Food Stuff

Zucchini, in the summer, has become a byword for overabundance. In a kitchen garden, the sneaky things go from deliciously tiny to overgrown and monstrous in the blink of an eye. The clear solution is not to plant it, but what are you to do if your friends have planted it and insist on giving you some? Or if you, like me, belong to a community-supported agriculture program and get a big delivery of summer squash in every box? There’s only so much zucchini bread you can eat, after all. I do what my grandmother did: steam or boil it whole until it’s barely tender, cut it in half lengthwise and sprinkle the cut side of the long pieces with salt, lots of pepper and plenty of grated Parmesan. (Grandma used Kraft; I like something a little more elevated.) Then, broil it until the cheese is brown and poppingly crunchy. It’s excellent summer finger food—and you’ll eat so much you’ll use up a lot of zucchini.