Blogger’s Confession: This recipe has languished in my file since August. I finally found time to post when Hurricane Sandy hit and I got a day off work. Sorry. I know your summer zucchini is long gone. But not to worry: With seasonal additions, this recipe easily transforms into Moist Apple, Pumpkin or Carrot Tea Bread, see below. Here’s how I learned about the recipe…

Back in the 70s, my mother—like a lot of boho parents in our San Francisco Bay Area community—was enamored of native culture. She read everything she could get her hands on about Native American family life, cooking and planting.

Somewhere between Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and The Tassajara Cookbook, Mom discovered “Three Sister” planting.

Mom’s 1970s experiments with “Three Sister” planting

Three Sister planting, Mom explained, was an ancient method of growing squash, corn and beans. The veggies supposedly worked symbiotically: The corn shot up to support the climbing beans. And the squash spread along the ground, conserving moisture and deterring weeds.

Three Sisters Planting featured on 2009 Native American U.S. dollar coin

Three Sister planting was ecological, holistic and cooperative.

Three Sister planting carried the halo of Native Americanism.

We had to try it, Mom decided. And by “we,” she meant “me.”

Child labor circa 1974

Hoe in hand, I was soon out in our back one-quarter acre hacking away at the dusty Northern California soil. I scratched an 8’ x 3’ garden strip and planted corn, zucchini and green bean seeds.

I watered and waited.

And waited.

But the Three Sisters didn’t like our yard.

Despite my sweaty efforts to “train” the indifferent beanstalks with sandwich bag ties, most of the green beans refused to climb up the corn. The handful of beans that cooperated wound up choking the cornstalk like a python.

And the stunted corn never grew “knee high by the fourth of July,” as the old farmer’s adage promised. It didn’t grow knee high by August or September either.

Out of the three veggies, only the zucchini was a success. But what a success.

We were amazed to see how fast and bountifully the stripey green squash grew. In just a day or two, an itty zuch could balloon into a five-pound wonder. Even when we forgot to water and weed them, the zucchini kept on producing.

Home-grown zucchini: Too much of a good thing

Given our pitiful Three Sister yield, we were delighted with the summer squash bumper crop.

Up to a point.

Soon we had more zucchini than we knew what to do with. For Mom, waste was a bourgeois evil—right up there with watching network television or voting Republican. So we had to find ways to use the harvest. All of it.

We rifled through cookbooks, magazines and recipe files looking for ways to cook the mild flavored squash.

We sautéed zucchini. We stuffed and baked them. We grated them into meatloaf. We added them to casseroles. We stewed them with tomatoes.

But by far, our favorite recipe was zucchini tea bread. This tender, sweet bread was easy to whip together, stayed moist for days and—best of all—used up tons of zucchini.

The recipe, below, has evolved over 30+ years. Unlike Diet For a Small Planet-era versions, this Moist Zucchini Tea Bread is light and delicate, not sodden with oil.

Little details make it especially tasty: You toast the nuts to bring out their full flavor and crunch. And you wring the grated zucchini to rid it off excess water.

I vary flavor with different combinations of “pumpkin pie” spices—cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger. Since I love cardamom’s heady, perfumed flavor, I add a generous teaspoon of this spice, freshly ground, in my version.

This basic recipe also a makes a mean Moist Apple, Pumpkin or Carrot Tea Bread, see variations below.

Moist Zucchini Tea Bread Recipe

½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons “pumpkin pie spices”—any combo you like: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice, cardamom
¾ teaspoon salt
2 cups grated raw zucchini, wrung our with dish towels—about 3 cups before wringing
6 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup white granulated sugar
½ cup Demerara sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (not fat-free)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place walnuts in a single layer in the center of a cookie sheet. Slide sheet into oven and toast nuts for 8-10 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven, cool and chop walnuts. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, blend flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.
4. Using the largest side of grater, grate about 3 cups of zucchini. Dump grated zucchini into the center of a clean, dry dishtowel. Roll sides of towel over the zucchini and twist ends of the towel. Continue to twist the towel, squeezing the zucchini until all excess water is removed. (You may need a second towel.) Set aside zucchini.
5. Pour melted butter into a large bowl. Using a mixer set on medium speed, mix in white sugar, then Demerara or brown sugar, beating until blended. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream or yogurt and vanilla and beat until well blended.
6. With a wooden spoon, stir grated zucchini into the butter/sugar/egg mixture.
7. Dump the flour and nuts into the butter/sugar/egg/zucchini mixture, folding gently with a wooden spoon until just blended—do not over beat.
8. Spoon batter into greased loaf pan.
9. Slide loaf pan into oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.
10. Allow bread to cool for 10-12 minutes, run a knife around sides of pan and invert onto cooling rack. Cool until firm enough to cut—or be a little piggy like me and cut the loaf while it’s steaming hot, slather the slice with sweet butter and eat, burning the roof of your mouth.

Yield: 1 loaf

Moist Tea Bread variations

Moist Apple Tea Bread: Use the above recipe, substituting 2 cups peeled, grated raw apples for zucchini.

Moist Pumpkin Tea Bread: Use the above recipe, substituting 1 cup cooked, purred pumpkin—fresh or canned—for zucchini.

Moist Carrot Tea Bread: Use the above recipe, substituting 2 cups peeled, grated raw carrots for zucchini.

Need dinner ideas this week?

We did another cook-athon over the weekend so we could enjoy the following meals during the week:

Monday
Smitten Kitchen Meatball Subs with Caramelized Onions, chopped romaine and fennel salad with Mustard and Herb Vinaigrette

Tuesday
Chunky Tomato Soup with Arborio Rice, naan from Indian grocery store

Wednesday
Provence Pan-fried Grassfed Chicken, Rapido Mushroom Risotto, broccoli pan fried in olive and garlic, baguette

Thursday
Bucatini all’Amatriciana, watercress salad with walnuts, Parmesan and Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing, rustic Italian bread

Friday
Ezra Pound Cake’s Coconut-Sweet Potato Bisque, Michaelmas Harvest Bread

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

Need dinner ideas this week?

We did another cook-athon over the weekend so we could enjoy the following meals during the week:

Monday
Easy Shepherd’s Pie, Brussels Sprouts with Buttered Bread Crumbs

Tuesday
Bucatini all’Amatriciana, sautéed broccoli, Italian bread

Wednesday
Chunky Tomato Soup with Arborio Rice, grilled Monterey Jack cheese sandwiches

Thursday
Five Layer Chili Cheese Casserole, romaine and tomato salad with Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing

Friday
Two-Bit Navy Bean Soup with Pan-Fried Carrots and Potatoes, No-Knead Irish Soda Bread

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

Need dinner ideas this week?

I did another cook-athon over the weekend so we could enjoy the following meals during the week:

Monday
Mediterranean Poached Eggs in Chunky Spiced Tomato Sauce, romaine and tomato salad with Lemony Sesame Tahini Dressing, toasted rustic Italian bread

Thursday
Smitten Kitchen’s Meatball Subs with Caramelized Onions, Easy Oven-Roasted Green Beans tossed with balsamic vinegar

Wednesday
Mulligatawny Soup with Coconut Rice Pilau, naan (purchased frozen from Indian grocery store)

Thursday
Spaghetti al Limone, sautéed flat Italian green beans with garlic and tomatoes, rustic Italian bread

Friday
Burritos made with grassfed ground beef, Healthy Homemade Refried Beans, sour cream and grated Monterey Jack cheese, Chili Roasted Cauliflower

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

Need dinner ideas this week?

This weekend I did a marathon cooking session. Here’s what we’ll eating weeknights at Copywriters’ Kitchen:

Monday
Spicy Homemade Falafel, pita bread, romaine salad with tomatoes and Lemony Sesame Tahini Dressing

Tuesday
Thursday Night Herb-Roasted Chicken and Roasted Potatoes, broccoli sautéed with olive oil and garlic

Wednesday
Red and Yellow Dal with Cumin Potatoes, steamed basmati rice, sliced tomatoes with sprinkled with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh chopped cilantro, naan from Indian grocery store

Thursday
Spaghetti with Smitten Kitchen’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter, green beans sautéed with olive oil and garlic, rustic Italian bread

Friday
Kerala-Style Coconut Fish Curry, steamed basmati rice, naan from Indian grocery store

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

Things have shifted around a bit here at Copywriters’ Kitchen.

And by “things,” I don’t mean the summer fruit in the fridge or cumin in the cupboard. I mean my schedule—and therefore my menus at Copywriters’ Kitchen.

After 20+ years working from a home office, I’m now working full-time onsite. My job requires a substantial commute. While I’ve never had a lot of time to fuss with weeknight dinners—ergo my credo, “fast, scratch-cooking for busy people”—now I have even less time.

So have I gone to the Dark Side of take-out and convenience food? No.

At least not much. My long absence from home makes family meals even more important. To make home-cooked meals work with my schedule, I rely on weekend cookathons and help from my Dear Husband.

I’ve always been a fan of planned meals and once-a-week grocery shopping. And even when I worked from home, I often got a head-start on cooking by preparing at least one weeknight meal in advance on Saturday or Sunday.

Now DH and I prepare all meals in advance over the weekend. Yes, it makes for a hectic few hours on Sunday afternoon. But for me, the payoff—a comforting home-cooked meal with my family after a long day of work—is totally worth the effort.

What’s more, the in-advance cooking gives us more variety. Ordinarily, I would never serve quiche on a weeknight. I have no desire to tackle a hand-rolled crust and multi-step sautéing after managing a team of copywriters all day.


But I don’t mind making the extra effort on the weekend. The cookathons—removed as they are from my corporate copy desk—are actually kind of therapeutic.

This Zucchini Bacon Quiche came out of my most recent culinary therapy session. Made with guilt-free bacon from local Spring Lake Farm, the cheesey pie makes a perfect summer dinner. Baked in advance, it keeps well for days in the fridge. And it’s just as tasty served at room temperature as heated—so no need to fire up the oven on a sweltering summer night.

Add a simple tossed green salad, or sliced tomatoes to round out the meal.

A quick word about piecrusts—preparation of which makes many otherwise brave cooks cower in fear. Certainly you can buy frozen. I find homemade infinitely superior and—after botching scores of pie crusts—easy to make.

It’s all about practice. And letting go of perfectionism. Pie crusts don’t have to look perfect. After all, they’re stuffed—and mercifully hidden—by pie filling. My pie crust, below, looked like a jigsaw puzzle before I patted and pinched it together. Afterward, no one could tell the difference.

Zucchini Quiche Recipe

Unbaked pie shell—homemade or frozen
Four thick strips of bacon—if you can’t get humanely-raised pork, leave out the bacon
One medium onion, diced
Three small zucchini, thinly sliced
¼ cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and chopped—optional
Fresh herbs such as thyme, oregano or basil or ½ teaspoon dried herbs
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, if you’re not using bacon—or if bacon is very lean
4 eggs
2 cups grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese
2 cups half and half—or mixture of half-and-half and whole milk
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place rack at mid-level in oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare piecrust and place in fridge to chill. If using store-bought crust, keep crust frozen until five minutes before you are ready to use it.
3. Cut bacon into ¼” slices.
4. In heavy frying pan over medium flame, fry bacon, adjusting flame as you cook so bacon does not burn: You want the bacon cooked through and soft—not crisp—for this recipe. When bacon is cooked, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and reserve it on a plate lined with a double layer of paper towel. After removing and reserving bacon from frying pan, you’ll use the same pan to cook the onion and zucchini.
5. When bacon is removed and reserved, pour all but one tablespoon of bacon fat from the frying pan. Reserve the extra bacon fat for later use. If you’re not using bacon for this recipe, use olive oil in place of bacon fat for the following steps.
6. As bacon cooks, chop the onion—I use a mini chopper.
7. Place frying pan over medium low flame, add oil, if applicable, and heat fat or oil. Toss in the chopped onions to fry, stirring frequently so onions don’t burn: You want them soft and slightly caramelized, not crisp. When onions are soft, limp and slightly golden, remove and reserve.
8. Remove frying pan from stove and wipe pan with paper towel to remove tiny bits of onion—they will burn and turn bitter as you cook the zucchini.
9. As onion cooks, wash, pat dry and thinly slice the zucchini.
10. Place pan over medium high flame and add another tablespoon or two of bacon fat or oil. When oil is heated, add zucchini slices. Sir and fry the zucchini until it is golden around the edges—about ten minutes. Scoop out zucchini and place on plate with double layer of paper towel—zucchini is very watery. You want to remove as much water as possible so your quiche doesn’t turn out soggy.
11. If using frozen crust, remove from freezer and let sit at room temp for five minutes. If using homemade crust, fetch from fridge. Using a fork, poke the crust bottom and sides multiple times—like 50-70 pokes. This aerates the crust as it bakes and keeps it from getting soggy.
12. As zucchini cooks, grate the cheese.
13. If using fresh herbs, wash, dry and remove herb leaves from stems. If using large-leafed herbs such as basil, chop the leaves.
14. If using black olives, pit and chop the olives.
15. To assemble the quiche, sprinkle the bacon evenly over the pie shell bottom. Spread the onions over the bacon. Add the zucchini in one even layer. Scatter the cheese over the zucchini. Sprinkle fresh or dried herbs and olives (optional) over the cheese.
16. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Add the half-and-half, milk (if desired), nutmeg, salt and pepper, beating to incorporate each ingredient.
17. Place the pie shell on a cookie or jellyroll sheet. Pour the egg/half-and-half mixture carefully over the other ingredients, being careful not to disturb the bacon/veggie/cheese layers.
18. Carefully place cookie sheet in middle rack of oven. Bake for 20 minutes and check pie crust: If edges are golden, remove pie from oven and cover crust with an aluminum piecrust cover or strips of aluminum foil. Return pie to oven and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes, until custard is set in middle and edges of filling are golden.
19. Remove and cool slightly before cutting and serving. Or cool completely and serve at room temperature.

Need dinner ideas this week?

Here’s what we’re cooking at Copywriters’ Kitchen:

Monday
Anything Goes Gazpacho, sandwiches made with Mom’s Meatloaf

Tuesday
No-Cook Summer Tomato Pasta, cold steamed broccoli with Pinch My Salt’s Homemade Mayonnaise

Wednesday
Burritos made with Healthy Homemade Refried Beans, sour cream and grated Monterey Jack cheese, romaine salad with Crunchy Oven-Toasted Croutons and From-Scratch Caesar Salad Dressing

Thursday
Zucchini Quiche, iceberg lettuce salad with Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing

Friday
Grilled salmon marinated in Lime Chutney Salad Dressing, steamed basmati rice, cold steamed green beans with Pinch My Salt’s Homemade Mayonnaise

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

Need dinner ideas this week?

Here’s what we’re cooking at Copywriters’ Kitchen:

Monday
Chunky Tomato Soup with Arborio Rice, grilled gruyere sandwiches, romaine salad with Crunchy Oven-Toasted Croutons and From-Scratch Caesar Salad Dressing

Tuesday
Easy Shepherd’s Pie, watercress salad with chopped walnuts, cheddar cheese and Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing

Wednesday
Orecchiette with Rapini and Goat Cheese, rustic Italian bread

Thursday
Smitten Kitchen’s Meatball Subs with Caramelized Onions, romaine salad with Crunchy Oven-Toasted Croutons and From-Scratch Caesar Salad Dressing

Friday
How Sweet Eats Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon, steamed rice, shredded cabbage with scallions, sesame oil and soy sauce

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

Need dinner ideas this week?

Here’s what we’re cooking at Copywriters’ Kitchen:

Monday
Five Layer Chili Cheese Casserole, Old-Fashioned Coleslaw

Tuesday
Spaghetti al Limone, pan-fried broccoli, rustic Italian bread

Wednesday
How Sweet Eats Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon, Steamed Rice, Easy Oven-Roasted Green Beans

Thursday
The Spice Spoon’s Aromatic Scrambled Eggs, The Spice Spoon’s Cumin-Spiced Potatoes, toasted ciabatta

Friday
Bucatini all’Amatriciana, watercress salad with walnuts, Parmesan and Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing

1950s housewife photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.

For a quick dinner nothing beats the one-two, carb-protein punch of taters and eggs. Sure you can quickly fry up eggs and spuds. But in almost as little time, you can put together these Baked Eggs and Potatoes with Cilantro and Pumpkin Seed Pesto.

Alright, if you make the pesto fresh, prep time expands slightly. But once made, the pesto lasts for weeks in the fridge and months in the freezer: scoop out what you need and store the rest to toss with pasta or spread on bruschetta.


If you’re really pressed, of course you can buy store-bought pesto.

But if you like cilantro, please try this recipe. The soapy herb is delicious pounded into paste with rich, nutty pumpkin seeds and Parmesan.


Once the buy-or-make pesto issue is decided, this recipe is totally straightforward. Thinly slice and fry potatoes and toss the spuds with a few spoons of pesto. At this point you can transfer the potatoes to a nice baking dish—say if you want it to go from oven to table for a company brunch or lunch.


Or if it’s just family, you can cook the potatoes in an iron frying pan and crack the eggs right on top. In either case, push aside the potatoes to make little nests. Now crack an egg into each nest. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, slide the pan into the oven and bake until whites are just set.

This dish is wonderful with a watercress salad and toasted ciabatta slathered with sweet butter and apricot preserves.

Baked Eggs and Potatoes with Cilantro and Pumpkin Seed Pesto

3/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1 cup packed cilantro leaves, washed well and dried
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil plus extra for frying potatoes
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 large or 6 small potatoes, scrubbed
6 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour pumpkin seeds onto a cookie sheet, centering them on the sheet in a single layer. Bake seeds for 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
3. In a food processor or blender, grind pumpkin seeds, cilantro and garlic until pasty.
4. With processor motor running, pour olive oil in a slow stream into paste. You may have to stop the motor to scrape down the bowl’s sides.
5. Dump Parmesan cheese and a grinding of black pepper into pesto and pulse until blended.
6. In the meantime, thinly slice the potatoes—if they are thin-skinned, no need to peel.
7. Pour a tablespoon or two of olive oil into a frying pan set over medium-high flame. When oil is shimmering and fragrant, add potatoes as well as salt and pepper to taste. Fry, stirring and adjusting flame, until potatoes are golden and just cooked through.
8. If using a serving pan, transfer potatoes to pan. If not, keep potatoes in pan. Toss with 6 tablespoons—or more, to taste—of pesto.
9. With a spoon, push potatoes aside to create little hollows. Crack an egg into each hollow and sprinkle with salt and a grinding of pepper.
10. Slide pan into the oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until whites are just set.

Serve immediately.

Serves 6.