grilled radicchio treviso and zucchini ribbon salad

August 23, 2013 § 33 Comments

We are seeing signs of Fall here in Seattle and here are two wonderful “late” summer vegetable recipes for you to try.   On my last visit to the farmer’s market I picked up a nice large head of Radicchio Treviso and an even larger sized Italian Striped Zucchini.

DSCN1008

Radicchio Treviso is a leaf chicory.  It is grown as a leaf vegetable and  has long delicate green and magenta leaves, creamy white veins and a crinkled texture. The flavor is bitter which mellows a bit when grilled, braised or baked.

I n g r e d i e n t s

  • 1 head of Radicchio Treviso
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • small wedge of grana padano or parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat the grill or grill pan. Cut radicchio in half lengthwise and rub or brush both entire halves with oil.  Set radicchio cut-side down on the grill. Cook until edges are well browned, about 4 minutes.  Sprinkle with salt, turn and cook until radicchio is nicely browned and wilted, about 4 more minutes.

Remove radicchio from grill and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and shaved cheese of choice . Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
DSCN1011
I purchased the Italian Striped Zucchini with a raw ribbon salad in mind.  I have been seeing so many recipes for “zucchini pasta” on blogs lately and in my usual way of shopping…, purchase now, research later, then cook, I picked out the biggest one I could find.
Arriving home from the farmer’s market I set out to find my recipe.  After a WordPress topic search for “zucchini pasta” I found not only this wonderful blog, but this incredible recipe for Fresh Zucchini Pasta.  I happen to have every ingredient on hand so we had it that same evening.  Market to table!  I used a vegetable peeler and shaved the zucchini  (I do not own a mandoline) however, I feel I would prefer the zucchini in the style of Alyssa’s recipe. The recipe listed below is directly from alyssaandcarla’s blog definitely click on their link and visit their blog!
DSCN0999

Alyssa and Carla’s Fresh Zucchini Pasta

Fresh Zucchini “Pasta”
serves one as a light lunch or two as a side dish

Dressing:
1 tablespoon really good extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
Pinch of salt
a few cracks of freshly ground pepper

1 medium zucchini
8 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

Combine all of the dressing ingredients into a jar, such as a mason jar, and shake to combine thoroughly.  Adjust to taste.

Julienne the zucchini.  I used this mandoline, which I adore (and use for many different dishes).  You can try to do it by hand, but a mandoline creates perfect strands.  I used the mandoline on each side of the zucchini until I got near the center, where the seeds made the strands too weak and they started to fall apart.

Toss the zucchini strands with the dressing.  Plate the zucchini.  Scatter the tomatoes, pine nuts and basil over the zucchini.  Garnish with a sprinkle of parmesan.

Where Am I?

You are currently browsing entries tagged with zucchini ribbon salad at COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE.