Summer Bounty: Yellow Squash

It is that time of the year when the fingerling yellow squash are starting to grow to about six to eight inches long and are ready to be harvested. As with other summer squash, such as zucchini or pattypan, this delightful vegetable does not store for long after the harvest. Also, like zucchini, if you get one or two good bearing plants, you can get an incredible amount of squash.

The first few times we pick it, it is easily prepared for the dinner table by giving it a wash, slicing like a cucumber, and cooking in a pan with a big dollop of butter. The family is pleased. mmmmm, and ahhh, can be heard around the table. However, it isn't long before it changes to "yellow squash, agaaaaiiiin????" And so other uses for the prolific bounty must be found.

I have heard it said that you can blanch and freeze summer squash. I have never had any luck with doing this. I've also heard that you can pickle it like bread and butter pickles which sounds interesting, but I haven't tried that either.

You can use these yellow squash in just about any recipe that calls for zucchini. Yellow squash bread and veggie lasagna are two favorites in my house that come out of the freezer as tasty as they went in. Also, Ratatouille is a great user of various summer bounty and freezes well.

But my personal favorite is to make them into pancakes or fritters. They are easy to throw together, can be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and they freeze well. You can't get any better than that. You can cook the squash first; it's a great way to use leftovers. You can shred the squash or you can grate it. Keep it mind that squash as a lot of juice in it, so be careful not to get your pancakes or fritters too wet.

I make them a couple different ways. The easiest is the leftover approach. I cut off the ends of the squash, and slice the into rounds all the length of the squash. Sweet onions are a favorite of mine that seem to go good with the squash, so I start with some of those in my cast iron skillet in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, maybe add some butter. Cook the onions for a bit, then add the summer squash. Salt and pepper. Turn a few times, then cover for five to ten minutes until it's pretty well done. That's basically how I make them for the dinner table. Then just combine some of the leftovers with pancake batter. Like one cup of batter to one cup of cooked squash. Then fry on a hot greased griddle, or, like me, use your trusty greased skillet.

There are many different ways to make fritters. You can shred them, or grate them. Add some finely minced onion, some flour, sugar, salt. An egg or two. Feel your way until you find a method that works for you. Because when the squash are coming, you'll have plenty to experiment with.

Also, fritters freeze well. Flash freeze them by laying out on wax paper on a cookie sheet for a half hour or so, then put in ziploc freezer bags. Then you take out what you need and heat them in the microwave for a quick meal. The kids love to have these easy to grab breakfast treats, and you get to sneak in some veggies, too.