Welcome to Paulina Cocina! Today, the reigning chefs in our kitchen are recipes featuring zucchini, squash, pumpkin, or zucchini . Whatever it's known as wherever you are. A highly prized ingredient in the cuisine of many countries, and for good reason, today I'm going to show you all the benefits we can get from it.
It's a vegetable from the Cucurbitaceae family . This is a curious fact, since it's a family of fruits; melon and watermelon are first cousins of zucchini. It improves skin and hair, and its daily consumption is very good for eye health. It provides benefits such as eliminating toxins, and it also aids digestion and nutrient absorption.
This is an excellent way to preserve all the properties of its ingredients, and we at this blog are STRONG advocates for this way of eating it. Try it grated and then tell us!
The civilizations that discovered and incorporated this vegetable into their diet were the Greeks and Romans, followed later by the Egyptians.
However, Arab culture introduced it to the Mediterranean regions, where it became a staple food during World War II. During times of scarcity, families had to rely on what they grew in their gardens along the riverbanks , and every home lacked produce such as potatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, carrots, and onions to survive. Thanks to these types of produce, garden cooking developed in every home.
Today, zucchini is grown mainly from Mexico, Spain, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, to Morocco and India.
The best time to consume and harvest them is from November to August, although they can be found all year round.
If we follow a series of “quality criteria,” nothing can go wrong.
In the refrigerator, it can easily last about two weeks. Always make sure it's kept in a cool, dry place, at room temperature, and away from direct sunlight.
⚠️ Something to keep in mind: it's not recommended to store zucchini near fruits like bananas, melons, or peaches, as these impart an unwanted bitter taste.
If you plan to freeze it , we will first have to cook it a little beforehand.
A very versatile fruit, we can use it raw, in salads, or cooked. There's no need to peel it, as most of the nutrients are found in the skin.
We already know that there are thousands of ways to cook it: raw, cooked, fried, roasted, stuffed... and to close this topic, I'll leave you with my favorite zucchini recipe: Ratatouille ❤️ . Be creative with this fruit that deserves it.
