There is always food in my parents’ refrigerator, fresh baked goods on the counter, and homemade cookies tucked away in the drawer. Their kitchen is never empty. We always joke that it’s never really “closed”—there’s a constant parade between the fridge and the other rooms, the bread drawer and the living room, and the sweets cabinet and the balcony.
I remember hoping that once I moved out, my kitchen wouldn’t be filled with delicious pastries like the ones my dad brought home from the bakery or cookies my mom baked to go with the morning coffee. After all, I wanted to watch my weight. I hoped… and then realized I’d inherited all of their habits—and their love of good food.
Back then, when I still lived at home, we talked quite a bit about dieting, cutting calories, and eating a little healthier. More often than not, after one of those conversations, my mom would head into the kitchen and make us a pot of zucchini soup inspired by the Hungarian dish Tökfőzelék, with lots of soft, slowly cooked onions and delicate flavors. We’d serve it with buckwheat or rice (or meatballs, in my dad’s case). And if there happened to be leftovers the next day—which rarely happened—we’d warm a few spoonfuls in a skillet, add two beaten eggs, and make a soft zucchini-and-onion scramble. Sometimes we’d simply eat it with bread, almost like matbucha or a Turkish-style vegetable salad.
But most of the time, there were no leftovers. Within an hour, the pot would be empty, and I’d wonder for the hundredth time why we never made a bigger batch.
It’s been many years since I lived at home, and my mom hardly makes it anymore. So today, after feeling like I’d overdone it with the food and wanting something lighter, I thought about that pot of tender zucchini soup and decided to make it myself. Not a small batch—a big one. I didn’t want to find myself tomorrow without this little pleasure.
So how do you eat it? Here are a few ideas (there’s plenty of delicious sauce):
- Serve it as a vegetable side with your main dish or alongside rice, quinoa, bulgur, or buckwheat.
- Use it as the base for scrambled eggs. Add 2–3 spoonfuls of the stew to a skillet, pour in two beaten eggs, and cook until the eggs are just set.
- Spread it on bread. Leave it chunky or blend it slightly.
- Blend it with hard-boiled eggs to make a zucchini spread reminiscent of chopped liver.
- Toss it with cooked pasta and warm everything together just until the pasta absorbs the flavors of the sauce.
And by the way, I checked—the whole pot contains about 480 calories. If you’d like to reduce the calories even further, simply use one tablespoon less olive oil, and the entire pot comes to about 350 calories.
- Did you make it? Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram
- For more zucchini recipes