Zucchini Corn Casserole

What do you do when you have a bunch of zucchini you bought at a roadside stand and forgot about? Zucchini corn casserole, that's what. 

I was going to make broccoli cornbread when I saw the bag of zucchini and realized I had an emergency on my hands. Let them go and toss them, or use them somehow. Sooo, I thought about making zucchini bread, and even though I love it, just wasn't in the mood. I still needed a side for the steak I was cooking in the cast iron skillet. 

Looking in the pantry, I saw a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix. I thought of the corn casserole I make at Thanksgiving. I looked up zucchini casserole recipes and they all called for cottage cheese, and a few other ingredients I didn't have on hand, so... I did what we do when we have no clue what we're doing. I improvised. 

I think the recipe might be better (although it was really very tasty) with a corn muffin mix that's not so sweet, so next time I'm going to try Shawnee Mills corn muffin mix. The sweetness wasn't bad or off-putting, I just like my cornbread a little more southern, and that's NOT sweet. 

Hope you enjoy. Leave a message and let me know how it turned out!

Zucchini Corn Casserole

Ingredients:

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

4 cups shredded zucchini (salted and drained, explained below)

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar (about a cup)

1 medium onion, minced

1 can creamed corn

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the zucchini in a medium bowl and add 3/4 tsp salt. Toss and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes to remove the moisture. This step is important. Otherwise, your casserole will be runny from too much liquid. Pour the zucchini into a thin dishtowel, wrap it up and wring it to remove as much water as possible. It's a lot of liquid, so squeeze really well. Unwrap the towel and place the zucchini back in the bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a 2 quart casserole/baking dish. Bake for at least 60 minutes or until golden, with dark brown edges. 

Enjoy!