Grilled Greek Zucchini

Vegetables

Jul 27

I had my parents and my brother’s family over for Father’s Day this year. It was sad not being able to be with the entire family due to the virus, but we still made it special for my dad and brother. Steak was requested. I live in a condo which, unfortunately, prohibits me from having an outdoor grill of any kind. I have therefore taken to using a stove-top grill pan. Knowing that steak would be on the menu, and that I’d be grilling that, I felt that a grilled side dish was in order. I started paging through recipes in food magazines, and I found a recipe grilling zucchini and topping it with feta. I was inspired, and this is the ultimate result!

I started by slicing my zucchini into planks. If you’re going to grill vegetables you need to make sure that you can actually put them on the grill and not fall through the grates. This wouldn’t be a problem for me using my indoor grill pan, but it would be a problem for any of you at home who are using an actual grill. (Can you sense the jealousy in my writing?) Anyway, you want the planks to be about a quarter inch thick so that they’ll have a lot of flavor and cook relatively quickly on the grill.

Now for the seasoning. The zucchini with feta that I saw in a magazine inspired a Greek flavor profile in my head. I thought that thyme and oregano fit that mold pretty nicely. I used dried herbs, though I do have thyme growing in my garden. Feel free to use fresh, however, but make sure that if you do that you use double the amounts that I quote in the recipe. Dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor than fresh herbs, and their dryness (a word?) makes them smaller in size, so you need to use less of them by volume. I toss the zucchini planks with the herbs, oil, salt and pepper in a shallow dish to make sure that they’re evenly coated before they go on the grill.

When you’re grilling, you want to make sure you’re at a high enough heat that you can get those great grill marks. Especially if you’re grilling indoors or on a gas grill, those char marks are really what’s going to add great flavor into your food. When my heat is on medium high it usually takes the zucchini about 2 minutes per side to get those great marks. I would check them periodically though because as soon as those marks are there, you need to flip. You don’t want the zucchini to over-cook and turn to mush.

Topping the cooked zucchini with feta cheese is so satisfying to me. I LOVE cheese. I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t understand that, so I’ll repeat. I LOOOOOOOVE cheese. Salty feta is a great way to go, and it adds a nice bite to this side. I also took the liberty of sprinkling a little more oregano and some crushed red pepper on top purely for presentation.

This side is so easy and so fast that I highly recommend that you add it into your regular rotation. Remember that you don’t have to be a pro to make magic in your kitchen (or patio as the case may be).

Joe the Blue Wizard

Yield: 4

Author: Joe the Blue Wizard