A fresh and spring-y recipe that can be modified to include/exclude the items you like most.
I joined a Facebook group where the inspiration is to use our cookbooks more. The goal is to make 1 recipe a week from cookbooks we own. A great little nudge to try some new dishes.
I was gifted the cookbook Dinner in French by Melissa Clark and actually have tried some recipes from it prior to this "challenge"- super yummy!
She includes a recipe for Savory Gruyere Bread with Ham that is one of my favorites. It works well as a brunch or appetizer dish and is very easy to make. No yeast or starter needed!
I chose a salad recipe involving ribbons of zucchini for the first week’s attempt and I've been making versions of it ever since.
I adapted Melissa's recipe to the ingredients I had on hand. The beautiful thing about salad recipes is that you can’t go too wrong with ingredient swaps. Her original includes melon, mint, almonds and cheese.
Shaved Zucchini Salad inspired by Dinner in French
Ingredients
-1 Small to medium zucchini, trim ends
-3 Large Italian kale leaves, washed and dried, torn into bite-size pieces
-1 Hard boiled egg, sliced or chopped
-1/2 Avocado, cubed
-1/2 cup cooked butternut squash, cubed
-1 Tablespoon oil, I used walnut oil but extra virgin olive oil works well too
-1/2 Fresh lemon
-Sea salt, black pepper, as needed
Instructions
-In a medium bowl combine the dry, torn kale with the tablespoon oil and massage the oil into the kale leaves. This will soften the kale leaves so that they work well with other ingredients. Let this sit while you prepare the zucchini. (If you think you don't like kale - try this oil massage method!)
-Use a vegetable peeler, mandolin, or knife to shave the zucchini into long ribbons lengthwise. Sprinkle the zucchini ribbons lightly with sea salt and toss to distribute. Let this sit for 5 minutes then lay flat on a clean towel and pat dry.
-Add avocado, squash and egg to the kale bowl. Add zucchini once prepared. Spritz with 1/2 lemon, to taste, and toss.
-Plate the salad and sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste.
This serves 1 and works well for lunch.
Enjoy!