It’s zucchini season, which is a boon for both gardeners and cooks, because it’s an incredibly versatile veggie. It can be eaten raw, roasted, grilled, broiled, sauted, pureed, or baked. Full of water, it provides great moisture to recipes, and can be added to most baked goods. It’s super simple, delicious and healthy — the food trifecta. This season I tried a new technique — making zucchini noodles, or zoodles — and it was a big hit. I served the zoodles with lemon pesto and cherry tomatoes, and the fresh simplicity of these veggies made for a perfect light summer meal. (And the basil and tomatoes came from my garden, which always makes me feel extra good about the dish.)
Zucchini, basil and tomatoes fresh from the garden.
Here’s how it’s done:
Start with a few simple ingredients — zucchini, basil lemons, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and (not pictured) tomatoes.
Slice up the zucchini into zoodles. I use a basic julienne tool, but you could also use a spiralizer.
Keep slicing (or spiralizing)…
… until you’ve got a big pile of zoodles. You could now steam or blanch the zucchini if you’d like; I served mine raw, and it tasted great.
Next, make a quick batch of pesto. I included lemon in this batch, to make it extra fresh and summery.
Finally, toss the pesto with the zoodles, add some chopped tomatoes, and voila, a healthy and delicious summer meal.
*****
Zucchini Noodles w. Lemon Pesto
Ingredients:
Zucchini
Basil
Lemons
Olive Oil
Garlic
Parmesan Cheese
Tomatoes
Directions:
Use a spiralizer or julienne tool to slice up the zucchini into zoodles. (You could quickly steam or blanch the zoodles at this point, or you could serve them raw. I chose raw, and it was delicious. If you do cook them, just make it quick, so they don’t get mushy.) Mix up a batch of lemon pesto, and toss it with the zoodles. (Super fast pesto instructions: put basil, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and Parmesan in a food processor and blend until it’s pureed.) Top the zoodles with chopped tomatoes, and garnish with a sprinkle of Parmesan and a squeeze of lemon. Eat. Love.
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