Nourish: August Vegetable of the Month — Zucchini

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Lemon, Ricotta, and Toasted Almonds

15 mins

10 ingredients

4 serves

Every September growing up our local newspaper ran a zucchini contest. You brought your largest haul to the market, they weighed it on a scale, and if yours was big enough you got your picture in the paper. My mom brought me every year — sometimes with our dog, once in my full cowgirl costume, always with the biggest zucchini we'd managed to grow in the garden that summer.

I have a newspaper clipping somewhere. A small girl in boots and a hat, holding a zucchini almost as long as she is tall. My mom laughing beside me. The contest ran in September, but the growing happened in August — which is when zucchini is actually at its best, before it's had a chance to get unwieldy.

This salad is the opposite of a prize zucchini. It calls for small ones, the ones you'd never enter in a contest, peeled into thin ribbons and dressed simply with lemon, ricotta, and toasted almonds. August zucchini at its quietest and most useful. My mom would probably still enter the big one in the contest and then come home and make this with the small ones she kept back.

Peeling zucchini into thin ribbons changes the vegetable entirely. What most people roast or sauté becomes something delicate, raw, and genuinely surprising — lighter in texture, more elegant on the plate, and ready in fifteen minutes without turning on the oven. The ribbon technique does most of the work. The lemon, ricotta, and toasted almonds do the rest.

Ingredients

• For the ribbons:
• 3–4 small zucchini (about 6–8 inches each), ends trimmed
• 1 tsp flaky salt
• For the dressing:
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 large lemon
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
• For the toppings:
• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup fresh mint or basil leaves, torn
• Flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper
• Optional: shaved parmesan or a drizzle of good olive oil to finish

Method

1. 1 Using a vegetable peeler, mandoline, or sharp knife, peel each zucchini lengthwise into long, thin ribbons. Stop when you reach the seedy center and rotate — you want the firm outer flesh, not the watery core.
2. 2 Place the ribbons in a colander, toss with the flaky salt, and let sit for 5–8 minutes to draw out excess moisture. Pat gently dry with a clean towel.
3. 3 In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. 4 Arrange the zucchini ribbons on a serving platter, draping them loosely for texture.
5. 5 Drizzle the dressing over the ribbons and toss gently to coat.
6. 6 Dot the ricotta in small spoonfuls across the salad. Scatter the toasted almonds and torn mint or basil over the top.
7. 7 Finish with flaky salt, a generous crack of black pepper, and an extra drizzle of olive oil or shaved parmesan if using. Serve immediately.

Britt's note

Use the smallest zucchini you can find — 6 to 8 inches is ideal. The smaller ones are firmer, less watery, and have a better flavor than the overgrown ones.
This salad doesn't hold well — the salt draws moisture from the zucchini over time. Make it close to serving.

There's the zucchini you enter in the contest, and then there's the one you bring home, slice thin, and eat quietly in the kitchen while no one is looking. Both are worth having.

Cook what's in season.

Nourish what you have.

Feed yourself the way you'd feed someone you love.

A deep breath in a beautiful life.

Talk soon.

— Britt