Help me use my frozen zucchini and green tomatoes

October 24, 2020 6:52 PM

The frost hit before I managed to pull everything inside. Now I've got a lot of zucchini and tomatoes that are not currently frozen, but have been. Most of the tomatoes are still green. Any ideas of vegetarian recipes that will make use of all of this produce.

There are two big mixing bowls of tomatoes and one big bowl of zucchini. They are all a bit squishy, but not rotten.

Thank you!

posted by lab.beetle to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

A tian?
This summer, we've been eating a lot of a very simple one: gently sauter some finely sliced onions and garlic in a lot of olive oil. The alliums shouldn't brown, but soften. Put them in the bottom of a "tian" or roasting tin. Cover with slices of zucchini and tomato, densely packed. Season with salt, pepper and a sprinkling of herbs you like, for instance thyme and oregano, pour over a little lemon juice and more olive oil. Bake in a slow oven till the vegetables are very fragrant and cooked through.
I'm not sure, but my intuition says that in this case the green tomatoes won't be a bad thing. Their acidity will be a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of both onions and zucchini, and the light bitterness of the zucchini and olive oil. Maybe do a trial batch first. If the dish needs more tomatoey sweetness, I'd add some tomato paste to the onions while they are softening. (I've made a batch with tomatoes that had color, but were not really ripe, it was fine).
The onions are much reduced, so I'd use almost the same volume of raw onions as of zucchini and tomato. Measurements are not very important here, but equal volumes of onion, zucchini and tomato is a good starting point, which may leave you with an extra bowl of tomatoes. Could you pickle them? Or maybe make a sort of relish of tomatoes and onions, finely chopped?
The tian is sooo delicious, hot, lukewarm or room temperature. I'd just make a giant portion of it, or maybe several smaller ones for practicality. I think it would freeze well, but it is so popular here it is eaten up no matter how much I make, by family and guests alike, as a vegan lunch or as a side with any fish or meat.
posted by mumimor at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2020 [2 favorites]

For the tomatoes, you can make green tomato salsa or chutney - there are tons of recipes flying around for each and the texture issue will be mitigated. I’ve had green tomato shakshuka which was pretty great, to use up a smaller amount - tangier than the red tomato version. They are also pretty good when tossed into a long slow braise of meat, like pork shoulder or brisket, with lots of onion and garlic and cumin. You are vegetarian so I’m imagining instead that you make a sauce like that, a long slow cook of the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices, and use it to top big beans like Christmas lima beans, or your protein of choice.

I am not a big fan of zucchini but I’ve found that I do really enjoy it in Korean dishes. My favorite way to eat it these days is in a zucchini pancake, which is basically just salted julienned zucchini mixed into a simple fritter batter and pan fried, then served with a spicy dipping sauce. The key is to salt and squeeze out extra water, which you can use as the liquid in the fritter batter, so since your zucchini is already a bit squishy it will probably be even easier to extract the extra liquid. I also like it in doenjang stew, which is just a simple soybean paste based stew with tofu and veggies like potatoes and zucchini. It’s got a fish based stock usually but it’s simple to substitute a veggie stock and doenjang has a lovely deep nutty flavor that works well with the change.
posted by Mizu at 8:01 PM on October 24, 2020

I wish I had my Grandma’s recipe for green tomato mincemeat* handy, but this one looks similar.

*No actual meat involved
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:13 PM on October 24, 2020

I have also made a green tomato mincemeat in these circumstances, and the family mincemeat enthusiast could not tell the difference. A+, would mince again.
posted by mersen at 10:25 PM on October 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

Is your zucchini grateable? Chocolate Zucchini cake. (Australian site- may have to adjust measurements)

Nthing the recommendations for green tomato chutney.
posted by freethefeet at 12:04 AM on October 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Zucchini bread was practically invented for this purpose. Quick bread is better with slightly squishy fruit or veggies (like overripe bananas or past peak zucchini), goes well toasted with butter, and is a good way to feel very virtuous at breakfast.
posted by donut_princess at 12:52 AM on October 25, 2020

Quick pickled green tomatoes.
posted by Candleman at 4:29 AM on October 25, 2020

We add zucchini to cornbread batter to make it more filing and more like a meal. Freezes well, too.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:38 AM on October 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Roasted green tomato salsa is great and really easy. Slice up and broil the tomatoes with sliced onions, hot peppers, and garlic, then blend and mix with chopped cilantro and lime juice and salt. I’ve had a lot of green tomatoes break off my plants this year (windy area) and once I found that recipe, I stopped being sad about it, because it’s delicious!
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:25 AM on October 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

There are a hundred thousand recipes for ratatouille, I tend to google around along with whatever else I've got I need to use (I like eggplant in mine) and I do not bother with the intricately-sliced-and-stacked versions, I just dunk it in and go.

Also the zucchini will just kind of melt into chili or tomato sauce. I'll put mine that are about to go off in slices or chunks (honestly doesn't matter, it's going to turn into sauce) into tomato/meat sauce and then use that to make some kind of pasta bake where I'm going to use soaked but not fully-cooked pasta and it'll suck up the extra moisture from the zucchini.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:48 AM on October 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Green tomato chili.
posted by postel's law at 10:27 AM on October 25, 2020

I made enchiladas with my green tomato supply!
posted by yarntheory at 4:04 PM on October 25, 2020