making the pie – we didn’t. We were having fun and then we were half-way into it and I realized I had forgotten. (Oops.) But, I will provide you with my homemade pie crust recipe and my peach pie recipe.

Since we also got zucchini this week in our CSA and because it is starting to become plentiful around the area (meaning you might be getting it in your CSA or you neighbors are willing to share some of their bounty), I thought I would provide you with another one of my favorite recipes. I’ve already shared my recipe for Zucchini Pasta and this week I’ll share – Grilled Zucchini.

Grilled Zucchini

Step #1: The Ingredients

Grilled Zucchini is painfully easy to make and requires less to nothing for ingredients – Zucchini, Italian Dressing and a Ziploc Bag.

Step #2: Prep the Zucchini

Wash your zucchini. The cut off both ends to make a nice level end. Cut the zucchini into 1/4 inch strips. You want to make each strip as close to 1/4 inch as possible – too thick and they can be “mushy”, too thin and they are “crispy”.

Step #3: Marinade

After you have cut the desired number of strips, place them into a gallon ziploc bag and pour enough italian dressing to cover. Close ziploc bag, toss the dressing around and place on a plate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. If possible, try to turn the bag a couple of times.

Step #4: Grill

Warm up grill to a medium to medium high heat. Place each zucchini on the grill for 2-4 minutes per side or until they have nice grill marks, but aren’t charred. When they start to look effervescent then you know they are done.

Grilled zucchini is a great side dish – it goes well with hamburgers, steak, or BBQ sandwiches. (Seriously, it is that versatile.)

What about you? What great uses do you have for peaches or zucchini?