Easy-Easy Roasted Zucchini ♥ Recipe

A quick 'n' easy for summer's beautiful zucchini, a "summer" squash. Many thanks to Margie, a reader from Maryland, for sharing this recipe, one she got from a neighbor!

Am I right about this? Some times I think that readers count on A Veggie Venture for vegetable recipes, yes, but even more so as an occasional reminder -- like a speed limit sign on the road, like a string wrapped around a finger, like a sticky note glued to the bathroom mirror – how good familiar vegetables cooked in familiar ways can be.

Roasted zucchini? Not new. The "recipe"? Dead easy. The "special ingredients"? Let's see, onion, olive oil and ground pepper, nothing special there. And yet when the recipe arrived from my friend Margie, it stayed in my InBox until one day, I just threw it in the oven and then ate it, the whole batch, for lunch. And my – was I ever reminded just how good roasted zucchini is!

But this wasn't the recipe I'd planned for this week. I loved the Green Gazpacho from Leite's Culinaria and meant to tell you all about it. I took a pretty picture and even wrote the post. But then I got to calculating the nutrition information and found – whoooo, nelly – that as written, the recipe racks up 600 calories and 16 Weight Watchers points for a serving. And even though I "Alanna-sized" the recipe by dropping the oil from 1 cup to 1/4 cup, even that added up to 350 calories and 10 Weight Watchers points. Should I post it? I think not, because A Veggie Venture readers are here for healthy recipes, ones we can eat every day.

(And for that many calories? Pul-lease, give me a sweet summer treat, like a slice of Blueberry Cream Pie or First-Prize Peach Pie or a piece of Dimply Plum Cake or Peach Blueberry Cake.)

So consider this your little reminder. And trust me, for a few weeks while the zucchini is so pretty, you just might want to eat this every day. Especially with a little feta crumbled on top. Or spiked with a little hot sauce. Or leftover and chopped up for a salad or an omelet.

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KITCHEN PARADE, LAST WEEK Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp

RECIPE for EASY-EASY ROASTED ZUCCHINI

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 40 minutes
Serves 4

1 pound zucchini, about 2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed, halved or quartered lengthwise, cut into four-inch lengths
1 onion, sliced into lengths and separated
2 cloves chopped garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. For extra-easy clean-up, cover a baking sheet with foil and top with zucchini, onions and garlic. Drizzle with oil, then use your hands to cover the zucchini and onions with oil. Sprinkle with pepper. If the oven's not fully preheated, go ahead and put the zucchini in anyway. Bake for the remaining time to preheat plus 15 minutes, stir the zucchini and then bake for another 15 minutes. Good hot or at room temperature.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
If working the "baseball bat" zucchini, you may want to "stripe" the skins if they're tough, also to remove the center spongy core.
Because I eat so very little packaged / commercial food, I don't worry about limiting salt. But for this recipe, I decided to try just black pepper and -- well -- it was great! I didn't miss salt in the least.

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION From my friend Margie, who wrote, "We have a Turkish woman gardening in our Community Garden this year and a tremendous zucchini crop. She oven roasts lengthwise-sliced zucchini, drizzled w/ olive oil, sprinkled w/ ch onion, garlic, freshly ground pepper, about 10 – 15 min, 425˚ or 450˚. Vague directions, but NOT chunks, NOT like ratatouille, NOT cooked in oil in skillet. We just ate it for the first time used up 3 medium-sized zucchini very easily. But this way was SO EASY that I thought you could work out something with it." Thanks, Ms Margie!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE -- THERE, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT Per Serving: 65 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 13mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 2g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 2g Protein; Weight Watchers Old Points 1, PointsPlus 2

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MORE FAVORITE SIMPLE ZUCCHINI RECIPES
~ Zucchini with Tomatoes & Cheddar ~
~ Easy Cheesy Zucchini ~
~ Feta-Stuffed Zucchini ~
~ more summer squash recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Carrot & Zucchini Bread ~
~ Shredded Zucchini with Thyme ~
~ Ratatouille Omelettes ~
~ more summer squash recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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A Veggie Venture is home of zucchini lover and 'veggie evangelist' Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
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