Best ever summer courgette salad

I can happily say that I grew up with this marvellous courgette salad.

My childhood was fulfilled with dishes like this one and both my grandmother and my mum were making this salad and similar dishes very often during summer. I loved it then and I still do, well, now I love it twofold: firstly because of its deliciousness and secondly, for all the lovely childhood memories this  brings back! I do miss my childhood but I am certain that we all do from time to time.

So, yes, this courgette (zucchini) salad was, to me, a summer holiday signature side dish, along with few other summer recipes I’ll share with you later on, so stay tuned! ;-).

I deem courgette salads as a summer dish, even though the availability of this vegetable now days makes it an all-year round recipe. Since courgettes are in full season and full glory during summer, I strongly believe we should enjoy their full flavors when they are in season. No one can argue that any produce has the best nutritional benefits during peak season. Yumm!

The last time I’ve made this salad, I used frozen chopped courgettes as I gridilly buy plenty sometimes and because I was going on holiday I had to freeze some to preserve their qualities and the freshness. So if you have them frozen, go for it – they will taste amazing but the only thing I recommend is to cook them straight from frozen and not attempt defrosting them.

However you decide to cut the courgettes I leave it entirely up to you whether you chop them into chunks or slice them lenghtwise the result is exactly the same taste wise with a slight difference in aspect of the salad.

Please try this courgette salad!

It’s absolutely amazing as a side dish to a beautiful BBQ or to any fried meat or fish. If you want to keep it vegan just enjoy it on a toasted slice of sourdough or any homemade toasted (for a nice crisp) bread.

If you followed some of my recipes you would have probably noticed that I do love my garlic, and quite a bit of it 😉 and here, in this salad, the garlic isn’t even cooked. It’s simply and purely raw, delicious garlic which makes this salad so awsome.

Take it from me as a promise that there will be no vampires coming anywhere near you after eating this salad and, please don’t wait till October to have some, have it right away! 😀

But, without any further ado, here’s the recipe.

Quick and easy!

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Best ever summer courgette salad

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 4 large courgettes
• 1 tsp salt (sea salt or kosher salt or pink Himalayan salt)
• 1-3 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil (or other oil you prefer)
• 4-5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 tbsp cider vinegar
• parsley (optional) for garnishing

Instructions

1. Wash and slice the courgettes lengthwise. Now, as I mentioned earlier, just cut the courgettes as you wish as long as they are not big chunks. The pieces/slices should not be thicker than 5 mm. Sprinkle half of the salt and set aside.
2. On medium heat, place a frying pan with 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil. I normally don't use olive oil for frying as it's smoking point it's quite low. I use rapeseed, avocado, coconut or any other oils that have a high smoking point although here is low heat and shallow frying so realistically, any oil will do. Just make sure oil doesn't smoke.
3. Start shallow frying the courgettes slightly only until it gets a little colour. Cook them in one layer and do not pile them up as they will get all mushy. Cook them little by little. You could grill them too if you have a griddle pan just do that. It is even better.
4. Take out the fried zucchini slices and place them in a larger salad bowl. Repeat this until they are all done.
5. Set them aside for few minutes to cool.
6. Meanwhile peel the garlic, smash and chop finely. Use as much garlic as you like.
7. In a small bowl, make the vinaigrette by mixing the 2 vinegars, salt and the finely chopped garlic.
8. Add the vinaigrette to the courgettes and mix every few minutes so that they coat well and will marinade nicely.
9. It is ready to serve immediately as this salad can be served both warm or fridge cold. It can last up to 3 days in the fridge. Just add a little vinegar to refresh it if it happens to last and have any for a next day!

Recipe Notes

The way you decide to cut the courgettes is entirely up to you whether you chop them or slice them lengthwise but the ultimate result is the same and can only differ slightly in aspect but taste wise will be exactly the same.

I usually prepare this zucchini at the weekends (because of the garlic, you know....) unless on holiday when I make it whenever I feel like ... but truthfully  some chewing gum and a good teeth brushing could do the cover up trick. 😉😄