Zucchini Soup

During the summer I always have more than enough zucchini from my garden, plus my neighbor always gives me some of his as well. You can only make so much zucchini bread before it becomes too much so I thought I'd try something new.
My 2 1/2 year old is a super picky veggie eater but LOVES soup! I love to make him soups that are chuck full of veggies and puree them so that he has no idea they are in there but will eat a huge bowl of it and love it. This soup was no exception. He loves bacon which helped but he ate a huge bowl of this soup. It really is delicious for such a simple soup.




Zucchini Soup
(Courtesy of sisterscafe.blogspot.com)
*I altered this recipe slightly from the original*


1 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups chicken broth (I used veggie bouillon cubes in water)
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup half and half or milk will work fine
*Optional garnishes*
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Bacon cooked crisp and then crumbled

In a large saucepan cook onions in melted butter until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and sliced zucchini. Stir. Add broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender (about 15 minutes). Cool slightly. Pour mixture into blender and puree it. Stir in half and half or milk. Return to saucepan and reheat, but do not boil. Taste to test seasoning, add more salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with cheese, sour cream and bacon bits.
Makes 6 small servings.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I don't know about you, but when I plant my garden I always have zucchini growing like crazy (and I only plant one plant!) and on top of that, my cute neighbor always wants to share some of his so we have MORE than enough for all of us with a year supply on top of that. Aside from savory ways to prepare all my zucchini, my house loves zucchini bread. My husband is a chocolate fanatic, so when I found this new recipe I knew I had to try it. It didn't disappoint.






Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
(Courtesy of sisterscafe.blogspot.com)
*I altered this recipe slightly from the original*

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup melted butter (cooled)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 small bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

Beat together the eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla. Add the remaining ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) mix until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into greased and sugared loaf pans (Sugaring is just like flouring a pan, just use sugar instead. It will make the crust sweet and crispy)

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

*This batch made 2 smallish loaves in disposable loaf pans, I doubled it and ended up with 4 loaves!*