Zucchini Au Gratin

Zucchini season is finally here!  This weekend, we started taking the first small zucchini from our plants, which I think is one of the less celebrated joys of gardening:  you get immediate access to young, small vegetables that would sell at a premium as "fancy" baby varieties in a grocery or restaurant.

Anyway, the high summer veggies are some of our favorites, and I was really looking forward to trying this idea this year.  Zucchini au gratin is a great way to get some zucchini into your diet.  It tastes almost exactly like the cheesy flat bread you get from pizza delivery places, but obviously with fewer carbs and more fiber and vitamins.  Yum!

Zucchini Au Gratin
1-2 small young zucchini, sliced thin
mozzarella cheese to cover
Italian-flavored bread crumbs

Place sliced zucchini in a baking pan in a single layer or a slightly overlapped layer, depending on the size of your pan and the amount of zucchini you wish to use.  Cover with mozzarella cheese in a thin layer (slices work well for this), then sprinkle Italian-flavored bread crumbs over top.  (If you wish to make this even lower carb, you can omit the bread crumbs and sub in some Italian herbs, but it won't have quite the crunch.)

Bake at 350 until cheese is bubbly and brown, about 15-20 minutes.

The Analysis
Fast:  I've been making this along with our normal dinners, and it is a snap to assemble and bake beside something else you have in the oven.

Cheap:  Way cheaper than delivery cheesy flatbread, and much healthier.

Good:  Healthy and yummy.   Let the high gardening season begin!