Zucchini Hail Zucchini

For more than forty years, I avoided zucchini as if it had rabies.

I mean, I not only wouldn't eat the stuff, I didn't even like to look at it in the produce department.

I can remember telling my wife back in 1973 the first time she made zucchini, right after we got married, that I wouldn't insult pasta by ladling such ugly stuff on top of it.

One of the world's thoroughly committed junk food eaters in those days, if it wasn't pizza or a cheeseburger or meat or potatoes with canned peas on the side, I would have no truck with it.

I continued to avoid zucchini and all forms of squash even after I made my diet and life style changes back in 1993. Old prejudices do die hard, I guess.

But then I read what I consider to be one of the classic books for the serious health student, Dr. Henry G. Bieler's Food is Your Best Medicine, and the good M.D. spun my opinion 180 degrees. One section stuck in my mind:

Dietic histories point out that for hundreds of years, the Italians used zucchini as a cure-all. Why would they select the simple, bland vegetable for this purpose? Perhaps it was only accident, or superstition, or perhaps they found that besides being nourishing it grew well in the soil.

It's more likely, however, that they reached their conclusions by trial and error, not knowing that the zucchini is an especially sodium-rich vegetable, as are other members of the squash-cucumber-melon family. The organic sodium in zucchini, as well as in summer and crook-neck squash, is the most ideal source of refurbishing a sodium-exhausted liver.

Click here to read more about the healthy Mediterranean Diet that has served Italians so well for generations

So I started slicing zucchini as well as crook-neck squash in my salads, and, guess what? It tasted just fine. It wasn't nasty at all.

Although I still don't jump for joy over cooked zucchini or cooked squash, I do like it raw, and I like it even more in fresh juice. If you haven't added half a zucchini or half a crook-neck squash (peel it first) to your carrot juice, you don't know what you're missing.

And my commentary on zucchini wouldn't be complete without at least one good recipe.

How about a tasty zucchini burrito?

Zucchini Burritos Recipe

3-4 medium zucchinis
1 red pepper (roasted) or pimentos
Tortillas
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp chili powder
1 clove garlic - chopped

Wash zucchini and cut each into match-sticks. Heat olive oil in wok and add garlic and zucchini. Add the chili powder as the zucchini is being stir-fried. Cut roasted pepped into match-sticks about the same size as the zucchini and toss into the wok. Briefly stir fry (just until the veggies heat through). Roll up in the tortillas, put in an oiled baking dish, and bake for 5 minutes. Pour your favorite enchilada sauce over and bake for 5-10 minutes longer.

Okay, that's enough about zucchini.

Oh, one more thing, if you have a favorite zucchini recipe, take a second and click on the "Comment" link below to share it with fellow health seekers.

Chet "Zucchini" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com