Well, really what I planted this season was zucchini - Emerald Delight Summer Squash from Botanical Interests. The great squash debacle that happened in 2020 and 2021 involved yellow crookneck squash and patty pan squash - no zucchini involved. Not because I didn’t plant it, but because it never bloomed and no zucchini resulted. You can read all about the Squash Saga: To Be Or Not To Be on my Blog {HERE}.

So I’m going to try again - but with a different variety. Crazy? Maybe. Hopeful? Definitely.

When you hear someone refer to summer squash, most of us think of either zucchini or yellow squash. But there’s actually a bunch of different types of summer squash including yellow zucchini, pattypan squash and straightneck squash. The Emerald Delight Summer Squash (Cucurbita pepo) is a hybrid variety that produces dark green, shiny fruit about 6 to 8 inches long. It’s a compact, bushy plant that grows between 3 and 5 feet tall making it perfect for a culinary nutrition garden.

Summer squash has long been used in traditional folk medicine as a treatment for colds, as well as various aches and pains. Summer squash contains a wide variety of micronutrients including minerals and vitamin C. It contains large amounts of antioxidants, can aid in digestion due to its high water content and fiber, and its anti-inflammatory properties can help get rid of free radicals in the body.

Summer squash seeds look just like pumpkin seeds. The seeds should be sown directly into the garden about 2 weeks after your average last frost date. Seeds are planted 1/2 to 1 inch deep in mounds that are about 3 to 4 feet apart, with 3 seeds in each mound. After about 5 to 10 days, you should see little seedlings start to poke through the soil. When a plant has at least 3 leaves, thin so that there’s only 1 plant per mound.

Here’s what my little summer squash looks like now - about 20 days after the seeds were sowen directly into my raised garden bed. They’ve now got 3 leaves, so I’ll be thinning and gifting away these little guys to a few friends and neighbors.

Zucchini ribbons make a great substitute for pasta - or they can be combined with pasta for a semi-healthy dish. One of my favorites is a version of California Pizza Kitchen’s shrimp scampi zucchini. It’s a simple dish with zucchini ribbons, lemon, garlic, white wine and parmesan. There’s a little bit of fettuccine in there too (but you can always leave that out). Then throw some grilled shrimp on top.

To make my zucchini ribbons I use the 7 Blade Spiralizer attachment for my Kitchenaid stand mixer. The attachment will connect to any of Kitchenaid’s mixers and makes cutting spiral ribbons a breeze - I don’t think I’d be able to make this dish without it. There are other spiralizers out there for a lot less, like this one from Spiralizer, that work great - but I already had a Kitchenaid mixer so I got the attachment.

Zucchini is also really good and easy to grill. A little olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper is all you need. You also can add some oregano, thyme or basil and a little grated Parmesan cheese and lemon juice to flavor it up a bit. Set your grill at about 400 degrees - maybe 450 - but not hotter or the zucchini will burn. It only takes 4 to 5 minutes! You’ll know it’s done when the zucchini has grill marks and is a little charred around the edges. Serve hot as is, or let it cool, chop it up and add it to a salad. Yum!

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