I eat zucchini quite often now in my adult life but believe it or not, I haven’t always enjoyed zucchini. Shocking, I know. A couple of summers ago, John would grill out a lot and he would always grill squash and zucchini. From then on, I’ve developed a love for zucchini. Growing up, we didn’t eat a lot of zucchini and it wasn’t something I was going to bring up to my parents. Could you imagine that conversation? “Hey mom and dad, I’d really prefer it if we ate more zucchini.” Yeah, that wasn’t a conversation I was going to have. No one needed to know that zucchini was missing from my life. I bet though, if my parents made garlic marinated zucchini, I would have been totally into it.
Anyway, now I’m an adult and since I cook for myself, I can finally appreciate the beauty and flavor of zucchini. It’s great grilled, fried and even baked. I found this garlic marinated zucchini recipe over on The Kitchn, one of my favorite websites, and I was intrigued. The ingredients were simple – most of which I already had in the kitchen and it was another way to enjoy zucchini. This recipe seemed like a win/win recipe.
I will say this though, garlic is amazing, I cook with it all the time but it always doesn’t make your breath smell nice, you know? This recipe in particular will definitely give you the urge to brush your teeth afterwards but wow is this delicious! Between the garlic cloves and the chopped basil in this recipe, there’s just so many layers of flavor in this dish with less than 10 ingredients.
Serve this dish with braised chicken or something light like a baked fish. This would be a perfect side for a BBQ.
Garlic marinated zucchini – an easy side dish
Garlic Marinated Zucchini
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp finely chopped basil
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the zucchini in a colander, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons salt; toss with your hands to coat and let is sit for 30 minutes.
- Rinse the zucchini well and pat dry with paper towels.
- Stir together the basil, thyme, and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the zucchini, turning once, until softened and lightly browned on both sides.
- Transfer half of the zucchini to a shallow dish and top with half of the herb mixture then half of the vinegar. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Only season with salt if needed. Remember the zucchini may already be salty.
- Repeat with the remaining zucchini, herbs, and vinegar.
- Let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, before serving.
- Serve at room temperature.
