I've read through cookbooks until I'm cross-eyed, with no luck.

Anybody have an especially interesting or different recipe for zucchini that does not include tomatos, and is not hot and heavy (like a gratin)?

I love zucchini.  My fav is just raw.  I know I am wierd.  Also i grate it to look like hash browns and pat them dry.  Then use them instead of potatoes for latkes. 

Another I like it to scoop the insides out and scramble with eggs.  Put back in the shell add cheese and bake for a little while.  My husband likes it with sausage added. 

Zucchini and chicken with a balsalmic vinegar reduction.

Our favorite: Grilled!

Cut into quarters (lenthwise) and brush a little olive oil. Sprinkle with thyme or rosemary (we prefer the thyme). Grill, turning frequently until desired doneness.

I have a recipe at home for a stuffed manicotti that uses shredded carrots and zucchini in the stuffing. It's vegetarian. Would you like me to post that one when I get home? (It is covered with a tomato sauce, but no tomatoes are used in the manicotti itself. I presume you have an allergy/reaction issue with tomatoes?)

OK, here's the recipe. It uses stuffed shells, but I prefer manicotti. Works just as well either way. I'm sure you could use another sauce for it, or just bake them plain if you don't want to use the tomato sauce.

Stuffed Shells

from Lean and Luscious and Meatless

• 6 oz. jumbo pasta shells, uncooked (usually 1/2 a package)
• One 15-oz container part-skim ricotta cheese (1-3/4 cups)
• 3/4 oz. grated parmesan cheese (about 3 Tbl)
• 1/2 cup finely shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup finely shredded zucchini, unpeeled, drained well
• 1 tea. parsely flakes
• 1/2 tea dried oregano
• 1/8 tea. garlic powder
• 1/8 tea. pepper
• One 15-1/2 oz. jar meatless spaghetti sauce

Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain. To keep cooked shells from sticking together, place them on waxed paper in a single layer.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients (except sauce). Mix well. Fill pasta shells with cheese mixture, using about 1-1/2 tablespoons for each shell.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spread 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 6x10 inch baking dish. Place shells in pan, cheese side up. Spoon remaining sauce evenly over shells.

Cover tightly and bake 35 minutes.

ZUCCHINI  CHIP  BARS (that my children love)

1 egg, beaten

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large bowl.

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

1 cup finely shredded zucchini

12 oz chocolate chips

Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Spoon/pour into 9X9 baking pan caoted with Pam.. Bake at 350°until done.

Zucchini Orzo

¾ lb pkg orzo pasta (multicolored is fun)

Bring 6 cups water or chicken stock to a boil and add pasta. Cook 8 to 12 minutes

1 chopped onion, garlic to taste

3 large zucchini

olive oil for sauté

Use a cheese grater or mandoline to shred zucchini, sauté briefly with chopped onion and garlic until lightly golden.

thyme

oregano

¼ cup grated parmesan or any hard yellow cheese

Add spices to zucchini mixture, stir thoroughly, and then remove mixture from heat.

Combine with cheese and cooked orzo, salt to taste, serve cool or at room temperature.

 You guys are great! There are some terrific-sounding recipes here. I'll definitely try some this weekend.

 I actually love tomatos! But where I live (in S. Fla) they are not in season now, and those in the grocery store are so bad I don't buy them. Seems like most  zucchini recipes are like salads----they require a really good uncooked tomato, and that's just unavailable now.

Oh, I see now! Then it sounds like the stuffed shells will work for you. It's a fantastic recipe! I highly recommend it. :)

I put zuchini in almost anything.  I love it in bolognese sauce for pasta, as well as lasagne.  We also stir-fry it in butter or olive oil, with yellow squash, garlic and sweet yellow onions (add a dash of Italain seasonoing if you desire).

I make a zucchini relish that is great on hamburgers, hotdogs, brats and even in potato salad.  Simple to make recipe makes 6 pints at a time so when I have a lot of zucchini I make several batches. 

Zucchini and Pepper Salad

ingredients:  zucchini, green pepper, red pepper, onion, sugar, oil, vinegar

See the recipe on my RecipeZaar page:  http://www.recipezaar.com/149085

We have a great recipe for Zucchini Brownies. The first time I asked to try one, I was like, hmmmm zucchini? But they were amazing!

• 1 c. Flour
• 1 c. Cocoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. shredded zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 4 Tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan, mix flour cocoa, salt in large bowl. Whisk remaining ingredients. Stir in flour mixture. Bake 20 min.

Enjoy!

There is a recipe in The Spice Recipe Book by Rosamund Richardson for "Courgettes with cream and mace".  It's a British cookbook, so when she calls for 750 g of courgettes that means 1 1/2 pounds of zucchinis.  You wanted a recipe that is not "hot and heavy", though, and this one calls for  300 ml of bechamel sauce (1/2 pint of white sauce), so I didn't think you'd want it.  If you do, however, PM me and I'll furnish it to you, in both metric and U. S. measures.  The other ingredients are ground mace and flaked almonds, toasted.

My personal favorite zucchini recipe is the sauteed zucchini recipe found in the Spices of the World cookbook put out by McCormick Foods.  I do substitute raw onion for the dried onion in that recipe, but I do use the dried herbs it suggests, and of course, I sautee the zucchini mixture in olive oil.

No tomatoes in either of the two recipes . . . .

Zucchini Fries:

Peel the zucchini and cut into 'sticks', whatever size you prefer.
Dip them in an egg wash (egg beaten with a teaspoon or so of water) and then dredge them in finely grated parmesan cheese, bake mix or WPI. If you want to add more flavor, mix seasonings of your choice in with the cheese / bake mix / WPI;

(you can skip the egg wash, just throw the sticks into a plastic bag with parmesan)
You can fry them in oil and container of your choice.
you can also lay them out on a jelly roll pan, sprayed them with PAM and bake them in a 400F oven, flipping them once so they get browned on both sides.

Okay, you asked for it-----here is Al Sicherman's recipe for "Wienie Zucchini" (included in a column he wrote for National Hot Dog Month.

4  (8 to 10-in.) zucchini (1 1/2 to 2 lbs.)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 TBSPs. chopped parsley

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. tarragon

1/4 tsp. basil

Dash pepper

2 TBSPs. butter

2 TBSPs. oil

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Oil for brushing

1 lb. cheese hot dogs

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the ends off the zucchini, then cut each in half lengthwise and scoop out each long zucchini half (reserving the scoopings) to leave boats with sides about 1/2 inch thick.  Chop the part of the zucchinin you scooped out of the boats, combine it with the green onions, parsley, oregano, tarragon, basil, and pepper, and fry in the butter and oil.  Stir in the bread crumbs.  Sprinkle the hollowed-out zucchini boats with garlic salt and fill each with the fried zucchini mixture.  Put the filled zucchini boats in a shallow pan, and brush the tops with oil.  Bake for 25 minutes, then put a cheese hot dog on each one and bake seven or eight minutes more, until the hot dog is heated through.  Makes eight, and they're quite good.

 Okay, what?  Did I stop the conversation about "creative uses for zucchini" ?  I didn't mean to . . . .

My two favorite new-to-me zucchini recipes this year have been stuffed zucchini and grilled veggie packets.

I saw at least one other stuffed zucchini recipe in this thread.  Here's how I make mine:

For the stuffed zucchini, I boil the whole zucchini until it starts to soften (it starts to give a bit if you squeeze it)  Then slice it in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the soft center part and a bit of the slightly harder flesh towards the walls.  I run the parts I removed through the food processor and drain off the extra liquid that appears.  Then I add some salt, pepper, and herbs to the chopped up zucchini and stuff the scooped out zucchini halves with the mixture.  The stuffed zucchini halves then go into the oven for about 20 minutes, get some cheese sprinkled on top, and are devoured.

And the veggie packets are just some summer veggies sliced up and put in aluminum foil pouches along with butter/salt/pepper/herbs/olive oil/garlic or whatever else you might want to season them with.  Toss them on the grill when you are cooking out and let them steam cook.  It takes about 20 minutes for them to cook fully, depending on the heat of the grill and the thickness of your slices.

I have 2 recipes using zucchini as a dessert.

The first one is a Lemon Zucchini Bread....it is the best I have ever tasted so far.

The second one is for a Zucchini Pie.  My oldest son (age 6) has asked that I make this for his birthday - seriously!  He has no idea however that there is zucchini in it.

PM me if you are interested in either of these recipes.

My MIL  uses zucchini when she cans.  She uses zucchini instead of cukes in her bread and butter chips. 

She also made a zucchini hash brown type thing for thanksgiving that was good.  She said you had to dry them well before mixing with the binging ingredients.  She uses egg and flour and spices.