Raw

I have recently been reading about the virtues of raw - raw meat, dairy, fish, honey and of course fruits and veggies. I will only be writing about raw veggies today but perhaps will cover some of the other topics another day.

I am always thrilled when I can add another raw vegetable recipe to my repertoire. I know it's important to eat a lot of veggies but it's also important to eat them raw sometimes (maybe even a lot of the time).



I am also excited about this recipe because it uses a vegetable I often struggle with preparing...zucchini. Other than Zucchini Bread I usually just roast my summer squashes (grilling is another option but since I have Grillaphobia roasting is my alternative).

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Stone Hearth Pizza. A tasty pizza place in our new town. Their menu featured a thinly sliced zucchini salad. Although we didn't even order it I couldn't stop thinking about the concept and had to try my own version.

I hope you like it as much as we did. I have been anxious to share this recipe sooner but I had to go and recreate the dressing because when I made it I didn't pay attention to measurements.

Zucchini Ribbons Salad
Serves 4

1 medium to large zucchini
1 ear cooked corn removed from cob
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1 scallion chopped
feta cheese (optional)

Using a vegetable peeler create zucchini "ribbons" using just the skin and flesh (not the seeds). I made mine 2-3 inches long rather than the whole length of the zucchini. Toss the zucchini ribbons, corn, tomatoes and scallion with the dressing. Crumble on feta to taste (or goat cheese...yum!). Eat.

Sherry Vinaigrette
Yield 1/4 cup

2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. maple syrup or honey (will have slightly different results)
1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Whisk together everything but the olive oil. Slowly add olive oil while whisking until combined.

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P.S. Also featured on my plate are Pesto Chickpeas (as easy as it sounds) and Mozzarella Ham bites. My kids love to eat hors d'oeuvres...little bite size nibbles. This is also how I make 2 slices of ham feed a family of four. Ooops! I mean 5. But only 4 of us are eating with our teeth :-)