Lock your car doors!

 

We have what I call “night visitors” in my neighborhood—people who visit driveways in the wee hours of the morning, testing car doors to see if they’re locked. So when I read a warning about locking car doors and telling your neighbors to do so, I took it seriously—at first. But it morphed into that old joke that if you don’t lock your car this time of year, your neighbors will slip in zucchini and squash from their over-abundant gardens. It’s true. This is the time of year when the supply is inexhaustible. So here are two more recipes that I really like, these for side dishes rather than the main entrée.

If you remember eating at a Black-eyed Pea restaurant, you no doubt remember the squash casserole. (I used to love the vegetable plate at those restaurants and was really sad to see the last one disappear from Fort Worth—there are apparently still two in Arlington TX.) The squash casserole is one of those dishes I tried too many times to make without a recipe, overly confident that I could achieve the same results. It was always too soupy or had too much bread filling. I finally gave up and followed a recipe. This may not be the Pea version, but it’s close.

Summer Squash casserole

1 lb. yellow summer squash, chopped

¼ c. water

¼ c. diced onion

2 Tbsp. butter, divided use

½ tsp. salt

1 egg, beaten

¼ c. dry breadcrumbs

Pepper to taste

½ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Bring squash and water to boil in a saucepan. Simmer, covered, for about fifteen minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Drain if necessary. Meantime, sauté onion in one Tbsp. butter until soft and slightly caramelized. Add to squash. When the squash is cool, stir in the egg, breadcrumbs, remaining Tbsp. of butter (melted) and pepper. Spoon mixture into a small baking pan and cover with grated cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20-30 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

This zucchini casserole could almost be called a variation of the same recipe. Although it calls for Parmesan, I’m confident you could substitute cheddar if you wished.

Zucchini casserole

3 c. sliced zucchini

¼ c. sour cream

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

¼ tsp. each salt and paprika

1 beaten egg yolk

1 Tbsp. chives or finely chopped tops of green onions

Topping:

2 Tbsp. breadcrumbs

3 Tbsp. Parmesan

½ Tbsp. melted butter

Steam squash to the degree of tenderness you want, remembering it will cook more when baked. (If you like crunchy slices, you might want to leave it raw.) Mix sour cream. Melted butter, Parmesan, salt and paprika and heat until cheese melts. Let mixture cool a bit and then stir in beaten egg yolk and chives or green onion. Mix with zucchini slices. Spoon into buttered baking dish

Mix topping ingredients and spread evenly over the casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or until topping is browned.

Share with the neighbor who gave you the zucchini!