Shaved Zucchini Salad
i am not salad's #1 fan. i don't like that americans consume salads as their entire meal. i detest the idea of bottled non-refrigerated dressings. actually, i don't like dressings in general. and i don't like that the main ingredients in salads are usually flavorless lettuce, mealy tomato slices, and then who the hell wants to eat black olive slices from a can?
now that i've gotten that out of the way, we can get on to what's important. this morning, my cat friend, lucy, woke me up and led me to the kitchen. in the fridge, i found three zucchinis whose skin was beginning to pucker, along with some gorgeous basil in its ziploc terrarium (see note below). what could i do? luckily, i always have parmesan, some sort of citrus, and pine nuts on hand. epicurious.com helped a sister out and i had exactly everything i needed for a perfect summer salad, with no lame lettuce, terrible tomato or canned kalamata.
40 minutes – serves 6
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 pounds (or 6) medium zucchini, trimmed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Small wedge of Parmesan cheese
1. Whisk oil, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and crushed red pepper in small bowl to blend.
2. Using vegetable peeler or V-slicer (or your food processor, awesome for preparing lunch when you're half asleep! take that, morning!) and working from top to bottom of each zucchini, slice zucchini into thin ribbons. Place ribbons in large bowl.
3. Add basil and nuts, then dressing; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Using vegetable peeler, shave strips from Parmesan wedge over salad.
note: do your basil leaves always turn black while they're sitting in the fridge? mine did, until i learned this cool trick: put basil in a glass of water, and then cover with a ziploc bag. it looks neat and keeps the basil super fresh!
slightly modified from bon appetit
now that i've gotten that out of the way, we can get on to what's important. this morning, my cat friend, lucy, woke me up and led me to the kitchen. in the fridge, i found three zucchinis whose skin was beginning to pucker, along with some gorgeous basil in its ziploc terrarium (see note below). what could i do? luckily, i always have parmesan, some sort of citrus, and pine nuts on hand. epicurious.com helped a sister out and i had exactly everything i needed for a perfect summer salad, with no lame lettuce, terrible tomato or canned kalamata.
40 minutes – serves 6
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 pounds (or 6) medium zucchini, trimmed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Small wedge of Parmesan cheese
1. Whisk oil, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and crushed red pepper in small bowl to blend.
2. Using vegetable peeler or V-slicer (or your food processor, awesome for preparing lunch when you're half asleep! take that, morning!) and working from top to bottom of each zucchini, slice zucchini into thin ribbons. Place ribbons in large bowl.
3. Add basil and nuts, then dressing; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Using vegetable peeler, shave strips from Parmesan wedge over salad.
note: do your basil leaves always turn black while they're sitting in the fridge? mine did, until i learned this cool trick: put basil in a glass of water, and then cover with a ziploc bag. it looks neat and keeps the basil super fresh!
slightly modified from bon appetit
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