When magic happens.
On a hot day, when you are looking for something light and refreshing, skip cooking your vegetables and eat them raw.
Cooking strips away a lot of the nutrients and enzymes inherent in vegetables. Albeit still healthy, cooked vegetables oftentimes don’t reach the nutritional prowess of their raw counterparts. Indeed, there are some vegetables that can actually be more beneficial when cooked, such as tomatoes and other red vegetables, which have higher levels of the antioxidant lycopene when cooked. This article outlines research surrounding this topic well.
Regardless, eating vegetables raw is sometimes a huge pain—too much chewing, rough texture, etc. A good trick to softening raw vegetables and making them easier and more enjoyable to chew is to marinade them in a flavorful sauce and soak them overnight.
In this recipe, the apple cider vinegar and lemon break down and soften the texture of the zucchini and the olive oil moistens and smoothens. The dill is a pop of freshness!
Overnight Zucchini
Ingredients:
– 1 large zucchini (or 2 medium)
– 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
– 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
– juice of half a lemon
– 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
– 1/2 tsp salt and pepper, each
– 1/3 cup olive oil
Serves: 1-2
Directions:
As thinly as possible, slice the zucchini, lengthwise.
Assemble the rest of the ingredients—so few!
Chop the garlic.
With a dash of salt, begin to smash the garlic, so it becomes a paste. We don’t want chunks lying around in this dish, since it’s raw.
Chop the dill.
Squeeze the lemon.
And ad the apple cider vinegar.
Mix.
Salt and pepper…
Pour the mixture atop the zucchini.
Drizzle the olive oil on top.
Place in the refrigerator overnight or for a few hours to let the flavors marry and soften the zucchini.
The next day, serve:
So fragrant!
Bon appetit!
xo Aylin
