Zucchini shines in seasonal summer fare

Zucchini. It's both beloved and reviled.

You can eat it raw in salads, grill or stir-fry it, grate it for slaw or quick bread, use it in kabobs; what would we do without it? It's probably the most versatile of veggies — and the most taken for granted and allowed to grow to monster size (still good, however, for bread-making).

Today we pay homage to this earliest of garden gifts, ending with a final salute to rhubarb. Enjoy.

Our illustration shows a beautiful melange of veggies — easily interchangeable with your own favorites (consider tomatoes, asparagus, yellow summer squash, green onions, etc.) for a quick and easy on-the-grill or in the stir-fry pan supper. No recipe needed: Brush with olive oil and perhaps teriyaki or miso sauce (or butter) and garnish as desired with a sprinkle of minced garlic or your favorite herbs.

For a more substantial offering, consider this old favorite.

Zucchini Cheese Loaf

4 medium, unpeeled, scrubbed zucchini, cut in chunks

1 mild red Spanish onion, finely minced

1 green (or red) bell pepper, seeded, very finely sliced or grated

2 cups soda cracker crumbs

Salt and ground black pepper to tast4

2 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup olive or salad oil

1/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon minced parsley or Cilantro

2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Grind or grate the zucchini and toss with the onion and bell pepper. Stir in cracker crumbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in eggs, oil, and cheddar. Spread in a loaf pan (9x5x3 inches) and sprinkle evenly with red pepper flakes, parsley and Parmesan to cover.

Bake at 325 degrees 45-55 minutes, until firm. Cut into slices and serve hot. Great as an accompaniment to baked fish, fried chicken, or a veggie meal of sliced tomatoes and green salad.

Tip: A great dressing for your tomatoes and/or green salad is this fresh-flavored offering.

Buttermilk Dressing

Combine equal parts of buttermilk and mayonnaise; stir until smooth and creamy. Add herbs of your choice — dillweed, fennel fronds, minced garlic, chives, parsley, thyme, tarragon — each of which offers its own unique flavor/taste sensation.

Most of us have traditional zucchini bread down pat. But have you tried these delicious cookies? Outstanding.

Lemon Zucchini Cookies

1 cup grated unpeeled zucchini

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ cup butter

¾ cup cane sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Frosting (recipe follows)

Set oven to 375. Grate zucchini and sift flour with salt and baking powder. Cream together butter and sugar; beat in egg and lemon peel. Stir in flour until dough is smooth, the fold in zucchini and nuts. Drop from rounded teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet in mounds about 1½ inches across and ½-inch thick. Bake 15-20 minutes. Cookies brown only lightly. While hot, drizzle on Lemon Frost, if you wish. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Lemon Frosting

Blend together a cup powdered sugar and about 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice. (taste after first tablespoon for tartness).

We end our day's treats with a season farewell to rhubarb.

Rhubarb Streusel Cake

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1½ cups finely chopped rhubarb

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon salt

Streusel:

1/3 cup softened butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground coriander

¾ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat; add rhubarb, stir, cover and allow to cook 2 or 3 minutes at lowest heat, until slightly softened. Remove from heat and stir in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and gradually beat them into the egg mixture. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x9-inch pan.

Place streusel ingredients in a bowl and cut together until thoroughly combined. Sprinkle over top of the batter. Bake 40-45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Serve with whipped cream.

Note: You may use your own rhubarb sauce instead of fresh rhubarb, but if so, delete the cup of light brown sugar in the first part of the recipe.

Rhubarb

Oatmeal Bars

1½ cups unsifted flour

1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup firm-packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter (1½ sticks) softened

3 cups rhubarb sauce

¼ cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 13x9-inch baking pan. In medium bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add softened butter and stir with fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press half of mixture into bottom of greased pan. Spread rhubarb sauce evenly onto crumb layer.

Top with remaining crumbs and walnuts. Bake 25-30 minutes or until top is golden-brown and rhubarb mixture is bubbly. Cool to room temperature before cutting.

Serve as cookie/bars or cut larger for dessert to be topped with whipped cream.

Editor’s note: For many years, Valle Novak has written gardening and cooking columns for the Daily Bee. “Weekend Gardener” and “Country Chef” became renowned for their humor, information and common sense advice on how to do everything from planting to cooking. While she recently retired, she has shared a number of columns to delight her many fans. This is one such column.