What to Do With All That !$^&%*%*$ Zucchini

I promise the words “Deceptive” or “Sneaky” will not appear in this post.

Ideally, I believe that vegetables and other wholesome foods should be presented to children simply and in their natural state.  

I'll wait until you're done laughing.

 I have a friend whose child is so averse to vegetables, he picks flecks of green oregano off his pizza.  

Even if you and your family don’t mind eating vegetables al fresco, there comes a time when everyone is mildly (or extremely!) sick of eating the never-ending summer bounty of zucchini.  For the next couple of weeks I’ll be presenting a variety of different zucchini recipes for normal cooks who just want their families to eat healthy food, darn it, and stop whining! 

Maybe that’s just me, though.

A few tips if you’re in the business of disguising zucchini. While the skin is edible (though it should always be washed well first), you will have better luck hiding the featured ingredient if you use a vegetable peeler (I like the OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler) to peel off all traces of the green skin. The pale green flesh is much less noticeable for recipes in which it is imperative that no trace of any offending green shows through.

Anyway, let's kick this thing off with one of my absolute favorite ways to "hide" zucchini in baked goods: lots and lots of chocolate.

These delicious muffins are such a decadent dessert, no one will know that the star ingredient is the Vegetable-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

(adapted from Bakingbites.com)

2 c. flour (could do 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup white)

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs (OR 1 egg plus 1 tbsp water with 2 tsp ground flaxseed -- again, upping the healthy factor)

1/3 c vegetable oil (or a comparable amount of applesauce)

3/4 c. buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 medium zucchini, shredded

1 c. chocolate chips or chunks

1. Preheat Oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt

3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined

4. Fold in  zucchini and chocolate chips until evenly distributed

Bake for 25-35 minutes. Makes 1 dozen muffins. Can easily be doubled; these muffins freeze beautifully.