This is no ordinary stir fry. It is a sassy vegetable flavor explosion that can be prepared with surprisingly little time or effort and it packs a big presentation punch. Shapes matter and cutting the squash in this special way allows you to get it cooked without it being mushy and make it pretty all at the same time.
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/2 cup colored pepper (preferably orange or yellow), cut into matchstick size, or thinly sliced
- 1 c. cherry or cherub tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- 3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
- [if you don’t have fresh basil or thyme, use chopped parsley. If you have no fresh herbs at all, use a small amount of dried Italian seasoning — maybe 1/2 tsp.]
- Enough zucchini to create 3 c. ribbons
Directions:
Pull out your vegetable parer and use it to create thin wide ribbon-like slices from your zucchinis. Turn the zucchini as you use the parer and stop when you get to the point where you are down to the seedy, pithy part. You’re only going to use the strips that come from before you get to the seedy part. You will know you have gone to far when your ribbons start to not look smooth and when they begin to fall apart. Your zucchini should look like the picture below:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. As it starts to get warm, put in the olive oil, followed by the red onions. After the red onions have cooked a couple of minutes, add the minced garlic and cook another 30 seconds or so. Then add the pepper matchsticks and continue to saute for a couple more minutes. Add the tomato halves and the fresh herbs at the same time. Cook one minute.
Give it a dash of kosher salt and a little bit of cracked black pepper. Finally, add your beautiful zucchini ribbons. Toss carefully and cook just long enough for the zucchini ribbons to get warmed all the way through.
Serve immediately with a smile.
Leave a Reply