In my last post I mentioned how I gravitated this summer towards cooling foods that required little to no heat to make. In addition to going heavy on cucumber, I also ate even more zucchini than usual. I tried this particular recipe because you don't have to cook the zucchini, but instead you salt and drain it. I made this recipe twice, once doing it this way, and once with sauteing the zucchini. I like the latter better. This was another Smitten Kitchen recipe. It was intended for a picnic, which of course caught my attention since I'm a sucker for anything picnic themed. It's also one of several recipes where she pairs zucchini with toasted almonds. They work really well together, and I always like having some crunch in a salad. I'm going to put the link to her recipe below so you can see how Deb made it, and all of her suggestions for add-ins. I'm going to post my variation on it with the cooked zucchini, so I can remember to make it next summer. One thing I would like to do is make it with the whole wheat rotini as she did. I can imagine that the bite of it would be better and the color would be nice as well. I had loaded up on pasta during quarantine and still trying to make my way through the stash in my cabinet before I can justify buying more.
As a side note, I think all her mix in suggestions are great, and both times just used what I had on hand. The first time I did cannelini beans, basil and red onion. The second time I added arugula. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.
Zucchini and Almond Pasta salad, my variation
1/2 pound pasta of your choice, preferably whole wheat rotini
2 medium to large zucchini, sliced into thin half moons (you can go heavy on the zucchini if you have it)
1 1/2 ounces shaved parmesan
1/2 cup slivered almonds
a few shakes of chili flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon
salt and pepper
2 big handfuls of arugula torn into pieces
1. Put pasta water onto boil, then cook pasta according to package directions. When done, drain and set aside to cool.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a sautee pan over medium high heat. When hot, add chili flakes, then add zucchini. Cook until it's just starting to brown. Set aside to cool.
3. Toast almonds. I usually do this in a toaster oven and bake on 300. It should take about 6 or 7 minutes. Keep an eye on them and shake the pan a couple of times during this. For this recipe you want them quite brown, but not burned. When done, set aside to cool.
4. Mix remaining olive oil and juice from the lemon.
5. When pasta, zucchini and almonds are cooled, put them in a bowl. Add cheese, dressing, arugula, any other mix-ins and toss. Salt and pepper to taste.
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