Stone Soup Farm CSA: Week Seven (and Shaved Zucchini Salad)

Check out the bounty this week, friends! Corn, green beans (the first green beans, yay!), dill, beets (the first beets, wahoo!), kale, and zucchini. I grabbed a yellow zucchini in the mix because I had something in mind for them and I thought the variety would be nice.



Apparently that something was taking lonely pictures of the yellow zucchini being shunned by his green brethren. Well, not actually, the something I was thinking of was the shaved zucchini salad from the August issue of Bon Appetit. I haven't had my fill of these abundant squashes yet, and I am always intrigued by a raw preparation of something we tend to eat cooked.



I had used a vegetable peeler to get thin slices of zucchini before, but forgotten how they tend to bow in the middle; you'll end up with the end you're holding, a very thin bridge, and then a big lump on the blossom end. If you rotate the zucchini as you peel this isn't as much of a problem, but the slices aren't as pretty and symetrical. For this particular recipe I'd recommend smaller zucchini, not the monster baseball bat variety. Smaller ones are more tender, and the size of the slices will be more suited to a salad. If you see a yellow zucchini (not a summer squash), pick one up just to prettify things.



Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts
adapted, just barely, from Bon Appetit

serves 4 as a side

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5-6 turns of the pepper grinder
a pinch of dried red pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
4 medium zucchini, mix of green and yellow (about a pound)
small handful of pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup of basil, sliced
wedge of parmesan cheese

First, make the dressing: whisk the salt and both peppers with the lemon juice, then whisk in the oil. Set aside. Shave the zucchini using a vegetable peeler to get very thin, long slices, and pile them in a bowl. Add the pine nuts and basil, and toss with the dressing. Turn out onto a serving platter (or if you're me, you just tossed it carefully with your hands ON the serving platter so as not to dirty up any unnecessary dishes). Using the vegetable peeler again, shave strips of parmesan cheese onto the salad. Top with more basil as garnish, if you like, or another grind or two of black pepper.