Cooking with Zucchini, inspired by Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is terrible, because it so frequently makes me hungry. In real life, I had this ginormous zucchini from a family friend and it desperately needed use. One day in GW2, I'm cooking up a storm and discover some new zucchini recipes:

Genius. Challenge accepted!

I had great success! Here are the recipes I developed:

Rory Triscuit's Spicy Turkey & Zucchini Chili
1/2 lb ground turkey breast
1 cup black beans
1 red onion
1 white onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
1/8 cup diced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 tsp liquid hickory smoke
Chopped up zucchini in 1" pieces.
chili powder
chipotle powder
ground cumin
turmeric
paprika
cayenne

Soak beans overnight. Drain and boil in new water. Drain again and bring to simmer in a large pot. While beans are simmering, prepare everything else. Heat oil in a skillet at medium high temp and add diced onion. Cook until the onion is caramelized. Add ground turkey breast and spices. Cook turkey thoroughly, then add diced green and red bell pepper. If the beans are not yet ready, cover the turkey mixture and allow to cool. If the beans are ready, put everything prepared so far in the pot and keep on a simmer for another two hours or so. Add hickory smoke and molasses. The longer it simmers, the better. Add water whenever it gets too dry, keep cooking if there is still too much water. In the meantime, chop the zucchini into about 1" diameter, 1/4" width slices (I had a giant zucchini so chopped half of it into "coins" and then chopped those into fourths.) Make sure there are no seeds!

The recipe doesn't have to be too precise, so have fun with it! About an hour before you want to eat, add the chopped zucchini. You'll want it to be soft, but not gooey. Top it off with cilantro and guacamole, perhaps some green onion, salsa, sour cream or chipotle sauce, and you have yourself some gourmet chili!


Rory Triscuit's Gluten-Free Sugar-Free Zucchini Bread
1 1/2 cups gluten free flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp finely shredded orange (or lemon) peel
1 c finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 c xylitol
1/2 c Stevia
2 eggs
1/4 c applesauce (or fruit puree)
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Combine in small mixing bowl flour, spices, and baking powder. In large mixing bowl beat together eggs, xylitol and Stevia, whisking rapidly for about five minutes until frothy. Add applesauce, oil, and vanilla to the mix and combine well. Stir in zucchini. Then gradually pour dry mixture into wet mixture and combine just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Do not overstir! Pour batter into a well-oiled breadpan and bake for about 60 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick or fork in the center and it comes out clean. Cool in pan for half an hour. Run knife or flat blade along edges to ensure there is no sticking, then turn the bread out onto a cutting board. Best served fully cooled. Enjoy!