Zucchini Ribbon Salad
Raw zucchini ribbons tossed in a lemon-garlic dressing with parmesan, basil and toasted pine nuts.
Ingredients & method
Method
Amounts inside the steps follow the servings dial, so you never have to hold the arithmetic in your head.
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Toast the pine nuts
Toast 2 tbsp Pine nuts in a small dry pan over medium heat, tossing often, until golden and fragrant. Tip onto a plate to cool.
Toasting wakes up their oils so they taste rich rather than waxy against the raw zucchini.
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Ribbon the zucchini
Trim the ends off the 4 Zucchini, medium and run a vegetable peeler down the length of each one to shave long ribbons, turning as you go and stopping once you reach the seedy core.
Thin, even ribbons take on the dressing quickly without turning soggy or falling apart.
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Make the dressing
Whisk the 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil, juice and zest of the 1 Lemon, 1 Garlic clove, Salt to taste and Black pepper to taste together in a small bowl until emulsified.
Whisking the oil and lemon juice together first stops the dressing separating on the ribbons.
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Dress and rest
Add the zucchini ribbons to a large bowl, pour over the dressing and toss gently to coat. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
A short rest lets the ribbons soften just slightly and take on the lemon and garlic without going limp.
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Finish and serve
Scatter over the 30 g Parmesan, toasted 2 tbsp Pine nuts and a handful of Basil leaf, toss once more and serve right away.
Adding the cheese, nuts and herbs last keeps their texture distinct instead of wilting into the salad.
About
Zucchini is a newcomer as vegetables go. Every squash traces back to the Americas, but the slim, uniformly cylindrical type we call zucchini was not bred until the mid-1800s, around Milan in northern Italy, from older Italian summer squashes. The name itself is older than the vegetable it now describes — zucchino was originally a small dried gourd used to store tobacco, a diminutive of zucca, the Italian word for gourd. By the 1870s the word had been borrowed for the young green fruit, and it travelled from there: to France and Britain as courgette, and to North America as zucchini, carried over by Italian immigrants in the early twentieth century.
Ribboning it raw is a distinctly Italian trick, born less from tradition than from a good vegetable peeler. Long, thin strips dressed simply in olive oil and lemon show off zucchini's mild, faintly grassy flavour and delicate crunch far better than cooking does, which is why home cooks across Italy reach for this treatment the moment courgettes flood the summer markets. Parmesan and pine nuts are the classic finish — enough richness to make a salad feel substantial, without ever needing the stove.
Cook’s notes
Salt the ribbons very lightly and dress them just before serving — zucchini is almost entirely water and will weep if it sits dressed for too long.
A julienne peeler or mandoline gives thinner, more even ribbons than a standard vegetable peeler. Stop peeling once you reach the seedy core on each side; dice the cores and save them for a soup or a saute.
No pine nuts on hand? Toasted slivered almonds or walnuts work just as well.
Health benefits
Zucchini is mostly water, which makes this a naturally light, hydrating salad, and it still carries a real dose of vitamin C, potassium, and the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, which are linked to eye health. The lemon juice adds its own vitamin C, and the olive oil is mostly monounsaturated fat, the kind generally considered supportive of heart health when it replaces saturated fat elsewhere in the diet. Parmesan and pine nuts bring in a bit of protein and healthy fat, enough to make this feel like more than a plate of raw vegetables.
General information about the ingredients, not advice about you. Nothing here is a medical or dietary recommendation, and no dish treats or prevents any condition. If you are managing a health condition, pregnant, or on a prescribed diet, ask a doctor or a dietitian.
Cons & who should be cautious
This is a raw, high-fibre salad, so eating a large portion in one sitting can cause bloating or mild digestive discomfort for anyone unused to raw cruciferous-family vegetables — introduce it gradually if you are sensitive.
Pine nuts are a tree nut; leave them out or swap for toasted seeds for anyone with a tree nut allergy. Parmesan is not suitable for strict vegans or those avoiding animal rennet.
The salad is not low-fat or low-sodium once oil, cheese, and salt are added, so those watching fat or sodium intake closely should go easy on the parmesan and dressing. Zucchini is also a source of potassium, so anyone on a potassium-restricted diet (for example, with advanced kidney disease) should account for it in their day's intake.
Not a complete allergen declaration. Ingredient lists describe what we used and cannot account for cross-contamination or what your particular brand contains, so check the packaging of everything you cook with.
Nutrition facts (estimated)
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