One of the things I love best about this time of year is the simplicity of cooking with fresh summer ingredients. Since we have a four season climate here in Ohio, I try to savor and appreciate the ability to go to my garden as a step in preparing dinner, since in winter, the entire landscape rests.
Not only do I love cooking with produce I can hand pick, but the ability to alter and create dishes based upon the fresh herbs growing is, to use a technical term, awesome.
Our zucchini plants continue to produce abundantly and we’ve had fun coming up with new ways to eat zucchini. While I have yet to perfect a zucchini muffin recipe I am willing to share, we’ve had fun critiquing each batch. We’ve also created zucchini boats and relied on some stand-by recipes to make sure our homegrown zucchini is fully enjoyed.
For this zucchini salad, I combined two family favorite recipes. Both Ann’s Zucchini and our No-Cook Summer Italian Vegetable Salad are tasty sides. I had planned to make my cousin Ann’s zucchini recently but I just didn’t have it in me to turn on the oven and I was a bit short on time. I combined these two recipes and came up with a new rendition that was super tasty!
Greek Zucchini Salad
1 large zucchini, diced (about 2+ cups)
1 cup white beans
1/4 cup sliced red onion
juice of one lemon
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh mint
Dice the zucchini and place in a medium bowl. Add the white beans and sliced red onion.
In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Stir well and pour over the zucchini and white bean mixture. Let sit for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to marinate and intensify.
Sprinkle with the fresh mint and toss well.
Serves 4 as a side.
We served this dish with our favorite Falafel with Tahini-Yogurt Sauce, so I added a wee dollop of yogurt sauce on top of my zucchini salad.
Peas and Love,
SPC