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Cool casserole during hot weather

Recipe: Zippy Zappy Zucchini can be made in microwave

Casserole dish with baked casserole
Zippy Zappy Zucchini can be made in the oven, above, or in the microwave. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)
Zucchini, the butt of countless squash jokes, microwaves well. That's an important attribute when it's too hot to turn on the gas. Steamed in the microwave, zucchini retains its shape and a little of its crunch.
(Boiled, it becomes super-soft "squish.")
I started making this recipe when I got my first microwave -- circa 1978. The original came in a cookbook with that durable Hotpoint, which lasted more than 20 years.
Tweaked through the decades, Zippy Zappy Zucchini outlived the appliance, and sometimes gets made in the gas oven, too. Baked in a conventional oven, this eggy side dish or breakfast casserole develops a golden brown "crust" and top. Zapped in the microwave, the eggs and squash retain their original light yellow and green color.
Either way, it's simple and delicious. And unlike many squash jokes, this dish with a funny name always makes me smile.
Zippy Zappy Zucchini
Makes 4 side-dish servings
Ingredients:
3 cups zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup water
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco or similar hot sauce
1/4 cup peppers, seeded and chopped
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Butter for baking dish
Slice of casserole
In the oven, the casserole develops a golden brown top.


Instructions:
In a large microwave-safe bowl, put zucchini, onion and water. Cover with plastic wrap, vent on one side. Microwave on HIGH for 7 minutes. Drain.
Beat eggs together with hot sauce. Add chopped peppers to zucchini and onions. Then add veggies to egg mixture. Fold in shredded cheese.
Butter an 8-inch round baking dish. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Cover loosely with a paper towel. Microwave on MEDIUM HIGH for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a thin-bladed knife inserted near the middle comes out clean.
Conventional oven method: Steam zucchini and onion together on top of the stove until fork tender. Combine ingredients as directed. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake casserole uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a thin-bladed knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9

Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.

* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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