This is what I had for lunch today. Before moving to the U.S. this was the only kind of zucchinis I knew. In Mexico they are called calabacitas (the literal translation would be small pumpkins) They come in several forms and sizes, but they all have that yellow-light greenish look. I want to say they are a little bit sweeter than zucchini, but I am not an expert and I don’t know if this particular kind is known in other parts of the world. If you know more about this delicious family of vegetables, please enlighten me.
What I do know about them is that they are delicious, easy to cook and can be part of a nutritious meal. I remember they used to serve a stuffed zucchini dish at my parents’ restaurant. I tried to recreate it today and though I liked it, it didn’t have that mom’s taste I was looking for.
All I did was cut the zucchinis in half, stuffed them with a thick slice of ham and a slice of queso fresco (I held them together with toothpicks) I then coated them with 2 beaten egg whites and fried them. The last step was to cook them for 15 minutes in the same green salsa I make for green enchiladas.
The whole process took me about 25 minutes and I still have a big fat zucchini and a lot of the green salsa that I am going to use tomorrow in the fridge.
I want to make more zucchini dishes when the summer comes and we have fresh ones here in Ohio. If you have a great zucchini recipe I’d love to hear about it.
Buen provecho!
8 Replies
I just purchased a rounder version of these from Mexico. I have 2 left and your great recipe to follow.
Posted on March 20th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Lovely lunch. I’m not certain about the difference between baby zucchini’s and larger ones but I believe you may be correct about the sweetness. My husband is explaining to me this second that you don’t have as many seeds in the smaller one and are in fact more flavoursome.
Posted on March 21st, 2008 at 4:26 am
Ben, in Greece only this kind of zucchini is to be found and on occasion I see it here too. Zucchini have always been one of my favourite veggies.
Posted on March 21st, 2008 at 9:21 am
I love anything with zucchini or similar squash of any type. This looks amazing.
Posted on March 21st, 2008 at 10:51 am
I wonder if this is what we call a zucchini marrow? It looks similar. Nice lunch as well Ben:D
Posted on March 21st, 2008 at 12:36 pm
[...] cheese, and fried zucchini. Sounds delicious and Ben has the recipe for it, called calabacitas, at What’s [...]
Posted on March 22nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
What a great idea Ben, thank you!
Posted on June 22nd, 2008 at 5:13 am
In Colombia, they make delicious stuffed zucchini with chopped meat. I have to get the recipe from my mom, its delicious. This reminded me of it.
Posted on December 19th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
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