Baby Zucchini Salad

Today at the farmers market I saw some baby zucchini and thought, "Those look so cute an yummy, and I have to get some." So with no real idea of what I was going to do with them I decided to buy a dozen or so.

Zucchini or summer squash are part of the melon and cucumber family, most of us eats the variety that originated in Italy. They come in yellow, green, or light green. Today I got the green variety, baby size, so only about 5 inches long.

Another interesting tidbit about these cute baby zucchini is that they are not a vegetable. Sure we cook with them like they are but I’m sure all of you remember the old question you ask to know the difference between vegetable and fruit, “Does it have seeds?” And well yes, zucchini does have seeds so it’s a fruit. They come from a flowering plant, and are a ripened ovary, all signs of a fruit. Either way, they are delicious and who can argue with that.

While we are going to work with baby zucchini this week, larger ones are excellent, and also the flowers are edible and very delicious, but we will have to cover those topics a different week.

Whenever I am trying to decide what I want to do with an ingredient I do something really novel – I taste it! These baby zucchini tasted fresh, slightly sweet, and were nice and crisp. That meant according to my taste buds that all signs were pointing to a nice fresh salad. Given their Italian origins and what I had in my refrigerator and pantry I decided to follow that path to the following salad.

I will be pairing this tonight with a fresh mozzarella and basil grilled pizza. But this would also go wonderfully with grilled halibut or seared scallops. I’d love to hear from you what you decided to pair it with, send me a note.

And now shall we say, “Bon Appetite, now we may eat!”

Baby Zucchini Salad

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

5 baby zucchini, sliced thinly (on mandolin is ideal)

½ red onion, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, medium dice

2 large basil leaves, finely chopped

2 T smoked olive oil*

2 T balsamic vinegar

salt

pepper

Toss zucchini, red onion, red bell pepper, and basil with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Taste, and then season accordingly with salt and pepper.

* Smoked olive oil has it’s own unique taste and while you could substitute with regular olive oil I would strongly suggest trying the smoked first, it is really amazing. For information on ordering my favorite Chili Pepper Smoked olive oil, also featured in Fine Cooking recently, look for The Smoked Olive, based out of Santa Rosa, CA (www.thesmokedolive.com).