ItexMall Health & Fitness ? Zucchini: Great Food for Weight Loss

Zucchini: Great Food for Weight Loss

Welcome once again to this Health and Fitness blog. Here is another fascinating snippet of health related news for you to read all about:

Zucchini and other summer squash can be great food for weight loss. When summer gardens are no longer producing it is still available ?year round at the supermarket. As you learn more about how versatile zucchini can be you?ll want to work it into all kinds of easy to prepare recipes for calorie savings.

The reason you can eat a LOT of zucchini without any worries is because summer squash is about 95 percent water. One cup chopped uncooked zucchini has only 20 calories! Other summer squash range from 20 to 25 calories per one cup sliced or chopped (uncooked). Zucchini can be prepared in so many different ways or simply eaten raw when washed and clean.

What makes summer squash unique is that you can not only eat it raw but you can pretty much eat the whole thing, flesh, rind, and seeds. How?s that for easy? Do pick or purchase zucchini that is small to medium in size for the best texture and flavor. Large squash can have very large seeds, tough rinds, and stringy course flesh.

Summer squash provides about 1.2 grams of dietary fiber per cup chopped (raw with rind, seeds, and flesh). That?s not as good as the fiber in other summer veggies but hey at only 20-25 calories per cup that?s not bad. Plus it is a good source of vitamin C and potassium along with smaller amounts of many other vitamins and minerals.

You may be well aware of your need for vitamin C to stay healthy but you may not realize potassium is equally important. It often comes up short for many Americans. In addition to other functions, potassium can help to rid your body of excess sodium and in the process helps to keep you from retaining water and being bloated.

There are so many easy ways to prepare and eat zucchini. I?ll share a bunch of easy recipe ideas. If you haven?t tried zucchini, you?re in for a treat (remember to choose small to medium size not large!). If you are already eating zucchini, hopefully you?ll find one or more new ideas for enjoying this great summer veggie that you hadn?t considered before.

1. Enjoy raw zucchini

Add chopped or sliced zucchini to green leafy salads and pasta dishes. Cut zucchini into sticks and serve with a dip. Slice zucchini and make mini sandwiches with lean deli meat and/or low fat cheese for a nutritious low carb treat.

2. Easy cooked zucchini

Sautee sliced zucchini in a little healthy oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes until tender crisp. Add cooked zucchini to whole grain pasta dishes. This works especially well when making veggie lasagna. You could also chop zucchini and include it when making home cooked pizza or spaghetti sauce.

In addition, chopped zucchini can be added to meatloaf, burgers, or soup to add flavor and filling power with next to no calories. Try slicing, marinating, and then grilling or roasting zucchini. Serve the cooked zucchini as a side dish at any meal or add to sandwiches or salads.

3. Pizzucchini

I found this creative idea for making a lower carb pizza on the Dashing Dish website. Use lean meat and go easy on the cheese. Two pizzuchini have about 220 calories. That?s low calorie yet they look filling! I haven?t had a chance to try these yet. Maybe this weekend.

4. Braised Zucchini with Cherry Tomatoes

I made this delicious recipe for braised zucchini I found on the farm + house + table website. This was super easy to prepare. I served it as a side dish for supper one evening this week and then we enjoyed some on sandwiches the next day.

For breakfast I made scrambled eggs and ate some of the reheated braised zucchini alongside. Yum! Very low calorie and low carb. It kept me feeling full and satisfied till lunchtime.

5. Zucchini Carpaccio Salad from Smitten Kitchen

This simple looking zucchini salad took me a bit of time to make because it needs 20 minutes to drain some of the extra juices but oh was the wait worth it!

I made just 1/3 third of the recipe using one medium size zucchini. I own a Mandoline V-Slicer Plus?(my review) so I chose to make very thin strips. Even so it held together well. The added olive oil (go easy to keep the calories down), lemon juice, a little grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and some salt and pepper made the salad delicious! No cooking necessary.

O.K. do share. What is your favorite way to enjoy low calorie zucchini or other summer squash? My husband?s zucchini plants have been so prolific we?ve started giving it away. Want some? Maybe I need to start making some dried zucchini chips. How could I have forgotten to add that to the list??

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