Zucchini Salad Recipe

Zucchini salad with almonds, pecorino, and capers topped with fresh basil on a light brown plate.

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian, vegetarian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Keyword: zucchini salad

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 0

Total Time: 15

Servings:

Calories: 162kcal

This zucchini salad recipe is bright and fresh, just what you want on a summer day. Use only zucchini, or a combination of zucchini and squash. Ready in minutes!

Print Recipe

US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

18 oz small zucchini or a mix of zucchini and squash
3 tbso olive oli
2 tablespoon lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 clove garlic
3 tbsp capers divided
½ cup fresh basil leaves
½ cup fresh parsley
½ cup shaved pecorino cheese
⅓ cup raw or roasted almonds unsalted

Instructions

First, make the salad dressing. Chop 2 tablespoon capers, set the rest aside. Use a microplane grater to zest the lemon and grate the garlic. Add olive oil, lemon juice, capers, lemon zest, and garlic to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Season with a pinch of salt. (It's important to make the dressing first, so the garlic can mellow out a little before you toss it into the salad.)
Roughly chop the parsley and tear the basil and set aside. (Cutting the basil will cause it to bruise and turn brown at the edges.)
Roughly chop the almonds. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the pecorino cheese into big flakes.
Cut the zucchini into batons: First, cut the very top and bottom off, then slice the zucchini into 2-inch pieces. Next, turn each piece on a flat end, and slice in half lengthwise. Now continue to slice each half lengthwise into thick-ish planks. Stack those planks and slice into batons.
Combine the zucchini, herbs, nuts, and ¾ of the cheese in a large mixing bowl and pour the salad dressing over, mix gently to combine. Taste for seasoning.
Transfer to a serving plate and top with remaining capers, pecorino, and a few more sprigs of herbs.

Notes

Adapted from NYT Cooking.
The pecorino and capers have a lot of salt, so I find the pinch of salt in the dressing is plenty. You might just want a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt or something like that at the time of serving. Keep in mind that the more you salt, the more water will be released from the zucchini.
Yellow squash has very large seeds. So if you are using both squash and zucchini, use very small squash and cut out the seeds as you cut the batons.
The batons do not have to be perfectly uniform. It's summer, and it's hot and we are not cooking here, so get over yourself.
This salad is best eaten right away. It's not well-suited for make-ahead or leftovers.

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Nutrition