Zucchini and Squash Summer Side Recipe, thinly sliced, with olive oil and a sprinkle of cheese, is the best way to indulge in summer garden veggies.
Summer Garden Zucchini and Tomato Recipe
Summer Garden Harvests – From Your Garden Or Farmers Market
Have you ever tried growing fresh summer produce in you yard or deck?
There’s no doubt that summer garden veggies, sun ripened and freshly picked, is a great way to eat all summer.
So many delicious recipes can be created from your garden or farmer’s markets.
Rookie Gardeners Fear Not!
It might look like I’ve been gardening all my life, but nope, I’m still a bit of a rookie at it.
With so many tutorials now available online and garden shops eager to inform you, the only thing you need is a bit of dirt, sunshine and patience.
One of the easiest veggies to try growing is cherry tomatoes, on a deck, with a tomato cage around it so the vines can climb.
Little by little, try adding fresh summer vegetables to your repertoire.
It’s the perfect way to find your confidence in growing your own vegetables and herbs.
Certainly finding an abundance of favorite recipes for your summer harvest will be the easy part.
Healthy Recipes With Your Abundance Of Zucchini and Tomatoes
All winter we wait for the summer months to provide an abundance of summer vegetables.
The moment they make their appearance at roadside stands, we shift into the mindset for healthy recipes from fresh produce.
For sure, your own gardens can richly provide you with an abundance of summer veggies.
Grab A Friend Or The Whole Family And Head To A Nearby Farm
However, if you happen to live near farms that post signs for ‘pick your own,’ it’s a great outing for the whole family.
Remembering the first time I took my young children to a nearby farm to pick fresh produce, they seemed more eager to eat vegetable.
I’m sure we’ve all had sautéed zucchini or some type of a zucchini tomato casserole, but let’s try something ‘next level,’ instead of a simple zucchini recipe!
Summer Garden Recipes Are More Than Just A Delicious Side Dish
Of course, it wouldn’t be squash season without a favorite Zucchini Bread, and mine is loaded with lemon juice!
However, my favorite way to enjoy a vegetable garden is on homemade pizzas!
Oh yes, I’ve got favorite summer recipes I’ve created with an assortment of pizzas, and none of them have boring ole tomato sauce.
- Fig and Garlic Chive Pizza With Zucchini Ribbons – across the top, lots of goat cheese and fresh figs from my fig trees.
- Deconstructed Ratatouille Pizza – made with eggplant, peppers, zucchini, fresh basil leaves made into a pesto sauce to spread on the dough, and lots of parmesan cheese.
- Mediterranean Meat Pies – known as Sfeeh, often with sauteed ground meat and lots of thinly sliced zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes.
Let’s Bake The Perfect Side Dish For Summer Eating
Here’s how this recipe came about.
Wanting to enjoy the lazy days of summer grilling season, I wanted to make an easy side dish that would take less time to prep and cook.
This ‘next level’ dish fast became a family favorite, because it showcased the best flavor of a garden harvest, and is so colorful.
Gather Your Summer Garden Harvest And A Mandolin And Let’s Do This!
The easy way to prep the veggies is with a mandolin, an inexpensive slicer that does the job quickly.
Each of the squash, zucchini, and firm tomato slices comes out perfectly, and uniformly sliced.
Using this slicing technique allows the slicing to go quickly and the finished presentation to look beautiful.
Equipment Needed
- Mandolin or sharp slicing knife and cutting board
- Garlic press
- Citrus press
- Basting brush
- Cheese grater
- 2 Small individual baking dishes
- Oven
Ingredients Needed
- Zucchini
- Yellow squash
- Roma or Plum tomatoes
- Parmesan cheese of vegan parmesan
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Fresh herbs
- Salt
Zucchini and Squash Summer Side Recipe
Equipment
- Mandolin
- 2 Individual baking dishes
Ingredients
- 1 Fresh Zucchini medium zucchini
- 1 Yellow squash medium
- 2 Roma tomatoes or fresh plum tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese or vegan parmesan
- 1 Garlic clove crushed
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- Fresh herbs for garnish and flavor
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- With a mandolin (or very sharp knife), thinly slice the zucchini, squash and firm tomatoes. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic. Set aside.
- Brush a little bit of the seasoned olive oil on the bottom and sides of the 2 baking dishes.
- Stack both thinly sliced squash, alternating colors, standing on their side, and place them in the baking dishes, fanning them as you place them all around the dish. Do the same for a center row, keeping the round slices standing so the colors show.
- Place the sliced tomatoes in between some of the slices of squash.
- Brush the seasoned olive oil across the slices. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt. Grate cheese across the tops and place fresh herbs on top.
- Bake for about 15-minutes or until cheese melts but squash still retains a little firmness, much like an al dente pasta.
Video
Notes
- For an added measure of elegance, bake the squash inside of a halved pepper!
- Baking the squash too long will result in soggy squash, so keep an eye on them.
Summer Garden Zucchini and Tomato Recipe
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.