Zucchini Marinata (Marinated Zucchini Salad)

"A simple marinated zucchini salad from Italy. The zucchini is uncooked but through marinating and the use of plenty of lemon juice the zucchini acquires an "al dente"/semi-cooked texture. I only make this recipe at the peak of zucchini season in summer when quality and selection are best. From Mediterranean Light. Especially good with fresh basil!"
 
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photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
photo by Sackville
photo by Calee photo by Calee
photo by Calee photo by Calee
photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
photo by dicentra photo by dicentra
Ready In:
4hrs 15mins
Ingredients:
7
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Note: It is your choice to peel or not peel the zuchhini.
  • Toss the thinly sliced zucchini with the lemon juice, garlic halves, olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. (If I think about it, sometimes I add a bit of finely grated lemon zest, too.) Remember to use a non-reactive bowl for marinating.
  • Cover bowl and refrigerate 4-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
  • Once you are ready to serve the salad, remove the garlic cloves. Save one garlic clove, finely minced and toss back into the salad along with the fresh herb of choice. *Important*: stir in the fresh herbs with the zucchini mixture [just] before serving.
  • Adjust seasoning if necessary.
  • Best eaten within 24 hours.

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Reviews

  1. I really like this recipe. I've made it a couple of times now for my family. I changed a couple of things. First: I love garlic so I minced mine up and mixed it with everything else instead of discarding it after it's done marinating. Second: I didn't have any "fresh" herbs, but I did have some dried thyme and put that in it instead. Everyone LOVED it. Even my son's friend who was visiting that night (who's a fairly picky eater) was helping himself to seconds.
     
  2. It was good. It had a very summery taste. I would add a little more garlic. All I could taste was lemon. I used basil which gave it a good flavor.
     
  3. This recipe was simple to make. I let it marinate in the refrigerator 24 hours before tasting it. I used fresh herbs in mine, but next time if I try to make it, I'll add less lemon. Made for Kittencal's Kitchen Cooking W/Herbs tag - Parsley.
     
  4. I had very high hopes for this recipe, but I ended up not liking it very much. I made it as written except for following the advice of some commenters and crushing the garlic into the lemon juice at the beginning. I also used the optional lemon zest. After four hours, I thought the zucchini was okay, nicely softened, but not very flavorful. Maybe after a longer marinade it would have been better, or if I'd had both basil and parsley instead of just the latter. As it was, I wound up tinkering with it to give it more complexity and flavor, adding an italian herb blend, thinly sliced sweet onion, chopped kalamata olives and chopped tomatoes, and then a little extra lemon and oil to offset all those additions. I'll try the concept again, I'm fairly sure, and I did enjoy the texture of the marinated zucchini, but to me, the simplicity of garlic, lemon, s&p was just a little too simple. Thanks for the idea!
     
  5. This recipe is entirely brilliant! Clean bright flavours, very satisfying. I doubled the herbs, and used both basil AND parsley.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Wow, who would have thought raw zucchini could be so delicious! Of course, if the zucchini is old and bitter, nothing is going to make it taste good. I used two 8" zucchinis fresh from my garden. I sprinkled them all over with salt, then let them sit for about 15 minutes to draw out some of the liquid. I drained them, then added the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 pressed garlic clove, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil, and a few grinds of black pepper. It didn't need any additional salt. Delicious! I could eat it every day during zucchini season. My husband doesn't like lemon on his food so of course he didn't like it. Next time -- and there definitely will be a next time -- I'm going to try it with white wine vinegar for his sake. This is just too good a dish to pass up. UPDATE: I've now made this with white wine vinegar instead of lemon and while it's still very good, I definitely prefer it with the lemon juice.
     
  2. Very good. A nice, fresh-tasting way of preparing squash and zucchini. I've made this dish twice now, and I'd recommend NOT adding in the minced garlic in the final step. The crushed garlic gives it just the right garlic flavor without being overpowering. Also, adding 1/4 tsp. of dried oregano to the marinade instead of the fresh herbs worked out well.
     
  3. I'm crazy about this simple salad! I used just-picked zucchini and striped the skin for a pretty flower effect. Count me among those who crush the garlic into the marinade from the get-go, and I did opt for the basil instead of parsley - it was great. Next time I will cut back a bit on the lemon for a little less zing. I really liked the texture of the marinated zucchini, as I normally am not a big fan of it uncooked. This has changed my attitude! Thanks for the recipe that I will use again and again.
     
  4. To quote the wife as she stuffed another bite in "5 stars." I made only one change. I didn't put in the olive oil but used a bit of water instead.
     

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