Summer Squash Frittata

I feel as if I have just woken up from a long sleep, a midsummer hibernation.

About a month ago I got it in my head that I wanted to read all seven Harry Potter books before fall semester started. It was a pretty ambitious goal, especially since at the time I was still working all day and came home tired and unwilling to do much of anything. But I was determined to get through the thousands of pages and hundreds of chapters. Suffice it to say that I've done a lot of reading this summer (ten books in all), and now that I've finished the seventh and final book in the series, I'm sort of at a loss of what to do.

Particularly in the last week and a half, I've done nothing but read. All day and often late into the night, sometimes forgoing lunch or dinner for just one more chapter. It was incredible. After cooking and baking, reading is my favorite way to pass the time. I loved getting lost in the books, in the fantastic world J.K. Rowling created, in horcruxes and pensieves, Quidditch and charms. These books surpassed my expectations in every way imaginable. Rowling's writing and storytelling really inspire me. No detail goes unexplained, and I am continually amazed at the the vividness of her characters. I think I could read these books forever and continue to get something out of them. I only wish I had started to read them earlier in the summer; then I could have had the time to read them through a second time. (Seriously.) 

All this is to say that with so much reading, I haven't had too much time for cooking. On the few occasions that I decided I could put my book down for a few hours and make a meal, I was drawn toward quick-cooking dinners that highlighted fantastic summer produce. One of our favorites this summer has been frittata, a quick-cooking style of omelet. Start to finish it takes about thirty minutes and we've enjoyed it with everything from mushrooms to peppers to spinach. This particular version has sliced zucchini and summer squash, sauteed onions and garlic, and salty Parmesan cheese and fresh basil on top. Perfect alongside a crisp green salad, this frittata is the perfect easy dinner (or lunch or breakfast), and easily adaptable for all seasons.

Summer Squash Frittata with Parmesan and Basil

Instead of squash, try mushrooms, peppers, spinach, fennel, asparagus, roasted tomatoes, or corn. Check out my post on strata for ingredient combinations. In total you'll want about 3 to 4 cups of vegetables or other add-ins (such as cooked chicken or sausage). In place of Parmesan, you can also use goat cheese (with sweet potatoes and thyme, it's another favorite), Fontina, Manchego, Gruyere, or sharp cheddar. Similarly, try different herbs to match your tastes and the season; everything from marjoram to rosemary to parsley would be delicious.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

1 teaspoon olive oil 
1/2 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 medium yellow squash, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped or chiffonade basil

Add olive oil to a 10-inch nonstick pan and heat over medium-high heat. Position an oven rack to the center position and heat the broiler on high. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent and begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring contantly.

Add both squashes to the pan, spreading slices as evenly as possible. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until squash is tender and slightly browned, onions are browned, and all the moisture in the pan has evaporated, about 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl or measuring cup, beat eggs and mustard. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of cheese and stir to combine. Pour eggs over sauteed vegetables as evenly as possible, tilting pan to distribute the eggs throughout the pan if necessary. Cover pan with lid and cook for 5 minutes. The eggs will be mostly set around the edges but the top will still be runny.

After 5 minutes, uncover the pan, sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of cheese, and transfer to the broiler. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, until eggs are set and cheese is melted. Remove from the broiler and sprinkle with fresh basil. Serve immediately or cool and serve at room temperature.

The frittata will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

Healthy Zucchini Bread

I’ve long nagged my mom about planting different vegetables and fruits in our backyard to harvest. Imagine the wealth of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash that we could get! And a fig tree? Don’t even get me started.

When my mom told me that we could harvest some vegetables from her friend’s own garden, I was elated. Although there were no fig trees to be found, we ended up with a wonderful variety of homegrown summer produce. A few peppers, some cucumbers, and a couple of cute cherry tomatoes, not to mention an assortment of delicious herbs. Oh, and a zucchini.

It was a pretty sizable bounty. And when I say sizable, I mean it. Our lone zucchini tipped the scales at over three and a half pounds. Yes, you read that correctly: three and a half pounds. About 60 ounces of pure vegetation. The problem with a three and a half-pound zucchini? Only about two and a half of those pounds are usable. Unlike average sized zucchini, this humongous squash had the most developed seed structure I’ve ever seen in a summer squash. It was more like a winter squash, and anyone who has ever prepped a butternut or acorn squash (or even scooped out a pumpkin for Halloween) knows that there’s a whole mess of seed webbing to work through and that the outer flesh is the only usable part.
But when life gives you a three and a half-pound zucchini, what does one do? Ah, one makes zucchini bread. My mom pulled out an “heirloom” recipe for zucchini bread. I call it heirloom because of its odd combination of ingredients. (“Baking powder and baking soda? Sure, why not, even though there’s nothing for the baking soda to react with, it just sounds right. While we’re at it, let’s list all the ingredients and an oven temperature and just leave it at that. No further directions are required. After all, we’re only dealing with kitchen alchemy and the like.”) So I had a few reservations about how this would turn out, especially when my mom began substituting and adjusting ingredients left and right. But you know what? It came out really well. Aside from the loaves’ squatness (I’ve elected to call them tea cakes, instead), our own little kitchen experiment has a happy—and delicious—ending. Although it’s hard for me to detect any zucchini flavor (it’s a rather mild-tasting vegetable to begin with), a dose of cinnamon lends it a taste that reminds me of banana bread (it provides a wonderful scent, too). Chopped pecans add a great contrast of texture. Speaking of texture, I think the texture of the bread improves with age. The crumb gets denser and more toothsome.

This bread is also just about the healthiest quick bread recipe you may ever find. My mom swapped in applesauce for all the oil and cut back on the sugar by a third. (Apparently we have similar opinions about using vegetable oil and shortening.) Final verdict: an excellent use for our mammoth zucchini and perfect for breakfast in the morning or for a more healthful midnight snack.

Healthy Zucchini Bread
Adapted from an old family recipe

Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Admittedly, we totally omitted the vanilla by accident, but the bread was just as tasty anyway. Include it if you like, but know that you can omit it also. I'd reason that the vanilla accents the other ingredients (much like salt - don't leave that out!) and also adds a floral note to the bread. This bread really improves with age and tastes delicious cold, as the crumb becomes especially tooth-sinking and dense. The loaves can be stored, wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator, for up to one week.

Yield: 2 (shortish) loaves

3 large eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

Combine eggs, applesauce, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until well-combined. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Set aside.

Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just-combined. Don't overmix; there should be no large streaks of white flour remaining, but lumps are fine. Stir in the pecans.

Divide the batter evenly among the loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the loaves comes out clean. Cool in the pans on a wire rack until the loaves reach room temperature.