Until it was bursting from my vegetable garden this summer, I always had treated summer squash as an inexpensive filler in stir-fry or minestrone soup. I love the nutty taste and rich colors of winter squash, but have only just learned to appreciate the sweet, mild flavor and cooling effect of well-prepared summer squash.
This summer, with so much squash on my hands, I've been able to experiment. Unlike winter squash, the pale-yellow summer squash, zucchini and pattypan varieties have thin skins and taste best shortly after they've been picked.
Young squash are tastier and easier to handle than more mature ones. Larger squash have more seeds, which turn soggy while cooking. Avoid this unpleasant texture by choosing baby or small squash. Or cut out and discard the seed core of larger squash.
Salting and cooking squash with dry heat -- on the grill or in the oven, for example -- allows it to brown and maintain some dignity. While it can be a good filler in stir-fry and other wet dishes, I've learned it loses its flavor.
Summer squash's mild, almost melon-like flavor, is refreshing on its own. Add a pinch of spice or splash of lemon and it will take on that flavor in a big way.
Squash's cheery colors make for a fun display, too. Zucchini's forest green against pattypan's bright yellow looks beautiful bursting from the center of a galette.
Experiment with the many varieties of summer squash:
Crookneck and Straight Neck: Delicate, yellow-skinned squash with creamy white flesh. Crookneck, with its arching, swan-like neck, shares the mild taste of its straight-neck cousin.
