Zucchini (or zucchini) is a vegetable that is on the menu for those who like to eat delicious food and those who follow the figure. It has a delicate flesh without a pronounced odor, a neutral taste that can be easily enriched with your favorite spices. Zucchini cooks very quickly, does not cause allergies and contains only 27 kcal per 100 g. It is with squash puree that pediatricians recommend starting feeding babies. Well, for an adult menu, this vegetable is good fried, baked, stewed, pickled. You can also make simple, hearty and delicious snacks from zucchini.
Zucchini rolls
By analogy with the popular recipe for eggplant rolls, you can prepare the same snack with zucchini.
Ingredients:
- 2 zucchini with a total weight of 1 kg;
- 100 g flour;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of starch;
- 150 g of hard cheese;
- sour cream or mayonnaise;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- greens;
- vegetable oil for frying;
- salt and pepper to taste.
For the recipe, be sure to take young zucchini with small seeds, because you do not need to remove them. If the skin is tough, it is best to remove it. Slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin strips. Dip your workpieces in a dry mixture of flour and starch. This is done to remove excess moisture and create a crispy crust. Now you need to fry the zucchini on both sides in a pan with the addition of vegetable oil. Put the finished zucchini strips on a paper towel to remove excess fat.
To prepare the filling, grate the cheese on a fine grater, add garlic passed through a press if desired. Season this mass with sour cream or mayonnaise, add finely chopped herbs, salt and pepper. Next, place a couple of teaspoons of the filling on the zucchini strip at one of the edges. Roll gently into a roll. Serve, garnished with herbs, lettuce leaves. For convenience, you can insert a skewer into each roll.
The filling does not have to be cheese. It will turn out tasty and less high in calories if you use cottage cheese with garlic, herbs and sour cream. A slice of tomato or bell pepper wrapped in a roll with the filling will add a refreshing note to the snack. Instead of garlic, you can add finely chopped pickled cucumbers. Meat options are also suitable for the filling: chopped boiled chicken, ham cubes. The final choice depends on your imagination and your favorite products.
Squash caviar
This snack can not only be prepared for the winter, but also prepared for daily use. The recipe is simpler, does not require long cooking. This squash caviar has fewer calories than the classic version, since no mayonnaise is used.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg zucchini;
- 2-3 medium carrots;
- 2 medium onions;
- 50-70 g tomato paste;
- 3-4 cloves of garlic;
- vegetable oil;
- salt and pepper to taste.
You can take any zucchini. For large fruits, remove the peel, remove the seeds. Use young zucchini completely. Cut the courgettes into medium cubes. Chop the onion, grate the carrots on a coarse grater. In a small amount of vegetable oil, fry the onions and carrots, add the zucchini to them and simmer under the lid until tender. It will take about half an hour. Finally, add chopped garlic and tomato paste. Leave on the stove for another 10 minutes. Cool the finished dish, beat with a blender until puree.
For lazy housewives, there is an easier way of cooking, which does not require attention at the stove and careful chopping of vegetables. Cut onions, carrots and zucchini into large pieces, sprinkle a little with vegetable oil. Place vegetables in a roasting sleeve and place in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 1 hour. Drain off excess liquid. When the vegetables have cooled slightly, add the garlic, tomato paste and puree to them.
Store squash caviar in a glass jar in the refrigerator. This product is delicious to serve with bread for soups, meat dishes, side dishes. The taste of squash caviar can be varied by adding other vegetables (sweet or hot peppers, tomatoes, eggplants).
Squash cake
Such a snack cake looks spectacular on the festive table. It needs to be prepared in advance so that it has time to soak well.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of zucchini;
- 3 eggs;
- 150 g flour;
- 600 g of tomatoes;
- 150 g sour cream or mayonnaise;
- 200 g processed cheese;
- 3-4 cloves of garlic;
- dill greens;
- spices, salt.
Peel the zucchini, if large - then from the pulp. Grate on a fine grater, salt, and leave for five minutes. When liquid comes out of the zucchini mass, squeeze it well. Add chicken eggs, flour, chopped dill. The dough should not be too thick. Put the mass in a dry or oiled frying pan, giving it the shape of a pancake. Fry until golden brown. If you want a less nutritious meal, do not use oil for frying. In a good skillet with a high-quality non-stick coating, squash pancakes will not stick or burn. If you add oil, be sure to wipe off any leftover oil with a paper towel. From the specified amount, 6-7 pancakes with a diameter of about 20 cm should be obtained.
The filling is very simple to prepare. Finely grated processed cheese and squeezed garlic, season with sour cream. When the zucchini cakes have cooled down a little, we proceed to the assembly of the cake. Grease each pancake with a cheese mixture, put tomatoes cut into thin slices on top. You can salt and pepper them. Cover the topmost crust with cheese filling and sprinkle with herbs. We put the zucchini cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Such a snack, prepared without the use of frying oil, has a calorie content of 95 kcal per 100 g. To make it even more dietary, replace processed cheese with low-fat cottage cheese, mayonnaise with sour cream or natural yogurt. Those who do not deny themselves goodies will like fried onions and carrots instead of tomatoes. Another filling option: chopped crab sticks, boiled eggs, herbs and mayonnaise.
By the way, if you don't want to mess around with grating processed cheese, use separately soft processed cheese and separately prepare sour cream and garlic sauce. Lubricate each cake layer with these ingredients in turn.
Korean style marinated zucchini
Fresh light salad in which all vitamins are preserved. A spicy dressing with a slight sourness gives it a rich and full-bodied taste.
Ingredients:
- 0.5 kg zucchini;
- 1 large carrot;
- half sweet bell pepper;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- 3 teaspoons of vinegar 9%;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 2 teaspoons of sugar;
- ½ teaspoon salt;
- 1 tbsp. a spoon with a slide of spices for carrots in Korean;
- parsley, dill, basil about 50 g.
Young zucchini can be used with the peel. Grate vegetables for Korean carrots. If you do not have such a device, cut the zucchini into thin slices with a vegetable peeler, and chop the carrots on a coarse grater. Chop the bell pepper into thin strips. Chop the herbs finely. If you like onions, you can add 1 medium onion, cut into half rings.
Now let's prepare the dressing. In a separate bowl, mix oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, spices. Pour the dressing over the salad and carefully distribute it over all the vegetables. We cover the dish with our appetizer with a flat plate, put oppression on top and leave in this form for 1-2 hours. During this time, the vegetables will give juice and soak well with the dressing. Can be served on the table.
Thanks to the use of vinegar, such a salad is perfectly stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. Spice for Korean carrots can be replaced with a mixture of ground coriander, dry garlic, red and black pepper. Use citric acid or lemon juice instead of vinegar.
Korean-style marinated zucchini is a healthy dietary recipe that makes a great substitute for fried or stewed zucchini. If you are looking for weight, give preference to cold appetizers, as heat treatment destroys vitamins and increases the calorie content of meals.
Appetizer with zucchini "Mother-in-law's language" for the winter
Zucchini are perfect for preservation and preparation for future use. This snack can be rolled up in sterilized jars or eaten right away. The salad is very easy to prepare. It got its name based on anecdotes about a son-in-law and mother-in-law, who is known for her talkativeness.
Ingredients:
- 3 kg of zucchini;
- 3 kg of tomatoes;
- 1 kg of sweet pepper;
- 4-5 cloves of garlic;
- 2 pieces of hot pepper;
- 250 ml of vegetable oil;
- 100 ml vinegar 9%;
- 7-8 teaspoons of sugar;
- 5 teaspoons of salt.
Cut the courgettes into long, thin, tongue-shaped slices. Peel off the peel for a more delicate taste. Peel the bell peppers, remove the seeds. Pass the tomatoes and peppers through a meat grinder. Bring the resulting mass to a boil on the stove, add zucchini, sugar, salt, vegetable oil.
Cook the blank for about half an hour. Then pour in chopped garlic, hot pepper, pour in vinegar. Let our appetizer simmer for another 5 minutes. Now you can put on sterilized jars and roll up. On cold winter days we take out, enjoy and remember the summer.
There are many options for this dish. Eggplants, squash, onions, carrots, herbs are also added to it. Tomatoes can be substituted for tomato paste. Don't put hot peppers if you don't like hot snacks.
Zucchini sticks, breaded
A very simple and quick snack. It turns out to be an excellent combination of crispy crust and tender zucchini pulp.
Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini;
2 eggs;
100 g flour;
150-200 g bread crumbs;
0.5 teaspoon salt;
3-4 teaspoons of a mixture of spices to taste;
50 g of hard cheese;
2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Peel the zucchini, remove the seeds if necessary. Cut into long, not too thick sticks. Beat two eggs in a separate bowl. Mix the breadcrumbs with spices, salt and finely grated cheese. Dip the zucchini sticks in flour, then dip in an egg and cover the last step with breadcrumbs. It is best to do this with a fork or tongs to minimize damage to the breading.
Place the prepared sticks on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. If you are not sure about the quality of the baking parchment, brush it with extra vegetable oil. Bake the snack at 250 ° C in the oven. With convection on, it will take literally 5-10 minutes, in normal mode - about 20 minutes.
Ground black pepper, paprika, dry garlic, Provencal herbs, turmeric, nutmeg, a little chili for spice are suitable as spices for breading. An excellent addition to the dish will be your favorite sauce: garlic-mayonnaise, sour cream with herbs, cheese, tomato, mustard.
By baking in the oven, zucchini sticks are low-fat and less high-calorie than when frying in a pan. This is an easy homemade beer snack instead of harmful store snacks, chips, crackers and other chemicals.
Zucchini soufflé with mushrooms
An original dish that will decorate your festive table and surprise your guests. It turns out to be very satisfying, despite the lack of meat in it. Serve this soufflé with any sour cream or mayonnaise based sauce.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of zucchini;
- 500 g of porcini mushrooms or champignons;
- 150 g of cheese;
- 200 g flour;
- 2-3 eggs;
- 1 large onion;
- 120 ml of milk;
- 80 g of parsley or dill;
- salt and spices to taste;
- vegetable oil for frying.
Peel the zucchini, cut into cubes, salt and leave for 1 hour to release the juice. This liquid will need to be drained. In the meantime, we are preparing the mushrooms. Pre-boil the porcini mushrooms, then fry with onions in a pan with the addition of vegetable oil. Champignons can be fried immediately fresh. Mix fried mushrooms with zucchini. We turn this mixture into puree using a blender.
In another container, beat eggs with milk and flour, add finely grated cheese. Combine this mass with mushroom-squash puree. Finally, sprinkle with spices; Provencal herbs are well suited. Finely chop the greens and send them to the resulting dough. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C, cook on convection mode for 1, 5 hours. Remove the soufflé from the mold and cool at room temperature. Then put it in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours. Before serving, the courgette soufflé must be cut into portions. Serve with sour cream or mayonnaise with garlic and herbs. Alternatively, this snack can be prepared in portioned tins.
As you can see, even from banal zucchini you get interesting, tasty snacks that will pleasantly surprise your loved ones and guests. It only takes a little energy and imagination. Enjoy cooking!
