Grow your own courgettes recipe ideas

I’m growing courgettes this year and since June I’ve had a glut of them giving me an opportunity to be creative in the kitchen.

Courgettes are meaty and I’ve chosen both the brilliant yellow and green varieties to grow this year. The flowers are also a vessel that can be stuffed with soft cheese and deep fried.

When I pick courgette I look out for the small firm ones, which are sweet. Organic home grown are the best.

They keep well in the fridge.

I have bought courgette from the supermarket recently and they tasted bitter. Best to avoid this by adding salt to them (once chopped as desired) leave for 30 mins and remove the excess water. Cook as you wish.

Courgette can also go mushy so be careful how long you allow them to cook.

They can be prepared raw such as spaghetti using a kitchen gadget called s spiralizer. I don’t own one ( must be the only person on the planet) I use my speed peeler and slice into thin strips instead.

 

Great flavour combination I like to combine flavours together and here are some of my combinations that I feel work well:-

Mint and garlic

Cumin and garlic, chilli ginger and coriander 

Prawns with courgette add tomatoes, spices 

Olive oil and courgette, with lemon, parsley and chilli add nuts of your choice 

Salty cheese and chopped onions 

Chargrilled in a salad fresh herbs, onions and mozzarella and spices

 

Here’s a recipe to share of a simple char grilled courgette. I found store cupboard ingredients and went for texture,  colour and spicey notes when creating this dish.

 

Bini's Summer char grilled courgette with seasonal herbs and bacon bits. 

 

160g courgette cut into lengthwise and 1cm in thickness Heat the griddle pan with light olive oil. Heat the pan and allow the oil to get hot and carefully place the slices onto the griddle. Place side by side but don’t layer them onto of each other or that won’t cook and they won’t give you the char stripes. Leave for 5 mins and turn and flop each strip so they cook on the back. Remove from the griddle and season with salt and pepper.

 

To make a warm salad I used the vegetable from the herbs from the garden and spices to create an impact. I used the same griddle pan and reserved oil.

I red onion cut into quarters

asparagus 

A few mint leaves

Lemon juice to taste

Salt and pepper

Ajwain seeds ( a pinch)

1tspn Oregano

A handful of micro herb basil leaves washed and dried

Olive oil for cooking and extra virgin olive oil for drizzling Carrot thinly sliced Red Pepper thinly sliced Asparagus

 Griddle everything except the herbs and remove after 5 minutes turning half way. Arrange the ingredients with the asparagus and courgettes  and scatter the herbs, season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of oil and twist of lemon juice. I also found a orange in the fridge so I cut the flesh into segment and dressed the plate.

 

Serve hot.

 

I accompanied my salad with chopped bacon pieces and a mustard and cumin spiced rice. BBQ chicken with a sticky sauce, plain yoghurt and homemade ketchup .