“Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself.” – Henry David Thoreau.

Mary Ann, my co-worker, gave me a giant zucchini from her son’s garden, since she knows that I love to bake. You can see the giant size of the zucchini when compared to a can of soda. I immediately created a new project for myself: creating the whole zucchini dinner. After browsing the Internet and using the ingredients I had in my refrigerator, I created Lasagna and Chocolate Bread with the recipes below.

Lasagna ingredients:
3/4 of the giant Zucchini
1 package sweet Italian sausage, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped scallion
1 clove chopped garlic
1 cup organic frozen sweet corn
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1 cup shredded jalapeno jack cheese

Directions:

1. In a skillet, cook sausage, onion, scallion, garlic, and corn over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink. Add tomato sauce and seasonings. Bring to boil; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut zucchini into 1/4 inch slices. In small bowl, combine grated sharp cheddar cheese and egg. In a greased 3 quart baking dish, place half of the zucchini, top with a mixture of egg and cheddar cheese and half the sausage mixture. Repeat with a layer of zucchini.
3. Sprinkle with shredded jalapeno jack cheese and the remaining sausage mixture. Bake at 350 deg F for 50 minutes or until heated through. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Chocolate Bread recipe adapted from Elise Bauer at simplyrecipes.com

Ingredients:
5 cups grated of the 1/4 giant Zucchini
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon coffee ground
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Dry the grated zucchini between paper towels to drain the excess moisture. In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients for the recipe.
2. Preheat oven to 350 deg F, then grease two loaf pans with butter.
3. Whisk thoroughly flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Beat sugar and eggs, add melted butter, coffee ground, and almond extract in a large bowl until smooth.
5. Mix the shredded zucchini into the sugar egg mixture. Add flour to the zucchini mixture in 3 additions, while stirring to combine the ingredients.
6. Place batter into the two pans and bake for 50 minutes at 350 deg F in the middle rack, or until a skewer inserted into the center easily comes out clean.
7. Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the loaf pans and let the bread cool completely on a rack.

So today, at work, I gave one loaf of the bread pictured above to Mary Ann. She was so happy and gave me a hug. I hope she can enjoy the bread like Aldy and I last night.