Don’t wait for summer to try this tasty little salad; made up of yellow and green summer squash (or, to us around here: zucchini and yellow squash) thinly sliced and layered with shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, a bit of shredded cheese, and some herbs.
Not a fan of the squash?
No problem! Rich isn’t, really, either, and he quite likes this salad, especially since I’ve switched from crushed red pepper to milder, smokier Aleppo pepper.
INGREDIENTS
•1 zucchini
•1 Yellow squash
•2 or 3 shallots, diced
•Olive oil
•Fresh lemon juice
•Shredded Parmesan cheese
•Aleppo pepper*
•Fresh basil leaves, chopped
•Other herbs (I used Italian seasoning)
•Capers (optional)
*Feel free to use crushed red pepper, but be careful how much you use, one of my last versions of this salad was almost too hot for our dinner guests, and they like hot.
Slice the zucchini and yellow squash as thinly as you can, then cover the bottom of a flat-bottomed bowl or rimmed platter with a layer of zucchini.
Top with a bit of the diced shallot, a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil, the basil and other herbs, Aleppo pepper, and the capers, if using.
Top with a layer of yellow squash and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Repeat until you’ve filled your bowl or platter, finishing off with final drizzles of lemon juice and olive oil, the cheese, basil leaves, and Aleppo pepper for color.
Allow to rest for twenty minutes or so, then serve. We had ours with oven-fried cod and garlic smashed cauliflower.
Notes:
Feel free to substitute thinly sliced onion for the shallots, and mebbe consider alternating the zucchini and yellow squash slices around a large, rimmed platter, kinda like a traditional carpaccio, then drizzling with the lemon juice, olive oil, and all the rest.
And think about having some crusty bread on hand to soak up any leftover olive oil goodness in the bottom of whichever type of vessel you choose to use.