Mini Stuffed Zucchini - Part 1!

‘I had myself a mini stuffed zucchini

on a day of rain and gloom.

Found it in a blogger's entry

and made it up at noon.

The taste of this gourd is rather lame

not much pizzazz brought to the game.

But, still it provided a tasty lunch

zucchini, you see, has loads of crunch!’

DanO2011

This summer of 2011 has been a challenge on many fronts for Americans living in the Midwest, especially where it has concerned the elements. The weather here, where I live in southwest Missouri, has been exceedingly hot and dry for the entire month of July. While most of my vegetables just dried up and went away, I actually thought I had a chance at redemption with two zucchini plants that I started in June from seed. The plants attained full size, but did not (?) produce very much in the way of fruit. Pictured here is one, of only two, that I have been able to harvest so far. (Not very big is it)? Call me an optimist; I still thought that there might be enough here to try a stuffed zucchini recipe I came across while surfing the net. Of course, this will be a very mini-meal-deal as there is just not much to work with.

Now, before I got down to the actual recipe, I thought to write down some thoughts concerning this popular member of the gourd family; one that I have just recently made an intimate acquaintance with. It’s true! Only last week, I had my very first taste of cucubuta pepo as part of a combo dish I posted called ‘Pasta y calabacin’. The meal was very good and I was intrigued enough by this initial foray that I decided to continue experimenting a little more.

The zucchini, (did I mention this before), was a bit on the smallish side. But, I’ll assume that it’s still representative of a fully developed fruit. (Zucchini envy)?  Picking it up, I noticed that the feel of the skin is very similar to that of a cucumber. (Amazing what your hands can tell you through intimate tactile sense). My probing fingers informed me that this is a ‘firm fruit’ that does not yield easily to pressure. Also, I could detect the presence of something like salubrious oil on the surface and though smallish, it still had heft to it. (OK, I admit this is beginning to sound a bit too erotic. Sorry ‘bout that)!

Surprisingly, lifting this little guy to my nose did not reveal much in the way of smell… I couldn’t detect anything, actually. So, in my mind, I already began to assume that there might not be much here in the way of aromatics. (Unless, that is, they were tightly locked up inside somewhere). As a side note, it’s a fact that many of the foods we find so pleasing depend on volatile oils that are released during consumption (mastication) which help excite our senses. And so, I wondered about that. Sadly too, our tongues can only discriminate between salt, sweet and sour tastes, and so, are somewhat limited. (If you’ve ever had a cold, then you know just how bland foods can taste)! Bottom line! This veggie seemed as bland as sand!

OK, so it’s about time to see what’s inside this little dude.Fortunately, I found another fragment left over from the calabacin dish from a day or so before.  I carefully trimmed off both ends and then sliced the remaining section in half, long ways, to see what was what. This is the result of that operation.  Hmm. Yes, not much to see! I’ll assume that the reason zucchini is popular is all about it have great texture from which to pile other stuff upon. If you want a well built home, you have to have a good base. And guess what? Sometimes, that’s really a good thing! Pasta, when you think of it, is also a non-entity with little intrinsic taste, and yet some of the best dishes in memory are built upon it. Lasagna anyone?

Coming soon! Mini Stuffed Zucchini Part 2. Click here! (Note: Don’t try clicking if the word ‘here’ is not orangish in color – duh!) On the other hand, if you really want to spend some time clicking on a word  with no link, go for it! Anyone who gets up past a hundred clicks, please drop me a line. Densa is always out looking for new blood!