By Kathryn Reed

It’s the time of year when anyone growing zucchini wonders if it’s OK just to turn the rest into compost. It’s when they start getting bigger on the vine because you just don’t want to pick another one.

Now is the time to find those zucchini-growing friends and make the following recipe. The zucchini in stores are never big enough to stuff. Check the farmers’ markets, there could be ample sized ones there.

This is something you will want to serve to others because after a while the leftovers will get tiresome. And I don’t think this would be a good dish to freeze.

For those who don’t want the bread crumbs, consider using cheese or nothing at all as a topper.

I had barbecued corn left over, so that’s what I used. I tend to grill a bunch of corn at once and find uses for it beyond eating it straight off the cob.

Stuffed Zucchini

½ C quinoa

1 ample size zucchini

1 large handful of spinach

4 ears corn

2  medium tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 tsp sage

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

½ tsp nutmeg

Garlic salt

Pepper

¼ C Panko

Cook quinoa according to directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice zucchini in half length-wise. Scoop out the insides. Chop that up and put in bowl.

Place zucchini halves on cookie sheet or rimmed pan. Line zucchini with spinach.

Take kernels off the corn cob. Place in bowl with zucchini flesh, chopped tomato and chopped onion. Add spices to vegetable mixture. Stir well.

Add cooked quinoa, stir. Adjust seasonings to your liking.

Fill each zucchini half with quinoa-vegetable mix. Sprinkle each half with Panko.

Bake covered for 30 minutes, then another 15 minutes uncovered. Slice into individual serving sizes.