What to Do with that HUGE Zucchini?

You know - the one you missed picking and it got so big that you know it will be way too tough and seedy to do anything with? Of course, being Primal/Paleo, zucchini bread is right out, so what else can you do?

Well, a few years ago I figured out that it will make just fine pickle relish. I prefer sweet relish, the recipe for which I’ve already posted (I think) but I have no doubt that it would make fine dill relish as well.

However, I already have a gallon or so of pickle relish on the shelf, so now what?

How about zucchini pancakes?

I do wish I’d taken the time to measure and take pictures, but it’s not exactly a finicky recipe to begin with - basically it’s just like potato pancakes only with zucchini. Just slice your monster zucchini in about 3-4" sections, then quarter each section. Then slice each quarter section in half to allow you to cut off the majority of the seeds. Discard the seeds or save them for next year. Run the sections through a food processor or chop them as fine as you can by hand if you don’t have one. Also finely chop an onion and a bell pepper.

Put the whole mess in a colander and allow to drain for at least two hours. This is important, because your pancakes will form poorly if your veggies are too wet. Oddly enough, up to this point, these are exactly the opening steps for making pickle relish, though the ratio of onion & pepper to zucchini is much higher here.

Now unless you’re feeding quite a few people, this will be way too much to prepare at a single sitting. I’m keeping the rest in the fridge for now but I’m pretty sure I’ll try freezing some of the excess. I’ll report later on how well that works if I do.  But for now, I used about a quarter of the chopped veggies for two people and that would have been too much if we had been eating anything else.

Anyway, to every two cups of your veggie mixture, add about one egg, a quarter cup of your chosen thickener (I used equal parts cashew flour and chia flour), and maybe a half teaspoon each of salt & pepper. (I used a teaspoon of Pepperman.)

Grease up your skillet and fry away whatever size pancakes you like until firm and brown. They’re close enough to hash browns that I like them with crushed red pepper and ketchup. But they’re fine with just a little salt & pepper and maybe a little butter, which is how Kate likes them.

*Note:  Actually, Joseph posted this--his recipe, his idea!