Fried Zucchini Salad with Feta

I enjoy food that uses herbs and spices to create simple, fabulous meals and this Greek dish is the epitome of Greek cuisine. The Greeks were one of the first people to cook food in olive oil and to season it with fresh herbs. The Byzantine traders brought salt roe and caviar (taramasalata was born) from the Black Sea along with salt cured cheeses such as feta. Snacking on many small dishes, mezze or meze, served with drink also developed during this era.  Spicy baked Greek feta and taramasalata are a couple of the many Greek snacking dishes my family loves to eat.

Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish
recipe adapted from Cuisine magazine
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600g zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise into 5mm-thick slices
flour for dusting
seas salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil for frying
1 clove garlic, crushed with a little salt to make a paste
1 tablespoon chopped dill (can use mint as a substitute)
1 tablespoon Chardonnay vinegar or white wine vinegar
50g goat’s feta, crumbled

Dry the zucchini slices in a clean tea towel then dust with flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the zucchini on each side until light brown. Do this in batches and place on a serving dish.

Combine the garlic, dill and vinegar then drizzle over the zucchini and leave for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. When ready to serve, scatter the feta over and season with extra salt and pepper if desired.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: The flavors from the garlic and vinegar were amazing with the mint and zucchini.  Next time I’ll use dill as this is another mezze to add to my international kitchen!