This Spicy Asian Zucchini can be whipped up in 10 minutes and makes a great summer side dish.

I firmly believe there is a direct correlation between the amount of zucchini we have available to us, and how excited I am to use it. At the beginning of the season when the first small zucchinis show up in our gardens or our CSA boxes, it’s a thrill. We make our first zucchini bread, toss them into omelets, and maybe even saute them for a sandwich. But then they keep coming. They grow in both size and number, and by mid-season, when the zucchinis are taking over our gardens and our countertops, we’re sick of them. We research recipes on Pinterest for zucchini tots, zucchini brownies, and zucchini casseroles. We think if one more baseball-bat-sized zucchini dares show up at our house, we’ll just have to pack up and let the zucchinis have the place.

It’s when you’re in that place of sheer desperation that this recipe comes in handy. It’s super simple (as in 5 ingredients and 10 minutes prep time), it uses at least one of those pesky zucchinis, and it’s a welcome departure from the more traditional cheesy zucchini casserole or zucchini bread.

This dish gets it’s flavor from a mixture of soy sauce, sriracha, and honey which provides a good punch of spicy heat to the otherwise (dare I say) lackluster flavor of the zucchini. A little sprinkling of sesame seeds and green onion round out the deal.