Yellow Zucchini is a variety of common zucchini which is in turn a type of squash. It’s a summer plant commonly used and first created in what’s now US and Mexico. Botanically speaking it’s a fruit but in culinary practices it’s treated as a vegetable.
The plant is easy to produce in temperate climates and thus can be grown by both professional enterprises and by a common gardener that has some experience with growing ordinary squashes.
Yellow Zucchini Trivia
- One zucchini is a “zucchina”
- April 25th is National Zucchini Bread Day
- The flower of the plant is also edible
Yellow Zucchini Buying Guide
The best way to choose the zucchini is to look for its color and its shape and size. You should also try to squeeze the zucchini and to make sure that it’s firm since it’s a way to know it’s fresh. Choose the smaller ones, because larger they are, the waterier and flavorless they are.
Make sure that it still has a good chunk of stem attached to it because that shows that it was harvested recently.
Yellow Zucchini Production & Farming in Texas
Yellow Zucchini grows well in all areas of Texas. It’s a warm season garden vegetable meaning that anyone can grow it at home as well as commercially if they do it in the proper timeline. They take up a lot of space meaning that they won’t do well in small gardens.
It feeds of and helps feed the plants around it. That means that it won’t do well as monoculture. When they were grown by Native Americans it was done in a form of three sisters planting, the other two plants being beans and corn.
It grows best in the soil with enough of organic matter. That’s accomplished by having enough compost, leafs or by having a cover crop that will grow before it and that you’ll be able to use to protect and enrich the soil.
They will require a lot of water and you’ll do best to water the soil once a week.
Yellow Zucchini should be harvested before it’s fully grown. That way it will be more tender and easier to manage and transport. It’s put to cut it and not pull it from the vine.
Pesticides
Yellow Zucchini wasn’t on the dirty dozen list but it is on the dirty dozen plus list meaning that it’s still one of the vegetable that’s considered to be healthy but it heavily depends on pesticides that can be found on it for a long time.
Geography
The plant originates in the Mesoamerica and from there it found its way to Europe and then to other parts of the world. That’s mostly because it can be cultivated in just about any moderate climate. It’s also a plant that can satisfied the needs of a small garden due to its size and it easily became popular.
The plant became popular in Italy because it worked well with Italian cuisine and it was brought to the United States by Italian immigrants. Commercial and large scale production began in California in 1920s.
Enjoying Yellow Zucchinis
Yellow zucchini could be served raw but that would be a boring meal. Instead it’s better to add it to pastas and great when roasted so that it picks up the flavor of what it’s roasting with.
They will be much more useful in a dish when they are oiled up and not able to stick to the surface on which they are prepared. You should also be rather generous with seasoning and flavoring since there’s not much of a flavor on its own.
Storage
Yellow Zucchini is rather simple to store. Keep them unwashed, dry and whole. Place them in a simple plastic bag and keep that bag in the cold part of the fridge and you’ll be to keep them for about one to two weeks. When you notice the skin starting to shrivel, they are starting to go bad.
Cooking
Here’s a simple recipe for a sautéed yellow zucchini that anyone can make.
Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of Butter with Canola Oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Cook gently until the onions begin to brown, about 10 to 11 minutes. Add the zucchini, salt, pepper, thyme, and remaining Less Sodium Butter with Canola Oil.
Increase heat to medium. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is just cooked through and beginning to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Enjoy immediately
Nutrition
Zucchini are low in food energy (approximately 71 kJ or 17 kcal (or “food calories”) per 100 g (3.5 oz) fresh zucchini) and contain useful amounts of folate (24 μg/100 g), potassium (261 mg/100 g), and provitamin A (200 IU [10 RAE]/100 g). Zucchini can be shaped into noodle-like spirals and used as a low-carbohydrate substitute for pasta or noodles.
Zucchini is also rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants are beneficial plant compounds that help protect your body from damage by free radicals. Carotenoids — such as lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene — are particularly plentiful in zucchini. These may benefit your eyes, skin, and heart, as well as offer some protection against certain types of cancer, such as prostate cancer. Research indicates that the skin of the plant harbors the highest levels of antioxidants. Yellow zucchinis may contain slightly higher levels than light green ones.
Zucchini may promote healthy digestion in several ways. For starters, it’s rich in water, which can soften stools. This makes them easier to pass and reduces your chances of constipation.
