What Do I Do With All This Zucchini?

Nearly everyone I know is trying to give me zucchinis from their gardens.

While I love zucchini, mostly because of its versatility in the kitchen, there are only so many days a week I can eat it. So, I've accepted only one zucchini this year—a giant one from my good friend Tera.

I sat in my kitchen earlier this week and combed through my cookbooks trying to find something to do with this zucchini. Because of its size, I was hoping to find a recipe that used a lot of zucchini. I didn't have much luck, so I ended up settling for an old classic, zucchini bread.

My recipe yields two loaves, but you can double it to use up your zucchini and have enough sweet, delicious bread to pass out to friends and family. Or, you can freeze the loaves and save them for a dreary winter day when this snack would be a perfect reminder of summer.

To make this recipe you'll need the following:

• 2 cups of shredded zucchini
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease two loaf pans. Shred the zucchini and press with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar. Add the oil and vanilla, mix well. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts and chocolate chips (if used). Pour the batter into the pans and bake for an hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

For step-by-step instructions, scroll through the photo gallery above.