So! Much! Zucchini! Two Recipes for Summer's Most Aggressive Vegetable

Pork patties with hidden zucchini and a truly 5-minute side I would eat with any meal

Hello and welcome back! As a special bonus today, we have two recipes to use up the zucchini that is absolutely overflowing in every grocery store produce aisle, farmer’s market and backyard garden this time of year.

One is a delightful, easy main I make all the time and the other is a side with literally two ingredients that literally takes five minutes and that I also make … all the time.

Now, grab some zucchini and let’s get cooking.

First up: Herby Pork and Zucchini Patties from The Daley Plate, a wonderful account by a South African woman named Dale whose recipes I’m totally obsessed with. She’s also got a cookbook coming out, if you’re so inspired.

These are a great weeknight meal: They’re super fast to put together, they make great leftovers and you can serve them with all kinds of sides. I tend to go with orzo, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, fresh spinach, olives and a little yogurt sauce. (Dale adds feta to her yogurt sauce and blends it, but I’m usually lazy and just stir together plain yogurt + lemon juice + grated garlic + pepper).

Add a little yogurt sauce and you’ve got an amazing dinner

Then, Smitten Kitchen has the most genius Quick Zucchini Sauté. This is the kind of recipe that is way more than the sum of its parts which are just zucchini and almonds. That might sound odd, but it is so nutty and fresh and delicious. She adds pecorino or parmesan too, which is great, of course. But most of the time I skip it. It’s really that good on its own.

Herby Pork & Zucchini Patties

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork (Dale does 1.5 lbs, an amount of ground pork I’ve never had in my life so I’ve adjusted accordingly)

• 3/4 cup grated zucchini

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 2 tsp Italian or Greek seasoning

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

• 1/4 cup feta crumbles

• Zest of a medium lemon

Method:

1. Mix all of your ingredients in a medium bowl — I use my hands for this — and then form into patties slightly larger than a golf ball.

2. Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet over medium and cook your patties for about 5 minutes per side, press them down a little bit to get some good contact with the pan. Make sure to cook them all the way through (160 with a meat thermometer, or just slice one open to check).

3. Serve with a grain of your choice (in addition to orzo, farro or brown rice would be great here), yogurt sauce and sliced vegetables.

The easiest, tastiest summer side there is. (Excuse the salt on my stove, I got a little carried away).

Quick Zucchini Sauté

Ingredients:

• One large or two medium zucchinis

• 2-3 tbsp. slivered almonds (Smitten Kitchen uses thinly sliced almonds; I’ve done both and prefer this, but whatever you’ve got)

Method:

1. Slice your zucchini into matchsticks.

2. Heat a pan over medium and add 2-3 tbsp. slivered almonds. Toast until they get nice and golden brown. As Smitten Kitchen advises — and she is correct — don’t skimp here “they provide a depth of flavor that carries the whole dish.” Just be sure they don’t burn.

3. Add zucchini to the pan and cook until it has just softened. Add a little salt and pepper and you are done! You can add a little parmesan here (I use a vegetable peeler to get nice, wide shavings), but it is not necessary.

Background noise

My incredibly-not-hot-take is that Harry Styles is good at making music. I regret not listening to him earlier. And his latest album, Harry’s House, is a jam. Specifically this track: Music for a Sushi Restaurant. As the title suggests, it’s great music to cook by.

That’s all for now. Thanks so much for being here, I’ll be back in another week with more recipes.