Zucchini Pasta Salad

I just got back from my annual retreat in the lovely Mendocino woodlands of Northern California. Stewie came with me this time and it was a lot of fun! We got to meet up with my sister, her boyfriend, and some of her other friends... as well as visit our wonderful friend Marby! We got to go to the beach, eat on the pier, chill in the hotel jacuzzi, and drive all over L.A. I can't wait for the next road trip :)

Anyways, I'm back now and I've got a bunch of recipes! I basically did no cooking on my 12 day vacation, but I've got a couple from right before I left and right after I got back. I finally took pictures of my favorite Potato recipe! But that's for another day... Today is a bit more healthy.

For July Fourth weekend, my Mom invited me over to help her make some food for dinner. My rents have been on a vegan/vegetarian health kick for the past few months which I think is really great! Every time I go over for dinner we always make really interesting and filling meals in which fresh vegetables dominate. When I came over on the Fourth, we weren't really sure what we were going to make but we had a ton of fresh basil, squash, and zucchini. One of the recipes we came up with was one I had been thinking about for a long time because it's on tons of different vegan and raw websites. Zucchini Pasta!

I'm not even a big fan of zucchini, but for some reason the idea of strips of raw zucchini tossed with all the yummy goodness that goes into pasta salad seemed appealing. It turned out awesome! It had such a fresh taste and all the deliciousness of normal pasta salad without the carbs. I went with my favorite pasta salad ingredients, but you could use pretty much anything that you like and the outcome will be swell :)

Zucchini Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
2 Medium sized zucchini, the straighter the better
1 Medium yellow summer squash, also straight
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup chopped basil
Salt to taste

Instructions
1. Halve the zucchinis and squash. Scrape out the seeds.
2. Using a vegetable peeler, peel long, thin strips of zucchini and squash into a medium serving bowl. This takes a little technique, and you will have the be aware of the angle at which you are peeling to get uniform strips. It's nice if every strip has just a little bit of the outer skin on it so that every bite has color and crunch.

3. My mom had some extra squash and some mushrooms she wanted to use up, so it was her idea to add it to the salad. It was my idea to saute it first, because I don't like raw mushrooms. In a small frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp oil. Add garlic, mushrooms, and any other saute-able veggies you want to add. Cook until tender.

4. While the veggies are cooling, toss the zucchini/squash strips with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, tomatoes, pepper, and basil.

5. Add the cooled veggies and feta and toss. If desired, garnish with extra feta and basil leaves.

I'll be back later in the week with the other things we made, like cilantro-basil pesto tofu steaks and my favorite grilled or roasted zucchini :)

Love,
MSoSS