I've had my nieces here visiting this past week...little darlings...except for the wet towels they leave on the floor, curling irons they leave plugged in and ON (along with every light in the house), readjusting my desk chair to suit them and extra items they toss into the grocery cart when I'm not looking...$18 worth of nail polish! Seriously!
Callie is on the left, Gracie on the right and they are so cute I can't get mad at them, even though they talk me into things (like getting henna tattoos) that you just wouldn't believe! We've been shopping, to the movies (twice) in and out of the city (twice) and eating, eating, eating. Last night I made this salad, we needed something healthy to go with the pastries from Le Panier and the chocolates from Fran's and the donuts from Top Pots!
When I first came across this recipe, on one of my favorite cooking blogs, White on Rice Couple, I realized I had all of the ingredients on hand and made it immediately. That was over a month ago and I've been making it weekly ever since. Christina Ferrare came up with this recipe for her new cookbook, Big Bowl of Love, and Todd and Diane, the brains behind White on Rice, did the photography for her cookbook - beautiful, beautiful pictures!
Now, I'm no Christina Ferrare, who calls her elegant-looking recipe, Cucumber and Zucchini Carpaccio Salad. I'm more of a Betty Subaru kind of gal so I skipped the elegant presentation, poured it all into a bowl and served it up in heaping piles...then watched everyone dig in. And everyone I've served this to has loved it...and so have I. It's light and refreshing with fresh dill, the surprise of fresh mint and pecans in a rice-vinegar-olive-oil-lemon-juice dressing...make this one - you'll feel better, especially if you've had a day where the only thing faster than the money flying out of your wallet was the scale soaring to new heights!
Cucumber and Zucchini Salad - Adapted from Christina Ferrare's Big Bowl Of Love, via White on Rice Couple
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon finely chopped Italian parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill
*2 zucchini, sliced thin
*2 cucumbers, sliced thin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or Feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts (put in a dry skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly toasted)
fresh cracked black pepper
Combine olive oil, lemon juice, rice wine vinegar, mint, dill and Italian parsley in a medium bowl and whisk together until well blended. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, cucumbers and pecans. Sprinkle lightly with salt and add cracked pepper to taste. Pour dressing over top and toss to mix. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.
*Christina's recipe calls for the zucchini and cukes to be sliced paper thin but since I don't own a mandolin, I couldn't get them that thin. I did slice mine in my food processor and they were fine and since I wasn't serving them as carpaccio, they didn't need to be see-through!)
