Zucchini is summer's favorite squash, and for good reason. This versatile veggie has a deep green color and straight shape. It also makes a great low-carb substitute for fries or noodles. And of course, zucchini is great for baking.
Whether it's classic Zucchini Bread or even cookies , you can pretty much do it all with zucchini. This summertime squash takes the shape of a spaceship, and can come in a variety of colors including white, yellow, and green or a mix. This unusual squash is not as readily available in grocery stores like yellow squash or zucchini, but it can often be found at local farmer's markets.
This is another versatile squash. It's great steamed, sauteed, fried, Gotgrilled, baked, and stuffed. Although this squash resembles a pear, you probably don't want to bite directly into it. Chayote squash originated in Mexico, and is now grown all over the world. This is a very low-calorie squash, with a taste similar to that of a cucumber.
Like other summer squash, it's extremely versatile and can be grilled, sauteed, baked, or used in soup. You can even eat it raw as a salad topping for added crunch. Related: Browse our entire collection of Squash Recipes. By Melanie Fincher Updated July 02, Pin FB Share. Variety of squash. Credit: Getty Images. Spaghetti Squash. Photo by Getty Images. Acorn Squash. Delicata Squash. Kabocha Squash. Summer squash in general tends to get a bit watery and bland as it gets bigger.
Get the smallest, firmest ones you can find. You can find pattypan squash most commonly in yellow or light green colors, which taste pretty much the same. Flickr user graibeard. Crookneck squash is bulbous at the bottom and thin and curved at the top. Crookneck falls on the tougher side of the summer squash spectrum and is also pretty bland. Flickr user pauljill. This type of summer squash is easily recognizable for its two-tone coloration: light green on the bottom and yellow on top.
Flickr user sfbaywalk. Pale, speckled green, a little more bulbous than zucchini but with the same basic shape, cousa is an excellent squash most often found in Middle Eastern cuisines. Flickr user Jeremy Keith. These spherical summer squashes, available in dark green, light green, and yellow, are very very similar to zucchini, aside from their grapefruit-like shape. Flickr user Kurman Photos. The tatuma is a Mexican variety.
It can be either spherical or shaped roughly like the cousa squash, and typically either light or dark green. The way to tell this one apart is that it has many very tiny seeds and a very thin skin. Typically spherical and a speckled light green, the gourmet globe is a French heirloom squash. This is a weird one: pale green, perfectly smooth, and shaped like a large beefsteak tomato.
Striped zucchini provide a little more visual interest than their unstriped summer squash counterparts. While there are some hybrid striped zucchini cultivars, many of these are Italian heirlooms. Striped zucchini can be used just like other types of zucchini — for spiralizing, grilling, or making zucchini bread — but one culinary use that really shows off the stripes is to use these summer squash to make boats for roasting and stuffing.
The long, straight fruits have dark green skin with light green stripes and slight ribbing. They are extremely flavorful, with a slightly nutty taste and dense flesh. Bushy plants have an open growth habit and few spines, making picking a breeze. Plants mature to feet wide and around 2 feet tall. Fruits are dark green with narrow, light green stripes along the ribs, and light flecks.
The dense flesh is never watery, and they have a distinctive, nutty flavor and tender skin. Plants are sprawling with vines growing up to 5 feet long at maturity, and they are resistant to powdery mildew.
Cylindrical fruits are glossy with bold, dark and light green stripes, and not much flecking — and they are as tasty as they look. The bright yellow hue will brighten up your meals, and some say they have a sweeter taste than their green counterparts. In the kitchen, yellow zucchini works well for spiralizing, sauteing, roasting, or eating as crudite.
It would also be a star in a grilled veggie platter. Try it in this recipe for grilled veggies with balsamic and garlic, also on Foodal. Fruits are lemon yellow with creamy white flesh and a succulent texture — and they have a buttery flavor when eaten either cooked or raw. Generally picked at inches, these zucchini will maintain their high-quality flavor and texture when they are up to 10 inches long. Open bush type plants mature to feet wide and 2 feet tall, and with few spines, they are easy to pick.
Straight, cylindrical fruits are bright yellow with white stripes that become more pronounced as fruits mature. Bush plants are a compact feet by feet at maturity in terms of height and spread, and they will give you your first harvest in days. This cultivar was developed in biodynamic conditions by organic seed company Sativa Rheinau, based in Switzerland.
Read more about growing gold and yellow zucchini here. French and Italian plant breeders beat us to this idea, having bred heirloom zucchini that are round in shape before the local US supermarkets even knew what zucchini was. These types of summer squash are great for stuffing, and would be a good alternative to bell peppers for those following a nightshade-free diet. Another one of my favorite uses for these is to slice them and stack them for making Mediterranean-style veggie timbales.
The eye-catching fruits of this cultivar are egg-shaped, with greenish-white flesh, and a sweet and nutty flavor. Yellow fruits are easy to see for picking on sprawling plants that can spread up to 6 feet at maturity. Fruits are round and milky-green colored with a meaty texture and rich flavor, making them stars for stuffing, grilling, or braising.
Plants grow in a compact bush shape, reaching mature dimensions of 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall, and they have beautiful variegated leaves. Pick these fruits when they are the size of a softball for the best taste and flavor — or let them mature to bowling ball size and use them for making zucchini bread instead.
Plants produce vigorous sprawling vines that can grow up to 12 feet long at maturity, with squash that are ready to harvest in 65 days.
Scallop squash are also called pattypans, with both names referencing their resemblance to scalloped cake or pie pans. These are best picked small when the skin and seeds are still tender. If you happen to miss some though, larger pattypans can be peeled, and the tougher seeds removed. Scallop squash can be sliced or cubed for sauteing, roasting, or frying. My favorite way to use these summer squash is to stuff them, which really shows off their unique shape. Also sometimes referred to as flying saucer squash, scallop varieties come in a range of colors, including white, yellow, green, and also patterned.
Farr, a market grower from the Benning neighborhood of Washington, DC, who started selling the variety around In keeping with that last name, these pattypans are best when picked small, at just inches wide. Farr intended them to be. Fruits have creamy white to yellow skin with green stripes or splotches, and flesh that is fine-grained and very tasty. They also make beautiful autumn decor if allowed to mature. Bushy plants grow to feet tall and wide, and their first fruits come to maturity in days.
These squash have the best flavor and texture when picked at inches wide, and can be cooked whole at this size. Straightneck squash closely resembles crookneck squash with its tapered neck and bulbous base, but its neck doesn't curve as much, if at all. Like crookneck squash, straightneck squash has a bumpy skin, and a pale white flesh. Harvest this squash when it's 6-inches or shorter for the best flavor and texture.
It makes a great complement to zucchini, and its uniform shape makes it easy to slice for use in squash casserole. This stunning squash is a hybrid between yellow crookneck, delicata , and yellow acorn squash. It's easy to recognize for its two-tone coloration: light green on the bottom and yellow on top. Zephyr squash is dense like pattypan, but easier to slice due to its shape.
Use it as you would other yellow squash. By Melanie Fincher March 06, Pin FB Share. How to Choose Summer Squash Ripe squash will be firm, fairly heavy for its size, and vibrantly colored. Chayote Squash on palm leaves.
Cousa Squash up close. Zucchini on blue background up close. Golden Zucchini in basket with burlap. Luffa Squash up close. Pattypan squash on white wood background.
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