Happy What I Ate Wednesday! Jenn at Peas and Crayons is continuing our “Summer Staples” theme, and with the abundance some of you home gardeners may have, one summer staple is a vegetable that can be eaten raw, baked, fried, sauteed, and juiced: zucchini! As mentioned in yesterday’s Flavor of the Week post, zucchini is not my favorite veggie, so I am coming up with ways to make this extremely nutritious veggie more appetizing.
This morning’s breakfast was an experiment with zucchini muffins. The last time I tried making a chocolate zucchini cake it was horrible and actually had a fishy taste! I don’t know what happened but I never want to make another chocolate zucchini cake for a long, long time. So I decided to make breakfast muffins…with the chocolate sprinkled on top! The texture of the muffin is light and spongy, it’s moist, and has enough sweetness from both the brown sugar and chopped dates sprinkled throughout. Having chocolate chips on the top rather than stirred in the batter makes the muffins look like they’re bursting with chips, and you can easily make some plain ones by leaving them off:
Zucchini muffins, with and without chocolate chips
My lunches have still been the same fruit salads with yogurt:
Recycled picture, but all my fruit salads look pretty much like this!
This dinner was from a couple weeks ago. It’s steamed rice, venison burger, and a fried egg, all smothered with homemade giblet gravy. For those of you not familiar with Hawaii cuisine, this is what’s called a loco moco:
Venison Loco Moco with veggies
You can add steamed veggies, mushrooms, onions and it’ll still be a loco moco. Just start it off with rice, a burger patty (veggie is ok!,) a fried egg, and gravy. If you have homemade gravy, it’s even better (quick gravy: heat up 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan on medium heat, add equal amount of flour, stir for a few minutes until light brown. Slowly add 1/2 – 3/4 cup chicken or beef broth and stir quickly with wooden spoon. Simmer for 5 minutes, add 1/4 cup white wine, simmer another couple minutes until desired thickness. Add salt to taste, serve.)
Here’s the recipe for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins. Shredded zucchini adds moisture and bulk and helps to cut down on the amount of oil used. Spelt flour gives it a more grainy texture and is good for people who have a wheat intolerance (note: spelt does contain gluten, so make adjustments if you are on a gluten-free diet.) I picked the zucchini this morning and started making the muffins about ten minutes later, can’t get fresher zucchini than that! :)
Wheat-free zucchini muffins, with or without chocolate chips
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Reserve any leftover liquid or shredded zucchini, there’s lots of vitamins and minerals!
1 large zucchini
1/2 cup pitted and chopped dates (about 10)
1 1/2 cups spelt flour (wheat flour or gluten-free flour blend OK)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher salt (3/4 teaspoon table salt)
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/2 cup oil (note: melt coconut oil, if using)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (note: Ghirardelli has gluten-free chocolate chips, Nestle does not)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners or grease with nonstick spray, set aside.
Peel outer skin off zucchini, discard. Using small holes of a box grater, shred zucchini. Place in basket strainer over measuring cup or bowl, pressing gently with spatula do squeeze out more liquid. You should get 4-5 ounces of zucchini juice. Soak dates in zucchini water, leaving strainer over the bowl/measuring cup, set aside.
Drink this later, it’s good for you!
In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in center, add egg and egg white. Beat with a fork or wire whisk, add oil and beat until combined, stirring in flour a little at a time. Add 3/4 cups shredded zucchini (you will have some leftover, save it for a smoothie!) and stir to combine. Drain soaked dates and add to batter, stirring well to combine (reserve liquid for your next protein shake or smoothie.)
Pour about 1/4 cup batter into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake for 15 minutes, cool for a few minutes before enjoying.
What’s your favorite home-grown veggie? How about your favorite farmer’s market find? I’d love to hear from you!
T h e F o o d e r y 
August 8, 2012 at 09:51
I have come across zucchini bread, but not in a cakey form! And so strange about the fishy taste. I am always on the lookout for a good muffin recipe, this one sounds great! All your meals look tasty and nourishing, especially the fruit salad. Love the bowl you have put it in, with the owl!
August 8, 2012 at 09:57
Aw, thanks! I love that bowl and didn’t buy it right away (it wasn’t too expensive, just a splurge.) I went back to the store twice, it was still there, so on the third time I saw it again and knew it was waiting for me! I just made the muffins a few hours ago and like the way it turned out, with and without the chocolate chips! The zucchini has such a neutral flavor, and you could easily replace it with grated apples (just save the apple juice to enjoy with your baked muffins.) I really don’t know if that fishy taste was from a lousy zucchini or my chocolate cake, but it was pretty gross! Thanks for your nice comments, happy WIAW! :)
August 8, 2012 at 11:03
I’m always looking for a new zucchini recipe. What possessed us to plant 5 hills of zucchinis? Did we not learn from last year?
August 8, 2012 at 11:21
hahaha! I can’t imagine, except maybe the pretty flowers?? If you’re into health drinks, juicing them would be a good idea. Save the pulp for baked goods, adding to meat loaf, or making cold summer soups. I saw a recipe for zucchini chips, too. :)
August 8, 2012 at 11:38
I’ve been doing some of that – I always use shredded zucchini in with ground beef in recipes to stretch it a little. My mom makes great chocolate zucchini bread, so I keep her supplied with zukes. And I have bags of it shredded and frozen for later on – I even put it in my tomato sauces. Chips sounds like a good idea – will have to google it.
August 8, 2012 at 13:43
YUM! Light and healthy. Yes, please!
August 8, 2012 at 14:01
Thanks, Liz!
August 8, 2012 at 14:12
These muffins look amazing! It’s national zucchini day today too! Perfect day to post it!
August 8, 2012 at 15:05
ooo, I didn’t know it was National Zucchini Day, cool! The muffins are super tasty, give them a try. :)
August 8, 2012 at 23:02
Those Zucchini muffins sound amazing! Here is my favorite way to use zucchini as a sweet treat…http://inherchucks.com/2011/10/30/zucchini-part-2/.
Happy WIAW!
August 9, 2012 at 14:04
The cinnamon and nuts sound good, AND the cream cheese frosting! I’m surprised your cupcakes need more time in the oven; could it be from the amount of zucchini?
August 9, 2012 at 16:19
Maybe…I’m still new at this whole cooking/baking thing, so I tend not to pay attention to the science of it all. Which is why I used recipes I can trust…from Martha Stewart :)
August 9, 2012 at 20:55
haha, good deal! :)
August 9, 2012 at 20:54
Those muffins look super yummy! That’s so funny that your owl bowl is the same as my owl mug. I didn’t see the bowl where I bought the mug (Homesense).
August 9, 2012 at 20:59
Homesense looks similar to Home Goods here in NY…I love going there to see what random stuff they have in stock. :D