The late summer farm share has only brought more delicious vegetables to our household. So many that we had enough in the house to cobble together tonight's meal even though we didn't get to do our shopping as usual this week. The menu consisted of a tomato salad (aka, sliced tomato topped with salt, pepper, a little olive oil, and fresh basil), oven-roasted baby pink potatoes, a zucchini casserole, and frozen veggie burgers (not from farm share, okay). Everything was very simple, but we decided to make the zucchini into a casserole to do something a little different from the standard saute.

I looked up some zucchini casserole recipes online to get ideas, and I was a little dismayed to see how many of them centered around pre-packaged, sodium-filled ingredients like "cream of celery soup." Who has that on hand?! I improvised, searching the fridge for something creamy to take its place, and for a few other ingredients to add texture and flavor.

• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2-3 large basil leaves, sliced in chiffonade
• 1/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese
• splash of milk
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or your choice)
• 2 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

(N.B.: Measurements in the above are approximate; I just threw things into a bowl.) Mix zucchini, onion, basil, cottage cheese, spices, and milk in a bowl. Add just enough milk to moisten tossed ingredients, without leaving a puddle in the bottom of the bowl. Scoop into a greased baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Mix breadcrumbs with melted butter to form a crumble, sprinkle this on top. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, then uncover for another 5-10 minutes to brown the breadcrumbs.

I'd call this a success! Definitely something I'd make again, and I'm sure variations using other types of vegetables would work well, too. We made a small portion using just one large zucchini, but it could certainly be scaled up during the height of zucchini season.