zillions of zucchini
plus: an interview with yasmin khan
Monday, August 18, 2025
Good afternoon!
Are You Feeling the Farmers’ Market Sticker Shock? [Matt Rodbard]
Is It Cake or Is It Salad? [NYTimes, unlocked]
The Bowl of Soup That Changed Me Forever [NYTimes, unlocked]
Event note: I’ll be interviewing Joan Nathan next month in Manhattan. [Tickets]
“Find someone that looks at you the way Deb looks at a zucchini…” read the post on Bluesky last week I haven’t stopped chuckling over. (Sorry, you’ve got to be on the app to view it but you can find SK there too!) I never set out to be such a zucchini enthusiast, such a patron of the zucchini cooking arts, heh, on Smitten Kitchen, but I do love a challenge. And in August, that challenge comes in the shape of zucchini overpopulation. So, I’ve taught myself to not only tolerate it but find recipes I think it’s better at than anything else like this spaghetti and this unusual pizza oh and why stop there: there are 14 more ideas below and if you give me a little nudge, I’m overdue to drop the insanely fudgy chocolate zucchini bread recipe I’ve been keeping from you for too long.
Oh, and let’s not forget the annual summer squash/zucchini PSA: Zucchini is a type of summer squash. When a recipe calls for zucchini, almost any other kind summer squash works too and the reverse is true. If you are already know this, huzzah. But I didn’t always know this, so perhaps it helps you too.
Finally, this week we have an interview with Yasmin Khan, whose new cookbook, Sabzi: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes is full of recipes I know you’ll be as excited to cook as I am. It will be out next week in the U.S.
Cheers,
Deb
The Smitten Kitchen Classroom Wishlist Project 2025 just kicked off this week! In the US, a tremendous number of teachers don’t get the funding they need to set their classrooms up for success. Most will end up paying out of their own pockets to buy educational materials, which is all wrong. I’ve asked teachers to send me their wishlists in hopes that we can help clear as many as possible, as we have the last three summers.
If you cannot figure out where to start, let me help: I recommend picking a school in your area, or perhaps where you grew up, or search the descriptions for classrooms that might focus on something particularly meaningful to you. There is no purchase too small to unquestionably make a teacher’s (and their students’) day. Plus, buying crayons, pencils, and books that help kids learn and succeed feels really good. 🖍️📚🍎📓✏️ Thank you for helping out! [Project information. Direct link to spreadsheet.]
I’ve written three cookbooks and one audiobook and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. My most recent cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers, is a collection of new classics specifically written with making them forever in mind, and it has a special audio edition that I hope feels exactly like you’ve pulled up a chair and I’m hanging out in the kitchen with you. Right on theme this week, there’s a savory Zucchini Cornbread with Tomato Butter that would be fantastic right now for breakfast or picnics. Not sure which one to check out first? Take a look at the recipe index and see which collection jumps out at you most.
quick zucchini sauté
This is your annual reminder -- 18 years and counting! -- that my favorite summer vegetable dish takes 5 minutes to make, uses all of 3 ingredients and tastes like 10x the sum of its parts. Plus, it helps keep summer's real torment at bay: insurmountable heaps of zucchini.
zucchini fritters
Minced scallions and just the right amount of seasoning turn a humdrum pile of shredded zucchini into gorgeous fritters that lift off the pan as they crisp. Dollop with a garlicky lemon yogurt and give yourself a pat on the back for passing pancakes off as dinner.
zucchini latkes
These zucchini latkes are the first potato pancake I ever published on Smitten Kitchen (December 2006!) and they’re as good as ever — especially, in my humble opinion, with a squeeze of lemon juice on top and a dollop of garlicky sour cream.
summer squash soup
Soup gets neglected almost all summer in my kitchen, which is a shame because this one is fantastic for right now -- it's easy, makes efficient use of CSA produce, keeps perfectly for days of great lunches, and for a few years there was a toddler favorite too!
zucchini parmesan crisps
Crispy, delicious zucchini chips from a few ingredients that you probably already have around. Eat them alone, dip them in a salted yogurt, or use them as a side dish for anything from grilled sausages to grilled cheese.
summer squash pizza
One of the best pizzas I have *ever* made, this is the very best kind of dinner: it has five ingredients including the ones to make the pizza dough. It’s seasonal and it doesn’t care what else you had planned; it wants to be moved to the front of your cooking queue.
lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza
Pizza, but not the predictable kind. This one is fresh, bright and fanned with summer vegetables. It goes well with salad, cold crisp wine, and lazy summer weekends.
zucchini rice and cheese gratin
An updated version of the Julia Child classic that makes it easier than ever -- no parboiling rice, no salting or draining zucchini, and you can even skip the spoonfuls of flour, so it's gluten-free. This turns everyone into a crispy zucchini casserole fanatic. [Video below!]
kefta and zucchini kebabs
Tiny spiced lamb or turkey meatballs and coins of marinated zucchini are grilled on skewers and served with a minty garlic yogurt sauce. I always wish I made these more often because I don't think it's possible to get tired of a combination this delicious.
zucchini, ham and ricotta fritters
This early SK recipe makes a few thick and surprisingly hearty dinner pancakes that work well with whatever ingredients you have around. Add a simple salad and Wednesday night dinner is as easy as it should be.
herbed summer squash pasta bake
A freezer-friendly but infinitely summery (light and lemony! fresh herbs! seasonal vegetables!) pasta bake destined to become your favorite summer dish to prep and share.
ultimate zucchini bread
This is it, the best zucchini bread I've ever made and I hope the last recipe you'll ever need. It's tall with a craggy, crunchy top, has a significant amount of zucchini inside, can be mixed in one bowl (with a fork, no less) and even tells you how to store and when to eat it for Peak Zucchini Bread Bliss. It's a thing, or we're going to make it one.
zucchini butter spaghetti
This is my new favorite simple summer pasta, just a heap of zucchini cooked until it has melted into a puddle of butter and garlic, laced with a little heat, then tossed with basil, parmesan, and spaghetti. And it's perfect: cozy, seasonal, and simple enough to be made anywhere. I hope it becomes your favorite, too.
herbed summer squash and potato torte
There's no such thing as too much zucchini; it's just more excuses to make this crazy delicious crispy-edged easy summer dinner. We have wedges with salad for a light meal; grilled sausages for a heartier one. I have never regretted making two.
zucchini and ricotta galette
Basil, ricotta, mozzarella, garlic and coins of zucchini assemble in what is basically a flaky nest of high summer and a forever Smitten Kitchen favorite.
grilled zucchini ribbons with pesto and white beans
Ribbons of grilled lemony zucchini wind around white beans that have been rolled in a pesto vinaigrette, then finished with a blanket of grated parmesan is basically all I want to eat right now.
AN INTERVIEW WITH YASMIN KHAN
My shelves are full of wonderful cookbooks I don’t get to talk about enough, so I’ve added this section so you can get to know the cool people behind them. Today we're chatting with Yasmin Khan. Her new cookbook, Sabzi: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes, is out next week (8/26) in the US and Canada and is already out in the UK.
1. What inspired your cookbook?
I've wanted to write a fully vegetarian cookbook for a long time – not least because my readers have requested it so often! But what prompted Sabzi at this moment in time was that I married a vegetarian a few years ago and started adapting some of the Persian stews I grew up with for him so we could eat them together as a family. This started me on a path of cooking more vegetarian meals at home in general. The cookbook is a departure from my usual travel culinary reportage and it feels really special to share a more personal collection of recipes with my readers.
2. What recipe are you the most proud of in the book, or felt the most triumphant when you got it right?
I love the Halloumi Lasagna! It's got a richly-spiced mediterranean vegetable tomato sauce with roasted eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and butternut squash cooked with paprika, cinnamon and oregano. I top this with pasta sheets, creamy bechamel and thin slices of halloumi. It's so good! The inspiration came from a vegetarian lasagna I ate in Cyprus many years ago, which had shredded halloumi on its top. It's perfect for entertaining as you can prep it beforehand and just pop in the oven before guests arrive.
3. What recipe is so low-effort, high-reward that it's worth cooking for dinner tonight, even if we're tired and don't want to cook?
The White Beans with Mixed Herb Smash is one of our family's go to weeknight dinners. It takes 15 minutes to make and my toddler loves it. Simply fry some garlic, zest a lemon, and drain two cans of white beans, then cook them all together with some olive oil and white pepper. You get a luscious, fragrant, creamy stew. I then throw some herbs like basil and parsley into a mortar and pestle with a handful of walnuts, some capers and lemon and make a quick herb smash which I spoon on top of it. It's perfect with some bread and a green salad but my toddler also loves it stirred through orzo pasta (another weeknight winner in our house as it cooks so quickly) or alongside roasted new potatoes.
4. What's something you wish more people knew about your book?
Vegetarian food can be really filling and hearty! There are some amazing salads in the book (and in particular a curried tahini dressing I put on EVERYTHING) but there are really sustaining curries, pasta dishes, persian stews, pilafs and more. Many of the side dishes also work really well alongside meat and fish so there is something for everyone.
Thank you, Yasmin! You can preorder Sabzi right here.
zucchini rice and cheese gratin
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes, including the the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
What’s the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser? It’s an 11-inch, 4-quart braiser — essentially a lower profile enameled cast-iron Dutch oven that works as as well as a deep sauté pan as it does a soup pot, roasting pan, or even casserole dish that perfectly fits a pasta bake. Not a week has gone by in the decade I’ve had mine when I don’t use it at least three times. And we just got in a limited run of a stunning blue color for spring!
Your braiser purchase contains three new recipes (two savory, one sweet) by me that work perfectly in your new pot. If you’re looking for even more ideas, I created a category on the site to highlight some of my favorite dishes I make in mine.
See you next week!
