For the longest time, I childishly avoided zucchini because of its physical resemblance to a cucumber (one of my least favourite vegetables, second place to celery). But when I learned about the harmlessness of the vegetable, how easy it was to cook, and how delicious it was when paired with my favourite aromatic – garlic – I was besotted. The first time I’ve tried it raw was in my Salmon Salad with Chilli Caramel Dressing; finely julienned, refreshing and light, it’s quite delicious. I happened upon this recipe in Anna Gare’s Eat In, and swapped marjoram and dill for mint that I have available in the vege patch. Feel free to add whatever chopped fresh herbs you like, but I thought that with the fresh garlic and lemon, mint would go extraordinarily well, and it did.

I like to have this as a large serve beside a grilled protein, such as a Moroccan-spiced chicken breast fillet, or a small scotch fillet medium-rare. This is one of the “healthier” meals I have on about every second or third weeknight because it’s incredibly fast to prepare and the perfect meal size after a gym session. After my recent quite unhealthy posts of Chicken Karaage and the Unicorn Cake, I felt it was time to do a quick, healthy recipe to balance it out a little 😛

The amount listed here will serve one as a large serving of vegetables, or two as a side dish.

You will need:

• One zucchini (courgette);
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;
• Finely grated zest and juice of half a lemon;
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil;
• pinch of white sugar;
• 1/2 small garlic clove, minced;
• 40g Persian feta cheese, crumbled;
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh mint leaves.

Thinly slice the zucchini lengthways, using a mandoline or a good sharp vegetable peeler. Put the slices in a bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and the lemon zest. Make sure that the zest is only the yellow part of the lemon and not the bitter white pith.

Lightly whisk the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, sugar and garlic together to make a dressing. Drizzle the dressing all over the zucchini.

Cover and allow to marinate for about 20 minutes, then transfer the marinated zucchini to a serving platter, reserving any marinade from the dish to pour over at the end. Crumble the feta over the zucchini and scatter over the herbs. Drizzle over the reserved marinade and serve.