Got zucchini?

  For whatever reason, I've never been a good grower of zucchini – that versatile vegetable that has become the butt of jokes for being so prolific. Fortunately, my buddy Dave has been feeding my zuke addiction for the past few years. Zucchini growers are usually more than happy to share as they become overwhelmed with a big influx of the fast-growing veggie. Fortunately, an outlet exists for your extra zucchini, tomatoes or whatever crop you might have in abundance. This is my annual push to take that unneeded produce to a place that does need it: a food pantry.

    Some of the food pantries I've come across are listed below. Call ahead to make sure they can use fresh produce. If you know of any that should or shouldn't be on the list, leave a comment below.

    As I was looking for zucchini to photograph, I ran into George Abouassaly, whose parents, John and Marie, always have an incredible garden at one of the city-leased sites. George showed me an Armenian-style zucchini that their family regularly grows. More rotund and lighter in color than standard zucchini, George said the variety has a mild, nutty flavor and is sold in many Mexican stores. The Armenian-style zucchini is used in Middle Eastern cooking and George described a mouth-watering stuffed zucchini cooked in tomato sauce. As with most zucchini, these should be picked when they are fairly small. I'll see if we can pursue the zucchini recipe for our Gazette readers, as well as another that George mentioned that uses Swiss chard instead of grape leaves.

 Area Food Pantries:

 Cedar Rapids

Catholic Worker House, 1027 Fifth Ave. SE, (319) 362-9041

Green Square Meals, 400 Fourth Ave. SE, (319) 241-3448

Loaves & Fishes, 1251 Third Ave. SE, (319) 366-7185

Mission of Hope, 1537 First Ave. SE, (319) 362-5559

St. Vincent de Paul, 928 Seventh St. SE, (319) 365-5091

Salvation Army, 1000 C Ave. NW, (319) 364-9131

Waypoint, 318 Fifth St. SE, (319) 365-1458

Willis Dady Emergency Shelter, 1247 Fourth Ave. SE, (319) 362-7555

Surrounding area

Churches of Marion Pantry, 802 12

^th

St., Marion, (319) 377-7309

Crisis Center Food Bank, 1121 Gilbert Ct., Iowa City, (319) 351-0128

North Liberty Food and Clothing Pantry, 85 N. Jones Blvd., (319) 626-2711

Camp Courageous, Monticello, (319) 465-5916.