husband & I were camp cooks once, for a Beach Mission (over the summer holidays). We had about thirty people to cook for (mostly hungry teens and young adults), three meals a day for two weeks. Our initial shopping list had been given to us by the previous camp cooks (the previous year) and included about 10 Kg of zucchinis.
We tried the usual method - slicing them and steaming them - and the kids didn't like zucchini. So we had all this food looking like it would go to waste.
Then one night we had to do a barbecue for 300 which actually wasn't as bad as it sounds - we hired a spit and cooked about four lambs, whole, on the spit. That was easy. Then we did some salad, bought some cheap pre-packaged dips, and sat back.
We had a lot of dips left over, mostly flavours that nobody liked much.
And we had all those zucchinis that nobody liked much.
So I did the obvious - I slice zucchinis and steamed them. As they cooked I got together all the leftover dips of each flavour to see what we had and how many different varieties. About even amounts, so starting with the least favourite dips, I drained the zucchinis once steamed and then stirred through the dips (creamy base).
They LOVED it! They wanted it again the next night. So I cooked zucchini and leftover dip until we had run out of both zucchini and dip.
It's important to not overcook the zucchini - it will fall apart too easily when you stir through the dip, if you cook it until it's mushy. You need the zucchini slices to holed together, so cook them until they're just soft enough to pierce easily with a fork or knife tip. Stop before they go clearish and watery.
Another option - slice them in half lengthways and roast with other vegetables.
Yum.
I also make moussaka with zucchini instead of eggplant (aubergine) because husband can't eat eggplant.
Marg
