We’ve even seen it turn up on the giveaway table here in our New York office. (Where someone found excess zucchini in mid-town Manhattan beats us.) There a pile of the veggies sat recently amid the giveaway chocolate and chips, and yes, sadly, the zucchini was the last to go. Well, diss this vegetable no more. Today (cue the fanfare) is National Zucchini Day. We don’t know who decided this, and it’s not to be confused with National Zucchini Bread Day on April 25, but our trusty research department tells us that August 8 is a big day for zucchini. So we’d like to give it a round of applause. In fact, zucchini brings a lot to the party. Nutritionally, it’s low in saturated fat and sodium and very low in cholesterol. It’s also a very good source of dietary fiber. (Take that, chips and chocolate.) Cunning moms have been known to grate the flesh and sneak it into muffins and cakes for their unsuspecting children to eat. You can grate a bunch of it and store it in your freezer for said purposes all year long. With such a generous vegetable, we’ve rounded up a nice selection of recipes we think you should try. Here are some summer side dishes and appetizers featuring zucchini that we think you’ll like. Zucchini can be very respectful of your time. So here’s a recipe that only takes 7 minutes. And we think you should shove aside cabbage sometimes and try zucchini in this delicious Asian slaw recipe. So, today of all days, if you run into a zucchini, and it’s likely you will, give it a salute. Even better, take it home with you. More from Prevention: Ellie Krieger’s Low-Cal Zucchini Bread
