Drying the Zukes

 Zucchini
A gardener’s delight,
the gift that keeps giving
and giving
and giving
right up until the first hard frost.

Zucchini is one of those beautiful vegetables that seems to grow despite the blackest of black thumbs, it gives prolifically for a long time, making it one of the best vegetables to grow for fresh summer eating.

There are many recipes out there for fresh zucchini, from skillet dinners to baked goods, but today I am going to talk about preserving zucchini.  Zucchini is a delicate vegetable, being that its flesh turns soft quickly when cooked, making canning and pickling a little challenging.  However it dries and freezes beautifully.

Zucchini is very simple to dry, if you don’t have a dehydrator, a warm oven or a couple sunny afternoons will do.  The method is as simple as slicing thin and sprinkling with salt (if you want).  Some recipes call for oil to be added, while added oil is good for a very crispy, flavorful zucchini chip, it doesn’t work well for long term storage, as the oil will go rancid quickly. 

It only took one day in my dehydrator, it always amazes me how much produce shrinks in the dehydrator. 

The dried zucchini will be stored in glass jars in my pantry to be used later in soups, stews and sauces.