Zucchinis take over the world!

I walked behind the farm store today and my jaw dropped. THERE ARE SO MANY ZUCCHINIS. We've got good ol' green zucchinis, delicately striped romanesca zucchinis, globe-like Ronde de Nice zucchinis, and beautiful, eggplant-shaped white Lebanese zucchini. And suddenly, there are a million of each.

Now I don't know about you, but I find this kind of thing incredibly exciting. I've never understood how people can complain about vegetable gluts -- there's that much more to enjoy! Plus, zucchinis have been my favorite vegetable for as long as I can remember. There's no such thing as too many zucchinis.

There is, however, such a thing as not enough recipes. If you only know a couple ways to cook a zucchini, you won't be able to enjoy the tremendous swell in production. Even the most die-hard fan (i.e. me) can't eat the same pile of grated and sautéed zucchini day after day.

In the interest of spreading the green, squashy love, I'm going to post my very favorite zucchini recipes here over the next few days, and hopefully some of the other Green String Farm folks will join me too. We'll see how long we can keep this up!

Zucchini Bisque

This very, very creamy soup is one of my grandma's creations. It was one of my favorite dishes growing up, and I have a sneaking suspicion it was one of my mom's favorites when she was a kid too. It's a great way to use up those larger zucchini that aren't great for other applications. Oh, and if you make extra, serve the leftovers cold for lunch the next day -- it's like a squashy version of vichyssoise. Serves 6

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1½ pounds zucchini, grated, shredded, or chopped
• 2½ cups broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• small handful basil leaves (about 20), cut into ribbons
• 1 cup half-and-half (or ½ cup milk and ½ cup cream)

1. In large saucepan, melt butter.
2. Saute onion until limp.
3. Add zucchini and broth to onion.
4. Simmer covered for 15 minutes.
5. Puree zucchini mixture in processor in 2 batches, OR use an immersion blender to puree.
6. Add salt, nutmeg, pepper, basil, and half-and-half, and stir until well mixed. Taste for additional seasonings.
7. Serve hot or cold.