Recipe: Grilled Zucchini & Burrata Salad

This Grilled Zucchini & Burrata Salad is a great way to celebrate the summer…and zucchini season! Fresh zucchini ribbons are grilled to perfection and are dressed with a delicate vinaigrette. Topped off with creamy burrata and lots of fresh basil, this is a recipe that everyone will enjoy!

Celebrate the start of zucchini season

Zucchini season has arrived and with it comes tons of delicious zucchini in all shapes, sizes, and colours. It is the best time of the year to enjoy this delicate summer squash as they are super fresh, flavourful, and juicy. Zucchini are also often locally grown and sourced this time of year, so they are relatively inexpensive at the grocery store.If you are lucky enough to have a garden with zucchini, you will know how plentiful these plants can be during the summer months. Hopefully, this recipe will help you use up all your zucchini—and enjoy it in a recipe other than zucchini bread.

A fresh and simple grilled salad

Zucchini can be prepared in many ways, by my new favourite way to enjoy it is in this refreshing grilled zucchini & burrata salad. This salad is so simple and quick that you could make it any day of the week!

If you have an outdoor barbecue, use it to grill up the zucchini ribbons. The barbecue gives the zucchini a great smoky flavour and gives them beautiful grill marks. If you do not have an outdoor barbecue, an indoor grill plan also works well for this recipe and lends similar textures and flavours once cooked. To let the flavour of the zucchini shine through, I use a delicate homemade vinaigrette with champagne vinegar, olive oil, a touch of garlic, and lemon juice. The champagne vinegar is super light and the lemon juice adds another layer of freshness to the vinaigrette. I let the zucchini sit in the vinaigrette while it is still hot off the grill to absorb all the vinaigrette flavours. This is a great trick since the vinaigrette gets immediately absorbed into the zucchini and the flavour carries a bit more evenly throughout the entire salad. Plus, this allows the garlic to mellow out a bit so that it has a nice subtle flavour.

Put some Burrata on It!

You can instantly make any salad better with the addition of burrata! Burrata is an incredible Italian cow’s milk cheese that is made by wrapping fresh mozzarella around Stracciatella (a soft cheese made from cream). It is an incredibly decadent cheese and is such a treat to have in thesummer!

In this Zucchini & Burrata Salad, the burrata is a co-star with the grilled zucchini as it lends a creaminess to the salad. The burrata is enhanced with a sprinkle of fresh basil and a final drizzle of olive oil once the salad is all assembled.

Enjoy this delicious recipe for Grilled Zucchini & Burrata Salad this summer! Don’t forget to tag #TastingVictoria , and #SeasonServeBlog on social media to show off your creations!

Recipe: Grilled Zucchini & Burrata Salad

Serves: 4Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Resting Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Salad:• 3 large zucchini, sliced ½ centimeter thick lengthwise• 2 tablespoons olive oil• 1 teaspoon sea salt• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper• 1 ball burrata• 10 leaves of fresh basil, juliennedFor the Vinaigrette:• 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar• 2 tablespoons lemon juice• 2 tablespoons olive oil• 1 clove of garlic, finely grated• ½ teaspoon sea salt• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Slice the zucchini ½ centimeter-thick lengthwise to create long ribbons of zucchini. Use a sharp knife to cut the zucchini or use a mandoline slicer. If using a knife, cut off a small sliver off the side of zucchini so that it sits flat on the cutting board, then make your cuts down the length of the zucchini.

2. Place the sliced zucchini in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper until combined.

3. Make the vinaigrette by combining all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Mix to combine and set aside.

4. Preheat your barbecue (or indoor grill pan) to 400 degrees F.

5. Once hot, add the sliced zucchini to the grill. Grill for 2-3 minutes per side, or until the zucchini has grill marks, has softened, and the slices are easily bendable.

6. Remove the zucchini from the grill and arrange on a platter, swirling the zucchini ribbons so that they are intertwined.

7. While still hot, pour the dressing evenly over the zucchini and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

8. Tear the burrata into 6 to 8 pieces and arrange on top of the marinated zucchini.

9. Garnish with the basil and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

10. Serve and Enjoy!