Who Knew?

Who knew ? Today is National Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch !
 When I found out I immediately though of Robert St. John, who owns several restaurants in Hattiesburg. He writes a blog that we subscribe to. 

A few weeks ago Robert wrote about when he first got involved in the farm-to-table movement. He planted a big garden to supply his restaurants. In that large garden he planted 100 ft. rows of squash, not knowing how much squash he would get from those plants ! He had squash in every corner and cooler in the kitchens. Then he was challenged with developing recipes to use it all ! 

He said eventually he started sharing squash with the neighbors. When they quit answering the door, he did the “Squash Dash,” leaving it on their porch !! 🙂

We’ve had a good crop of squash, zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers this summer so I can identify with that. We’ve been sharing these vegetables too !

Here are a few ways we have cooked our bounty.   

I love grilled vegetables like this picture above. 

I cut up whatever veggies we have  and marinate them in a little Italian dressing, garlic salt and pepper.  We have a grill basket that we cook them in. 

If I’m cooking inside, I roast them on a sheet pan covered with foil on 425 degrees, turning occasionally. 

Sometimes I saute them in a little olive oil, butter, garlic salt and pepper on top of the stove. 

They’re all yummy. 

At one point I had so many zucchini that I  made zucchini bread which is so yummy but my recipe has a lot of sugar so I’ll check Pinterest for another one next time. I also made chocolate zucchini muffins which Maeley thought were cupcakes. She wanted to ice & decorate them… so I let her. They were a little healthier than regular cupcakes. 😉 

Vegetable have so much nutrition to offer.

Squash and zucchini are high in antioxidants, contribute to healthy digestion, may help reduce blood sugar, and improve vision, heart health and aid in weight loss.

Peppers have vitamins to boost immunity, collagen, & capsaicin, which is good for blood pressure, cholesterol and reducing the formation of blood clots.

Cucumber skin contains silicon which helps with the elastin of eyes, skin and muscles.

Tomatoes have lycopene which neutralizes free radicals that damage skin. 

The more you eat like the people of the Bible, the better. They didn’t have foods with all of the carbs and sugar we have today. Grab some colorful veggies at the grocery store or farmers’ market and veg out, Y’all !!

Check out Robert’s blog below. It’s very entertaining and has recipes too! https://robertstjohn.com/