3 Ways to Turn Zucchini Into the Star | When Cooked Properly

In this NEW SERIES we’ll explore how to properly cook veg so people will eat them.

Think you hate zucchini?
It’s one of the top grown veggies at home that is AMAZING when cooked properly.

In this recipe episode and, I’m breaking down 3 crave-worthy ways to transform courgette (aka zucchini) into something juicy, flavorful, memorable and completely satisfying.

These simple, flavor-forward techniques work whether you’re serving it as a main, a side, or tossing and adding it to pasta or rice dishes, or sandwiches even.

Learn the top 3 ways to prepare zucchini from your garden or store bought this year:
Whether you call it courgette or zucchini, this overlooked underrated vegetable deserves another shot. These techniques will help give it it’s best shot to make it to your dinner table.

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I’ll be sending out tips, food stories and new videos, and ideas you won’t want to miss. Coming soon.

3 Ways to Make Zucchini & Summer Squash taste worthy.
It’s all in the cut, seasoning, and cook.

1. Pan-Seared Zucchini Rounds
Cut into thick rounds. Season with salt + pepper. Sear in hot plant-based butter (seasoned-side down) until golden. Add a splash of water, cover, and steam to finish. Juicy inside, crisp on the outside.
2. BBQ-Sautéed Yellow Squash
Thinly slice squash. Toss with olive oil + BBQ rub. Sauté in a hot pan until lightly seared, then deglaze with water to create a smoky, natural sauce. Serve hot or cold.
3. Roasted Zucchini & Squash Steaks
Cut squash into thick slabs. Season with oil + savory rub. Sear cut-side down in a hot pan, then roast at 375°F for 10–12 min. Meaty, golden, and totally crave-worthy.

Thank you and see you soon
d, f and G

often misunderstood, sometimes disliked, a lot like me. Coette summer squash, also they call them zucchini when cooked properly. This is one of the best vegetables you can get. I am riffing and going off of a what a friend of mine, Steve. This one’s for you, buddy. back in the UK. He when he first started coming over for dinner, I used to cook for him every Friday night. But he told me that he did not like corette until I cooked it for him. And I do believe that some people don’t like vegetables because a the way they were cooked for them when they grew up if their parents didn’t cook them correctly or they maybe had it at a high school lunch or whatever that just turned them off from certain particular vegetables. They’re inexpensive, filling, delicious, nut nutritious, and just super simple to cook. Three things that I always remember when cooking almost any vegetable. One’s going to be the cut, how we slice it and dice it, the shape I want it to sit on a plate, what it’s going with. Do I want big size? Do I want small, bite size? Number two is the seasoning. Are we going to use just salt and pepper? Are we going to use a barbecue seasoning? Are we going to use a certain meat rub that on vegetables just to drive extra flavor in? Because as I keep repeating myself over and over again, it’s all about flavor. And then third, and most importantly to me, is the cook. How we’re going to cook it. Are we going to sear it? Are we going to boil it? Are we going to roast it? So many different ways. And I am just going to share three of my top ways to cook corette. [Music] And we got a corette and summerr squash yellow squash. And for the cuts, most of the time I’m just taking off this bit. And I leave this on. It’s perfectly edible. It’s fine. I just want this bit off because it’s dirty. Sometimes this bit, but not often. But this one has this cut. I want to just bump. So this very minimal waste. Oh, good girl. Who’s a good girl? You a good girl. Oh, you good girl. You want to go out? Come on. All right. So, I always make sure that I wash every vegetable because who the hell knows what they’re putting on them. One. I’m going to do medallions. Maybe an inch, couple centimeters rounds. Super simple, very easy to accomplish. You don’t need a lot of skill. And I try to generally keep them the same size. I’m just going to cut this off so it’s even. So whatever side I’m going to put them on the pan. So I want the widest side on that’s going to list on the pan. I’m going to have face up. This is how I want to do this particular one. So very easy. A little bit of salt and a little bit of black pepper. Sometimes simplest is the best. Then we’ll come over to the stove. I’m going to get this pan nice and hot. Going to just test the pan for the heat. Little sprinkle of water. It’s nice and hot. I’m going to add about a knob of plant-based butter. Now I’m going to lower this heat to about 3/4 like a medium heat. I don’t want to see the heat coming over the pan. I want just the flame hitting the edges of the pan. And then salt and pepper side down on each of these on like mid. Understand where the heat is coming and hitting your pan because that’s where I want to the most cook is going to happen and we can have an even sear. Anything that was left over on the plate, I’m just going to not waste it. It’s going right on. Don’t mess with it. Once it’s on the pan, let it sear. Let it sit there. Let it form a nice skin that’s going to snap when you bite into it cuz it’s all a part of that texture. It’s just honestly one of the best ways to do it. Super simple. Salt and pepper zucchini corette rounds. Pinky. Oh, good girl, Pinky. [Music] So, we can just check them if I show you one. Like, look at that. Look at how nice that is. It’s beautiful. I’m just going to put that back on. I want to create a little bit of steam. So, a little bit of water here. A cover that will fit over the pan. And this is just going to help cook the rest of it. But I want the top, that part that’s touching the pan, that’s going to be the face side up. That’s going to be where all the flavor is. Yeah. Normally I would turn on the fan, but I’m not going to do it for the camera right here right now. Now I’m just going to flip them over. Gorgeous. That right there is a ton of flavor. Add a little bit more water now. And I usually just tend to shut off the heat. Once you do this for a while, a few times, you’ll learn the tenderness that you want it. If you want it cooked extra long, if you want it, you know, melt in your mouth, if you still want a little bite to it. I like it all different ways. It just depends on the dish I’m making it with. It’s such a good way to cook them. [Music] We have a little bit of color on the other side. We have this. I can already tell by the feel it’s perfect for the way I want you. It’s slightly squishy. I know it’s still going to have a little bit of a bite. But then we’re just going to plate them up. And then every time cast iron, always the same. Little bit of oil, paper towel. Throw these away. Wipe it down both sides. I’m ready for the next time. This is just one super simple way. I like to use the plant-based butter because it adds that richness, buttery flavor. For the coloring, there’s a line that you don’t go over between burnt and actually super flavorful. And sometimes if you do burn it and you want that flavor, then that’s fine. So there, this to me looks perfect. And I know it’s flavorful. It’s not burnt. It’s not black and chipping off chipping away. It’s got that skin on the top that you can slice through and it’s just nice and juicy in the middle and just perfectly cooked. So delicious and juicy and simple. Salt and pepper just that little bit just really lends and enhances the flavor of the corette. And it’s that easy. If you spend the time understanding your favorite vegetable, pick one a week, one a month, cook it different ways. All right, so next I’m going to work with the summer squash, yellow squash. Super similar to the corette. It’s got slightly bigger seeds in it, but same cook process. And for this one, it’s a really common way to do it, but I’m gonna share how I do it, how I do it, because I’ve seen how some people do it. And I believe that the way I do it can help you cook better. You can do it two ways. You can leave it whole if you feel like you have enough skill to slice super thin, super fast, or just super thin. You don’t have to go super fast like I’m going to. Or you can cut it in half. So this is a lot of this is the way I see a lot of people doing it. And this is the way they used to serve it in the back in the 80s when I used to cook for a lot of catering a lot of uh events where they would just cut half moons which I’m going to do. I’m going to give it a slight angle though. So any angle if you cut it this way this is how it would normally be cut about that thick. That’s how a lot of banquetss serve it because it holds up on the steam table. But we’re not at a a banquet. We’re at my house. So, I’m going to turn it at an angle. I’m going to slice it down like this. But I’m going to do it as thin as I can. So, as soon as I get that bit out, I’m just going to start [Applause] make sure it’s all broken up. Nice. And the other one, same thing. You got this beautiful array. Just going to grab a little bit of olive oil, maybe a tablespoon. Give it a quick toss. And then for seasoning, today I’m going to use barbecue rub. There’s so many different kinds of rubs. I don’t even care the brand you use. I’m not talking about brands. It’s whatever your favorite rub is. And if you want to make your own, please do. I’ll make some in a video in the future. Maybe I have in the past already. I’m not sure. But I’m just going to use about a teaspoon, tablespoon, maybe a little bit more. I’m not shy with the seasoning, which is what I think a lot of people are cuz I want that barbecuey flavor. I’m just going to add a little bit more. All right, you guys. So, I know I use a lot of cast iron. Some people don’t have them. I’m going to use my sauté pan. It’s just the same as a sauté pan. It’s just got a larger, wider lip. For me, for the what people that ask, it’s a H. It’s not cheap. It’s one of my favorite pans. Regular sauté pan will work, but I still want it super hot. So, I like to add the a little bit of olive oil to the vegetables to get the seasoning to stick. And then I’m just going to add a splash of oil onto the pan. Season that around. Just make sure that this is super hot. Perfect. So, that’s hot. I’m going to add this right to the pan. And I just want a little bit of oil to this. I don’t want to drown it because I kind of want to sear a slight dry sear. But with this seasoning that’s in the bowl, I’m going to add a little bit of water so we’re not wasting any. [Music] So, I’ll mix it up a little bit and try to get as many of the sides onto the pan. Spread them out. Any kind of seasoning is going to work. And if you don’t know, I mean, the cost for one of these is very inexpensive. And just play with and try different flavors. That’s how I came up with my favorite flavors. I love this barbecue one. It’ll go really good with rice, potatoes, pasta, I don’t care, anything. Barbecue, one of my favorite flavors. So, after about a minute of letting the vegetable acclimate to the hot pan, I can move it. And we get a nice little bit of color in there. You can see it from sitting on the pan. Now, you do not need to add liquid, but I I want to save that seasoning. And just like before, I add this. And then that’ll steam it up. Now, for me, I don’t want it mush, but now it’s got like this natural sauce. So, this has got like it’s a natural sauce now and we’re just going to plate it up. [Music] All right. So, now I’m just going to try this bad boy. [Music] It’s so good. What I love about the seasonings is they’re not You don’t just have to use them on a grill. You can use them in everyday cooking, which I do. It just drives so much flavor into one particular vegetable. It’s so good. I don’t have a grill here yet. So, I’m just using the flavors that I normally would on a grill, but inside. And this with that little extra water that captured, helped clean the bowl, help steam the veg, also acts as a sauce, which is so delicious. So, it’s super juicy, super simple, delicious, and I know you can do this. Next one is my all-time favorite way and most frequent way frequent way that I prepare corette, of course, yellow. Right. So, for this one, I just cut it in half. And these are more of like a side dish I would do on these big like cutting board uh veg boards. I would do roasted veg boards or if you’re going to do an actual barbecue or just have these as like a as part of the main dish. And it’s just how you want to cut it. So I cut it in half. So I want these big pieces. So you’re going to use a fork and a knife fork. If you want to get a little bit fancier, you can turn it here and you could do slice down. So that I do this a lot. It just looks different nicely on a plate. Adds a little bit to the texture. Just a half. You can also do it towards you that way. So you have different surfaces we’re playing with. Try to keep all the facing bits up. You could just add it to a bowl. A little bit of oil. Toss it like we just did with the last one if you want. I’ve done the barbecue. I did salt and pepper. This is just a store-bought chicken rub I bought at one of the local stores here. I’m just going to add a little bit of sprinkle onto the top. So, we’ll get this pan hot. I did preheat the oven to 375° convection, and that would be close to 200° C. So, I want that the oven ready and on. And let this pan get hot. Pan’s hot. A little bit of oil. Not much. Just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. It’s not a lot. Already smells delicious because of the seasoning being on there. Because it’s very dry pan, I’m going to add a little bit of oil. Give this shake. And then right into the oven. All right. So, this is how do it in the restaurant. If I was cooking any kind of animal product, if I was doing a salmon or a chicken or steak, sometimes seasoned hot sear, pop in the oven, especially chicken or fish, cuz then you just peel it up. Skin side would be up and you take the skin off. But I’m not cooking animals anymore. I just apply a lot of those cooking techniques right to the veggies and it increases the flavor and it’s a vegetable. Less harm, more kind. And guys, simple zucchini and summer squash that some people don’t like. It can be so easy and delicious when cooked properly. I wanted to take a second while we have the corettes in the oven. They’re probably going to take a good 10 minutes. Just to say how much I appreciate you and how grateful I am for all the kind messages you guys write comments. Like I’m super blown away. And this message I got on Instagram. I don’t have time to reply to all of them, but I wanted to share on here. And this one’s from David Clouden. And he says, “Hi, Derek. 6 months ago, I was looking for a fried mushroom recipe, and I found yours. For 35 years, I followed a lot of vegan cooks, but I keep returning to your YouTube channel because your recipes are clear and duplicatable, and the food is freaking delicious.” Along the way, I’ve enjoyed your humor and integration of your teaching as a chef with your life experiences and thoughts. Then I learned about your loss and it affected me deeply. It helped me understand the importance of Buddhism in your life and reconnected me to things I learned when I spent time at a Buddhist temple many years ago when I was still teaching. Earlier tonight, during Sunday meal prep, listening to a baseball on the radio and wiping down my cutting board after slicing tofu, I seared in the cast iron, it occurred to me that I wanted to thank you for helping me out with mushrooms and life. Thanks, man. Signed, David. I just think those are super special and I really do appreciate him because I mean, there’s so much crap going on. It’s super nice just to hear other people’s kind thoughts. And mine to you is I’m super grateful for you for supporting and just for being kind. Not to just me, but to everybody and to animals, right, Frankie? Even though Frankie’s a little wise guy to me, she’s the best. And Gary’s in training for all of you guys wondering where Gary is. three days a week, full-time training, learning how to deal with his past grievances and live with me. Anyways, we’re going to get back and I’ll go grab the uh the stuff we’ll wrap this up. Beautiful coloring. Now, I would do this if I was roasting anything else in the pan with it. Sometimes I just add if there’s extra room on a pan and I’m roasting tofu or tempeh or any other vegetable and I have this in the fridge. I just add it because why not? You can I can always eat this later. Tastes amazing. Cold, hot, served with anything. Quick clean. If you have any bits that are sticking, I just take a sponge quickly and that’s it. Little bit of oil. [Music] Quick wipe out. Gets all the stuff underneath around it. Ready for next time. I love this style because it can go with anything. Whatever seasoning you decide. If you just want to use salt, pepper seasoning, you want to try a barbecue, any blend you can possibly have in your cupboard already will work with this style. And if you have an oven on, maybe it’s maybe you’re not going to do it in the summer so much, but in the colder months, it’s just so good. It makes my mouth water thinking about it. And it’s actually to be able to cut into them is just an extra feeling of added to the texture and experience of cooking that is so important for me and eating. Super good. And to have the both the different colors, the yellow, the green, three simple ways with three guides to follow. It’s just an amazing vegetable. I hope you get to cook more of. I appreciate you sticking around and supporting. If you like this video, check out these videos here. I have some really good recipes already up and so much more coming in the bank. I appreciate you so much. Thank you. Ricky, you want to try it? Oh, you like that? You want to try a bigger one? [Music] Good girl. Good girl.