By the end of summer, many gardens overflow with zucchini crops. Some neighborhoods solve the excess zucchini problem by playing a gleefully messy "baseball" game with zucchini bats and overripe tomatoes. There's even a "national holiday," Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night, on August 8. It's an eternal end-of-summer dilemma: what to do with all that leftover zucchini?

The simplest answer is to experiment with zucchini in your recipes. Because it has a very mild flavor, it can be easily blended into soups, chopped into salads, grilled or sauteed in chunks, sliced and fried, or grated into baked goods.

A native fruit

Although many people think of it as a vegetable, technically zucchini is a fruit and part of the squash family. Zucchini is native to North and South America; archaeologists have traced the cultivation of squashes back as far as 7500 BC in Mexico. Early explorers and traders took squashes back to Europe; eventually, in Italy, these green, cucumber-shaped ones acquired the name "zucchino."

A cup of fresh zucchini has approximately 35 calories. It's a good source of fiber, folate, potassium, and vitamin A. For the best flavor, select smaller, young ones, up to 8 inches long and less than 2 inches in diameter.

Recipes

Mediterranean Zucchini Salad

2 medium zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup red onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Greek (kalamata) olives, pitted and halved
juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano or 1 Tbls. fresh oregano leaves (chopped)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Put the zucchini, onion, garbanzo beans, feta, and olives in a serving bowl, and toss lightly. Put all of the remaining ingredients into a small jar. Cover the jar with a tightly-closing lid and shake to mix well. Pour the olive oil dressing over the salad, and toss lightly. Let the salad sit at room temperature until serving, stirring occasionally.

Chocolate Cupcakes (with a Zucchini Secret)

2 cups unsifted flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
2 small to medium-sized zucchini (2 cups coarsely grated)
1 6-oz. pkg. (about 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar, sifted

In a small bowl, combine together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat until well-blended.

Turn the blender to medium speed. Alternate addng in the dry ingredients, applesauce, and zucchini just until combined. Turn off the blender, and stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill a muffin pan with a dozen paper cupcake liners, or lightly oil the muffin pan. Divide the batter among the 12 cupcake holders. Bake at 350F approximately 20 to 25 minutes. (Test with a toothpick to ensure that the cupcakes are set.) When the cupcakes cool, lightly dust the tops with sifted cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar.

Spicy Zucchini Shells

1/2 pkg. (about 2 cups dry) medium-sized pasta shells
1 or 2 zucchini
1 or 2 yellow (crookneck) squash
1 to 2 Tbls. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tin flat anchovies
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup (8 oz.) cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Cut the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/2-inch chunks. Cut each chunk in half, then cut in half again, so that the chunks are about the size of dice. Set aside.

In a large pan or cooking pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies (including oil) and mash with a wooden spoon to make a paste. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Do not let the garlic brown; if necessary, reduce the heat slightly.

Add the zucchini and yellow squash, and stir constantly until cooked, approximately 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, drained pasta shells, and parmesan cheese, and toss lightly to mix. Serve immediately.