I was supposed to go to a dance class last night (my new Wednesday evening ritual…yeah!), but after a few too many days of forgetting to wear sunblock (1 day is too many and I really should know better!) and then relishing in the sunshine that had been hiding from us here on the East coast, I realized that I was just a little too pink and weary to make it through a 2+ hour fabulous but exhausting and requiring-full-concentration modern jazz class.
Of course, I had already prepared a light veggie dinner in anticipation of a hungry return from class on which I gladly munched away as I readied myself for an evening of dancing that would be a little less about concentration, technique, positioning, and placement. My friend Tammie and I decided to kick back and check out a live Brazilian band at Beehive. Complete with caiparinhas (the national drink of Brazil made from Cachaça [a sugarcane alcohol], sugar and lime that I first tried at my friends’ wedding in São Paulo), a demonstration of the steamy Rio-style partner dance called Samba de Gafieira (followed by our own feeble attempts at emulating some of the hip-swaying fast-and-fancy footwork), an ad-hoc capoiera circle, and good conversation with friends new and old, the evening provided a wonderful respite from the sun.
Rejuvenated and armed with two different kinds of sunblock (yes, they are both from Europe – Piz Buin and La Roche-Posay Anthelios), I’m ready to spring/summer smarter and return to the Wednesday dance classes that I have quickly grown to adore.
Marinated Zucchini Salad
Many marinated zucchini salads call for cooking your vegetables first, but in a heat wave, I try to do anything to avoid turning on my oven or stove. This salad, drawing from a Greek-inspired dish from Saveur and an Italian recipe from RecipeZaar, is a great use for zucchinis that are in abundance starting this time of year through the end of summer. Some of my other favorite recipes for zucchini include zucchini bread and zucchini parmigiana (instead of eggplant). Choose zucchinis that are firm and dark green and not too large.
Serves 4-6.
– 2 medium-sized zucchinis or 3-4 small zucchinis
– 6-8 white mushrooms
– 1 bunch spring onions (4-5)
– fresh dill
– juice of 1 lemon (~1/4 C) or 1/4 C white wine vinegar
– 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
– kosher salt or other coarse salt
– pepper
Cut zucchini into thick matchsticks. You could use a mandoline or a julienne peeler, but I don’t have the former and the latter makes strips that are far too thin for this recipe. I just hand slice everything.
Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel to remove any clinging dirt or debris. Don’t submerge in water or the mushrooms will become water-logged and soggy. Remove ends of stems and slice lengthwise.
Slice whites and light greens parts of the spring onions into thin circles.
Rinse dill, pat dry, and finely chop. Add as much as you’d like. In the batch I made without mushrooms, I added a few T. In the batch I made with mushrooms, I added a large handful.
Toss all vegetables and dill into a large bowl.
Make dressing: juice one lemon into a medium sized bowl (should yield ~1/4 C) and then pour in an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil while quickly whisking the mixture to make a quick emulsification (this is pretty cool when you realize you can do it yourself and it’s really easy — it took me about 30 seconds). Add salt and pepper to taste (~ 1-2 t of salt or more, 5-6 grinds of pepper) and whisk again. Taste by dipping a thin slice of mushroom.When the dressing is to your liking, pour atop the veggies and dill and toss everything together.
If you’re feeling particularly lazy, you can just drizzle the olive oil and lemon juice over the veggies and throw salt and pepper on top, then toss everything together. I was feeling a little fancy.
If you don’t have a lemon, or want a slightly different flavor, you can use white wine vinegar as your acid, or even try a mixture of the two.
Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. The salad gets better with time. After a few hours, I usually taste it and find that I need to add a little more salt (much better than it being too salty).
Enjoy after a dance class, while dressing for a night out on the town, or at a picnic with friends.
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Since I did indeed miss my dance class to go see a Brazilian band, I wanted to share a video of the great contemporary Brazilian dance company, Grupo Corpo, that I saw a few years ago at BAM. Lau had come to visit from London, and the infamous foursome – Jeremy, Thierry, Lau and me – was reunited for an amazing non-date evening. Here is a video of one of the pieces that we saw that night. What I love about this number, besides its infectious music, is the choreography’s playfulness and freedom, the use of light and shadow to make it look almost like there are extra dancers, the simplistic costumes so the audience can focus on the purety of the dance, and how the dancers incorporate the unique back curtain into the entrances and exits.
What I love about Grupo Corpo is the incredible variety of their numbers and their musicality, their pulling from folk dances and rhythms from their local environs and the broader cultures (Asia, Africa) that make up the melting pot of their own home. Below is a trailer to a documentary with excerpts from many of their numbers, showing off their versatility.
Another one of my favorite numbers is Lecuona – a series of duets filled with longing, desire, and passion (of all types) danced to music written by Cuban Ernesto Lecuona, including this sexy tango…
… culminating in a waltz of 6 couples (starts at 3:25) that looks like a black-and-white movie.
I want one of those white flowy dresses with the open backs!
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It’s 6:30AM in Israel – I am having my morning coffee with your zucchini salad. That this looks yummy at this early hour says everything about your presentation 😉
that salad look so nice, so easy, and so healthy too!! am going to try it out on cook-out guests next week… a nice homey green alternative to my zingy mango salsa. thank you for sharing ^_^
That is one nice looking salad! I think I might have to add some feta to it.
Welcome to all you new visitors and thank you for the comments!
– Nomi – what a pleasure to get you all the way from Israel! Chag sameach and I hope you enjoyed your am coffee. Very little can grab my attention at 6:30 am, so I really appreciate your compliment.
– Katy – yes, it’s a very easy, healthy salad. Though a zingy mango salsa sounds great too, I looked around your blog but didn’t see that one (yet). Enjoy.
– Kevin – feta would be nice, probably with the lemon and mushroom version. I see from your latest post that you’re a bit of a feta fiend!
OK, I need to log out and get my zucchini-leek-raclette tart out of the oven as the latest Jewish holiday is beginning…
wow! i just got a huge bag of zucchinis and wondering what to do with them. i am going to try your recipe for lunch today! looks simple and delicious!!! love that it is a no-cook version.
Looks great, I love the addition of mushrooms!
This salad looks amazing! There’s something about the simplicity of the vegetables and the added herbs that appeals to me so much. This is going straight into my favorites.
Its an inferno in Israel now and will be until mid November. This salad is perfect for the lazy hot days of summer. Also like the dancing videos, my last dancing lesson was when I was 6, as a clutz I appreciate the coordination and rhythm some people have.
I had my first marinated zucchini salad yesterday and I really liked it. It came with Parmesan cheese… I can’t wait to try your version with mushrooms 😀
Thank you for all your comments and please do let me know if you try the recipe and what tweaks you make.
– Raquel – Cafe Nilson has some real winner recipes, so I’m delighted that you want to try one of mine. I always buy too many zucchini when they’re in season (as you might be able to tell by my 3 zucchini recipes in the past month or so).
– Meatless Mama – Yes, I did like the mushroom addition for a bit of an earthy flavor
– Cookin’ Canuck – I was all about simplicity here and the fresh dill just makes the salad
– Sarah – I miss Israel in the blazing hot summer. Inferno is right… I keep promising to return…perhaps this will be the year? But I digress – this salad is great for minimal prep, fresh ingredients – get your boys to make it in their judo uniforms! As for the videos, I’m glad you appreciate them. And as for being a clutz — I always say the best dancers are usually the biggest clutzes.
– French Cooking for Dummies — yum, Parmesan — what else was in your salad?