It's the age old summer dilemma...what to do with all the zucchini you have grown or been given. I see magazine articles, television segments & blogs about the many uses for zucchini. I recently read where a city declared "leave some zucchini on your neighbors front porch" day! I thought that was clever, but didn't really solve the problem. Sean & I have been splitting a box of local, organic produce with another couple every other week from a local company called Off the Vine. Yes, we have gotten a lot of squash, all different sorts of squash, but being that we split this with another couple, I haven't had too much. However, a few weeks ago a good friend of mine (the wife of the couple that we split the veggies with) & her son picked me a huge bag of yellow squash & cucumbers from the community garden in Calhoun, Georgia. I immediately started slicing the cucumbers & adding to jars of pickle juice that I had saved for just that purpose--what I call lazy "homemade" pickles; they are actually pretty tasty, however, you can only use the leftover juice for so long before it becomes diluted. But what to do with all that squash?

First, I fried some, which is very unusual at our house; even though I cook a lot of southern food, I very rarely fry anything. They were delicious! However, my eyes burned the rest of the day; I am assuming it had something to do with the temperature of the oil--not a good sign. This past week I was thinking of other ways to use some of the squash. I wondered that if I can make zucchini bread, why can't I make squash bread? So, I did & it was yummalicious! This is completely vegan & full of healthy flax seed! The batch in this picture has the nuts on top because I forgot to stir in the walnuts, so I just added them to the top. I also had some grated carrot leftover from making fresh rolls & threw them into the mix, added some nice color & extra nutrients!























Lemon Squash Muffins

1 1/2 cup grated squash
3/4 cup sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw)
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup + 1 T. milled flax seed
3 T. soy milk
1 T. vanilla extract
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. lemon zest, chopped (if you don't have a zester, use a grater)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use pastry)
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a cupcake pan (or 8x4 loaf pan if you want a loaf).

Mix squash, sugar, oil, flax seed, soy milk, vanilla, lemon juice & zest in a bowl.
In another bowl sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon.

Stir the dry into the wet. Stir in the walnuts.

Bake for 25-30 minutes longer for a loaf. Let cool 10 minutes & the turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.


Enjoy!

Labels: Calhoun Georgia, cucumbers, lemon squash muffins, Off the Vine, vegan cooking, vegan muffin recipe, yellow squash, zucchini