I am in awe of anyone who is able to work through the copious amounts of zucchini we are (still!) getting every week in my CSA. Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables, and yet once we get past a certain point in the season, I find the need to hide it in my food. Night after night, when it comes time to cook dinner, I just can’t seem to bring myself to pull out the zucchini yet again.

Maybe because it’s almost November. Maybe because I am just so tired of these hot weeks that come back to taunt us after a few lucky days of chill. (I’m giddy with the thought of tomorrow’s forecast that promises highs lower than our recent lows.) But come on, zucchini. You speak of summer and long evenings, and here we are with the sun setting early. But you’re no match for me. I’ll get through you yet.

Zucchini Hummus - You can feel extra virtuous when you snack on zucchini hummus.

This hummus was inspired by a local raw-food restaurant. As it turns out, zucchini hummus is big in the raw-food world, so you can feel extra virtuous eating it. Plus it helps eliminate that possible bean-on-bean overload you might get from eating things like falafel with hummus. I love the bright flavor, and considering I have zucchini on hand more often than chickpeas, this might be my new go-to dip-slash-spread.

When you are selecting zucchini to use, in this recipe size doesn’t matter. However, if using a larger squash, discard the seeded center and use only the outer part. You can peel if you like, but I like the flecks of color the skin adds to the hummus. Also, feel free to kick back the garlic to one clove, especially if your cloves are large or you’re not a fan of its strong flavor.

Zucchini Hummus

Name: Zucchini Hummus
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 cups diced zucchini; 2 cloves garlic; 3 tablespoons tahini; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 teaspoon salt

Yield: 2 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

This simple zucchini dip is wonderful with pita chips or crudites.

Ingredients

2 cups diced zucchini
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Blitz everything together in a food processor until smooth.
The zucchini will create excess liquid, so be sure to stir the hummus to reincorporate before serving.