Zucchini Salad with Raspberries and Feta
A true summer delight with a balsamic dressing!
Zucchini salad? Absolutely! During the summer, I’m a big fan of light salads—but before you think of the usual leafy greens, hold on a moment! There’s life beyond salad leaves, and with a few exciting ingredients, you can create flavors that will impress anyone. Try this unique zucchini salad recipe and let the tempting flavors invite you on a date! 🙂
The story of the zucchini salad
I really let my imagination run wild with this recipe! 🙂 And I let it wander into areas that are a little different from everyday foods. Last summer, one of my favorites was this peach salad. This year, however, raspberries took center stage, and I added a raspberry balsamic vinegar cream from Lidl to my shopping cart.
On a hot summer day, I remembered Jamie Oliver’s simple zucchini salad, which is just grilled zucchini and spices. I quickly grabbed my grill and browned thinly sliced zucchinis.
I just sprinkled it with salt and chopped some fresh basil leaves on top. I knew that the balsamic vinegar cream would give it the sweet and sour taste I was craving on this summer day. However, I also needed 40-50 grams of carbohydrates, so it was definitely my goal to include pasta in the dish. I had some orecchiette pasta left over from the recipe for orecchiette pasta with roasted zucchini and ajvar, which is just as special as this salad. So they go together perfectly. I sprinkled some feta cheese and fresh raspberries on top. As I was eating, this sentence came to mind:
It invites my taste buds on a summer evening date, and I feel that in the end, a sweet kiss will land under the starry sky.
The pasta: doesn’t matter
I chose this orecchiette pasta to go with it. It’s a little unusual, so it’s worth choosing something like this. Other small-cut pasta would also be good. The main thing is not to use spaghetti. 🙂
Orecchiette is a type of pasta of Italian origin, whose name literally means “little ears” (in Italian, orecchia = ear, with the diminutive suffix orecchiette). It originates from the Puglia region and is traditionally made by hand from durum wheat flour and water, without eggs. Its shape is ideal for “catching” the sauce, which is why it is often used in dishes with vegetables, meat, or seafood.
This pasta takes 10-15 minutes to cook. During this time, the grilled zucchini will also be ready.
Not all cheese is the same
In summer, it’s tempting to put grilled cheese on your salad. However, I don’t use it because it has a very high fat content. 100 grams of grilled cheese can contain up to 25 grams of fat, while 100 grams of light feta cheese contains only 10 grams of fat (I calculated this using Aldi Lyttos light feta cheese).
e-book (pdf)
Diétás nyári receptek
Ha szereted a mediterrán ízeket és egyszerűen elkészíthető recepteket keresel, akkor ez a Receptfüzet Neked való. Feledkezz bele a lédús gyümölcsök, formás zöldségek és illatos fűszernövények világába!
Zucchini Salad with Raspberries and Feta
Ingredients
- 60 g orecchiette pasta (fusilli can be used as a substitute)
- 1 medium zucchini (about 200 g)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 60 g light feta cheese
- 10 raspberries (frozen is fine)
- raspberry balsamic cream (I bought it at Lidl)
- 6 fresh basil leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in salted water according to the instructions on the packet until al dente. While the pasta is cooking (10-15 minutes), grill the courgette.
- Cut off both ends of the zucchini. Wash it thoroughly, then cut it in half to make it easier to work with. Cut it lengthwise into slices as thin as you can. The thinner they are, the crispier they will be when fried. Do not add anything to the zucchini slices yet, just place them in a hot grill pan sprayed with a little olive oil. Grill both sides, then place them on a plate. Be careful not to stack the fried slices on top of each other, as they will soften from the heat. The key is to get nice, crispy zucchini slices.
- When the zucchini is ready, salt it thoroughly. Season with freshly ground black pepper. If available, add fresh, finely chopped basil leaves.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water and let it drip dry. Then you can start putting the salad together.
- Assemble the salad: first place the pasta on a plate, then add the crispy zucchini slices. Sprinkle with finely chopped feta cheese cubes. Add a few fresh raspberries. Finally, drizzle with the raspberry balsamic cream.Enjoy while still warm.
Calories and macros
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