Grilled Zucchini Summer Salad #FoodieExtravaganza

Grilled zucchini summer salad is beautiful and tasty, the perfect plate of cheap and abundant zucchini and ripe grape tomatoes. Throw a few edamame on there for color and protein! It’s a great side dish or even main course for hot summer nights.

I’ve heard tales of zucchini patches so prolific that neighbors leave bags of produce on porches in the middle of the night, just to get rid of them. I’ve never been so lucky. It would just about make my day to come out one morning to find a free pile of zucchini on my porch! Along with their Cucurbita Pepo sibling, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini is probably my favorite summer vegetable.

If you’ve been reading this space for a while – I completely missed celebrating/mentioning my seven year anniversary in June! – you might already know that. I have so many zucchini recipes! At least a baker’s dozen, including Parmesan and Brie Topped Zucchini in a semolina crust, Zucchini-Wrapped Cheesy Pea Burgers, Baked Zucchini with Spicy Tomatoes and the not very beautiful but oh-so-tasty savory Zucchini Clafoutis.

If you are as big a fan of zucchini as I am, make sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post and check out the link list to many more delicious zucchini recipes from my Foodie Extravaganza friends.

Grilled Zucchini Summer Salad

This recipe builds on one I found originally in Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef.* I first made it in 2002 and have been adding ingredients to the zucchini, as the whim and what’s fresh take me, ever since. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled for a crowd.

Ingredients
1 large zucchini – about 8 oz or 225g
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red chili pepper
1/2 clove garlic
Several fresh mint leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup or 55g shelled edamame (I buy these frozen and thaw.)
Small handful red grape tomatoes
Small handful yellow grape tomatoes

Method
Use a wide potato peeler to cut long strips off of the zucchini from end to end, discarding the first and last strips that are all peel.

Heat your grill pan until very hot and lay the zucchini strips on it single file, a few at a time. Watch them carefully and remove them from the pan with tongs when the grill lines become medium brown and come through to the top of the strips. No need to turn the strips over.

Arrange the grilled strips on your serving plate, making sure not to pile them on top of each other. You want them to be able to cool off. Piled together they’d just keep steaming and cooking.

When you’ve grilled all the zucchini, sprinkle them lightly with some flakey sea salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.

Mince the chili pepper and garlic and mix the two together. Sprinkle them on the zucchini from a height so they don’t clump together.

Cut your grape tomatoes in half and add them to the plate. Scatter the edamame around as well. Give the whole plate a good squeeze of fresh lemon and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Top with some washed mint leaves and serve.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month's wonderful host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all of the zucchini dishes we are sharing in honor of National Zucchini Day on August 8th. How will you celebrate? 

• Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Cookaholic Wife
• Greek Inspired Breakfast Casserole from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Grilled Zucchini Summer Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Sugar-Free Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles from Palatable Pastime
• Zucchini Corn Fritters from Caroline's Cooking
• Zucchini Frittata from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Zucchini Pizza Rounds from Our Good Life
• Zucchini Sandwich Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Zucchini Stir Fry from Sneha's Recipe

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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