Zucchini for all!

With fall slowly creeping around the corner and zucchini's coming at us from everywhere (I swear they are taking over every produce section I cross), I figured why not put up a recipe for those who are accidently buying zucchini instead of cucumber and have no idea what to do with the thing (other then make not-so-good-for-you chocolate-zucchini muffins).

With the last hot days of our summer, we could all use another salad recipe, so give this a shot for something a little different, and enjoy!


Zucchini Slaw
Total time: 25 minutes

Servings: 6 to 8 pounds zucchini (about 6 small or 3 to 4 medium)
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced into 1/4 -inch pieces
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup sherry vinegar, or to taste
2 tablespoons best-quality olive oil, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
8 large basil leaves thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnish

1. Trim the ends from the zucchini and cut them crosswise into 3-inch pieces. Julienne the pieces down to the core (discard the seeded core); then place the julienned strips into a large bowl.

2. Gently stir in the tomatoes and garlic, then stir in the sherry vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, tossing to evenly coat. Taste the slaw and adjust the flavor and seasoning as desired, then stir in the basil. The slaw can be made up to this point up to 3 hours in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator. This makes about 7 cups slaw.

3. Just before serving, stir in the pine nuts. Serve the slaw with a few shavings of Parmigiano over each portion.

Each of 8 servings: 112 calories; 3 grams protein; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 159 mg. sodium.

**Thanks LA Time for a great recipe, and thanks to my cat pooing in our zucchini plants to make mammoth zucchini's to try endless recipes with.