Apple Crisp? No... ZUCCHINI Crisp!

Pin It Bright and early last Saturday morning I made a trip to the Farmer's Market and bought myself a huge yellow zucchini.  Lately, I've had the itch to do something with zucchini.  You can use it in such a wide variety of dishes!  Plus its good for you!  And on top of being good for your body, buying locally grown zucchini is good for the environment.  Buying fresh, local fruits and vegetables is a lot easier on the environment than buying produce that has to travel over 500 miles before it reaches your kitchen.  One should really take this into consideration, the next time you go to the grocery store.  Sure produce at the Farmer's Market may cost a little more, but in the long run it is worth saving the environment around you and supporting your community's farmers.  In my mind you have one of two choices.  1. Pay a little more now for locally grown fruits and vegetables. Or 2. Pay later to try and restore the destroyed environment.  If we get more people to start supporting local Farmer's Markets now, prices will be able to eventually decline a little and we can could really make a difference in the quality of our surrounding environment.  Double whammy!
Some people may wonder what's in it for them? Why should they have to pay more of their hard earned money to protect the environment? Well I'll tell you!  The list could go on and on, but here are two biggies: cleaner, more breathable air and a longer, healthier life.  Sounds like a good deal to me!  We need more fresh fruits and veggies in our diets.  Too many Americans do not get enough of them in their diets and we have seen the effects... not pretty. 
Alright enought venting and back to the Zucchini Crisp.  I love experimenting in the kitchen and using surprise ingredients.   I decided to use zucchinis instead of apples in my dish this time and it turned out GREAT.  I was so surprised at how it turned out.  Other than the zucchini seeds I was too lazy to take out, the crisp looked and tasted just like any other apple crisp.  Yum!  I highly recommend this recipe.  My crisp topping does, however, need a little work yet.  I'm not a huge fan of butter, so of course I didn't have any to use in the topping.  This would have given it a better texture, but hey it still taste good. :)

Zucchini Crisp

Ingredients

6 cups Zucchini

3/4 cup Lemon juice

1 cup Water 

1/4 cup Honey

6 packets Stevia

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tbsp Cornstarch   

TOPPING

2/3 cup Oats (Old-Fashion or Quick; I used quick just because it was the only kind I had)

1/3 cup White whole wheat flour

1/4 cup Honey

1 tsp Cinnamon  

Pinch salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Peel and slice zucchini into apple size slices.

3. In a large pot add zucchini, lemon juice, and water.

4. Bring pot to a medium boil and cook until zucchini is tender, but not mushy.

5. While zucchini is cooking mix up the topping in a small bowl.

6. Drain most, but not all of the liquid from the pot.

7. Add the honey, stevia, cinnamon, and cornstarch to the zucchini and mix well.

8. Pour zucchini into a greased 9x9 baking dish.

9. Sprinkle topping on top.

10. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Makes 9 servings

Nutrition Facts
Calories: 124
Total Fat: 0.6 g
     Sat. Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 3.9 mg
Potassium: 360 mg
Total Carbs: 29.5 g
     Dietary Fiber: 3.3 g
     Sugars: 16.7 g
Protein: 2.2 g
Vitamin A: 26.9%
Vitamin C: 17.4%
Calcium: 2.6%
Iron: 6.6%