Zucchini-bacon Side Dish

When we have a garden, the zucchini comes in season and we need creative recipes to use it up.

Our granddaughter loves a restaurant that puts bacon into some traditional dishes and so we decided to do something similar at home.

My mom gave us a salad chopper for my birthday and we decided to running some zucchini, onions and bell pepper. It works great and the best part about it is the consistent size of the pieces.

Ingredients

1 medium-sized zucchini, diced

1/2 orange bell pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 strips of bacon

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

To dice the vegetables, I used the Galaxy but a regular chef’s knife does the trick, too.

Cook bacon in a large fry pan. Remove bacon and excess bacon drippings. Leave enough bacon drippings for the vegetables (approximately 1 tablespoon).

Set pan to medium-high temperature and carefully add chopped garlic and stir for a minute or two. Add zucchini, onion, and bell pepper. Add salt, cumin, black pepper and turmeric and cook, stirring often until veggies have softened (about 4 to 5 minutes). Chop bacon and add back into pan until heated back up.

Transfer to the serving plate and top with grated parmesan cheese.

Variations

Substitute summer squash for the zucchini. Squash works pretty well, if cut into small enough pieces to cook quickly.

Of course, green bell pepper, or for that matter, red bell pepper can easily be substituted for the orange in this recipe. I just like the color contrast it gives with the zucchini.

Add rice or noodles to this recipe to make it a heartier side dish.

Throw in some chopped leftover chicken and you convert this side dish to a main dish. It becomes a delicious veggie bowl.

If you want to make it pretty, dice a little green onion on top

Why I Would Make This Recipe Again

Once the food is prepped, this is a really easy recipe to put together and serve.