Lemon-Glazed Zucchini Bread...and More Tomatoes!

I have not made zucchini bread for years, maybe since my children were little, and they actually loved it!...why not now?...I really don't know!

I used to have a fantastic recipe from Bon Appetit, but that was from the seventies, or eighties and those recipes almost, always called for at least 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 2 cups of sugar...yikes!!! there goes your cholesterol level, and killing you with sugar!...no thank you! At any rate, this recipe, I assure you has very little oil (1/4 cup) and lot less sugar (1/2 to 3/4 cup)...so, no wonder I didn't make it until now, although I've always been relying on my banana breads with excess ripe bananas always at hand. ...also having zucchini on hand, but using it in savory dishes!

Whatever you do, just don't tell your 5yr. old child that this is zucchini, the green vegetable that they are being served, tucked away, inside this wonderful lemon-sugar glazed bread. I made that mistake, and my 5yr. old granddaughter would not touch it with a 10ft pole! I posted this photo, because I wanted to show off the glaze on the top, and also the photo itself. Both was done by Sophia, my 10yr old granddaughter. She certainly loved the bread, and even had seconds. What a difference 5year makes! If you really want to camouflage the zucchini, all you have to do, is to peel it first, then grade it, the way my daughter Lora made it, with the same recipe. I, of course left the little green specks in it...which is the "beauty" of this delicious and moist zucchini bread!

See the little specks of green?...that's what real zucchini bread is all about...seeing the actual specks of the beautiful shredded fresh zucchini.

 Lemon-Glazed Zucchini Bread
adapted from The Best of Cooking Light 2.

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup finely shredded zucchini
(pat zucchini dry w/ paper tow after shredding)
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoon grated lemon-rind
2 eggs

For the Glaze:
1 cup sifted-powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, add the sugars, the eggs, oil, and milk. Whisk together till well incorporated and creamy. Add the flour mixture together, to the wet ingredients, add the grated lemon, and fold in the shredded zucchini.

Spoon the batter into the loaf pan, and bake for 30 minutes on 350 degrees. Lower the temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan to cool completely, before drizzling the glaze on it!

Combine the powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Stir with a whisk. Drizzle over loaf. Yield 12 serving (1 slice)

These tomatoes... each of these portions came in a plastic bag just like the ones you see in the photo. They are ripe tomatoes, some have a little blemish as the one you see in the foreground, but otherwise, they are perfect and ripe...ready to can them or cook with them. They also make the best salsa, a well. They would be perfect for a tomato tart...Yumm! All the possibilities, endless! Each of these portions cost only $1.00 at our local produce market. Even those apples in the upper photo. My daughter Lora and I divide these up (she gets the apples) because she makes pies and tarts, and I take a bag or two of the tomatoes. You can also blanch them, take the skins off and flash-freeze them if you don't want to take the time to can them! Great "thrift finds"...and huge savings:DDD
Hope all of you had a wonderful Labor Day, and now it feels like a Monday, and yesterday felt like a Sunday!
...maybe it's just me who feels it!