Healthy zucchini - ideal for the slimming kitchen

Low-calorie summer vegetables: zucchini - the "little pumpkin"

Zucchini are an important part of Mediterranean diet. In Germany, the delicious summer vegetables are popular. In late summer there are zucchini from local cultivation. The vegetables are low in calories and rich in healthy nutrients.

Healthy and low in calories

There are plenty of good reasons why we should eat more zucchini: Due to its high water content, the summer vegetables contain hardly any fat and just 20 kilocalories per 100 grams. In addition, it is rich in potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins A and C. Since the zucchini has no distinctive taste, it can be perfectly combined with other vegetables such as tomatoes, aubergines or peppers. This is indicated by the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE) on its website.

Healthy zucchini are low in calories and rich in essential nutrients. If the vegetables taste very bitter, they should not be eaten. (Image: Lsantilli / fotolia.com)

Zucchini from local cultivation

The zucchini is native to Central America and belongs to the cucurbits.

As the BZfE explains, the name means "little pumpkin", after the Italian word "zucca" for pumpkin.

There are different variants - from cucumber to cylindrical, dark green, yellow, mackerel and speckled. Semi-ripe harvested with a length of 15 to 20 centimeters, the vegetables are particularly tender and tasty.

Zucchini from local cultivation are currently on the market. The best choice in the supermarket should be to choose intact fruits that will not give out on pressure.

In the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator they last up to two weeks.

Make delicious food

Zucchini can be combined with garlic and Mediterranean herbs such as oregano and thyme, but also with soy sauce and coriander. Even with fruit the vegetables are tolerated, for example in a spicy chutney with melon.

For a quick summer dish, the zucchini is sliced ​​and seared with garlic in olive oil from both sides. Then add mozzarella slices over the fried zucchini, season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg and cover the pan.

After a few minutes, the cheese has melted and the meal can be served with white bread or jacket potatoes.

Delicious recipes, for example for stuffed zucchini, can be found on the internet.

The vegetables are uncomplicated in the kitchen as they do not have to be peeled or gutted. Simply clean it under running water and then cut off stem and flower buds generously.

Then the vegetables are grated depending on the recipe, cut into slices, pens or cubes. Salting is done only at the end of the preparation, so that the pulp is not too soft.

Do not eat bitter fruits

If the fruit tastes remarkably bitter, it should not be eaten.

Depending on the variety and growth conditions, the plant produces bitter substances (cucurbitacins), which lead to diarrhea and vomiting in higher concentrations.

The rare cases of intoxication in recent years were mostly due to replica zucchini from their own garden. (Ad)