Is it summer yet? It sure feels like it.
Not the hot sticky New England brand, but the warm sunny breezy brand. A breeze so lovely that a few open windows and a ceiling fan does the trick. A day so lovely that one might be inspired to buy some mint and thyme plants with hopes of not killing another fooderific herb garden. The herbs are growing outside on my balcony, and as they’re only 2 days old, they seem to be holding up quite well.
An impromptu dinner invitation and a quick scramble for what’s on hand, and my first zucchini salad of the season emerges.
Welcome back, summer, and a great weekend to all!
Marinated mint zucchini salad
Another quick and easy salad, this one requires 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper), 2 implements (zester and mandoline – check out the links to see the ones I use), and a bowl. Quantities are approximate, so taste and season as you go along. This salad serves 4-6.
Using a mandoline, slice 3 zucchini very thin. Also slice 1/2 red onion on the mandoline. If you don’t have a mandoline – no problem. Just slice the vegetables as thin as you can. Toss the vegetables. Zest two lemons over the salad and then pour the juice in as well. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil and sprinke with salt and pepper. Pick some fresh mint from your still growing herb garden and slice or rip it into small pieces. Toss everything together and taste for seasoning. Bask in your kitchen with the oven off and a gentle breeze from the window.
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If you’re looking for other ways to take advantage of the summer’s zucchini windfall, check out these recipes from years past:
If you want to cook: zucchini bread or roasted zucchinior zucchini tart with raclette (or plain swiss cheese)
If you don’t want to cook: marinated zucchini salad with mushrooms and dill or zucchini ribbon salad with middle eastern spices
The simplicity of your recipe allows the young zucchini to shine. And, somehow the mandoline makes everything taste better. You have captured early summer!
yum, I bet this would be great with cucumbers too. There can never be too much lemon zest.
– KosherLikeMe – I do love my mandoline and it made this dish so quick and simple to make. Looking forward to more summer meals!
– FoodBridge – Agreed – several of my friends actually thought that the salad was cucumbers!
Thanks for this delish recipe that I can make on a hot day in LA!
Hi Anoushka – thanks for visiting from LA where I imagine this would be great in your weather.
Can I do this a day before it is served?
Hi Ashli. You can prepare the vegetables a day in advance, but I wouldn’t dress the salad more than 30 minutes before serving. I hope this helps – let me know how it turns out.
I absolutely love your pictures! How do you do it?
Hi Marie – gosh, there are so many people who can give you great advice about taking photographs. The one thing I can suggest is learning as much as you can about lighting and how to manipulate it for the effect you want. For food photos, I look for natural light and avoid the flash at all costs.
I find there is so much I want to learn and do, and there never seems to be enough time to do it! Must work harder on that. Good luck with your blog. I’m really enjoying it!
i love zucchini and never knew how to incorporate it into a good summer salad…so thank you. the mixture of zuchhini and mint is awesome!
Eliane – thanks for stopping by. I’ll probably post a few more raw zucchini recipes soon, now that they’re so abundant. Enjoy!