We’ve been super busy lately, so we’re currently on the hunt for meals that are easy to make but also healthy, fresh, and tasty. That’s why we were excited when we recently came across this recipe in the New York Times: it’s a simple veggie-centric dish that takes only around 20 minutes to make and comes together as a light and interesting vegetarian meal. It’s also perfectly timed, since zucchini is a classic summer ingredient that’s just now coming into season. This was a great lunch to make and eat in between work meetings, and we’re definitely going to keep it in our back pocket for other days when we need something quick, so here’s our guide for how we adapted this recipe for ourselves.
To make this, you’ll need:
- 4 zucchini
- Olive oil
- A loaf of good, thick bread
- Garlic
- Cumin seeds
- Red pepper flakes
- A 4-ounce package of feta cheese
- A lemon
To prepare your zucchini, slice each one in half and then slice the rounded part off the back of each piece so that you have flat planks. Rub both sides of each slice with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then heat a grill pan or a griddle over medium-high heat and place the zucchini on it. Let the slices grill for 7 minutes on each side, until you’ve got some nice char lines on both the front and the back.
Place your zucchini to the side to cool, then in a small pot warm 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium-low heat. Slice 4 garlic cloves and add those to the oil, along with 1 1/2 teaspoons each of cumin seeds and red pepper flakes. Stir everything around for 2 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat to let the spices infuse the oil.
Chop your zucchini into small pieces and place them in a bowl, then mix in the oil.
Finally, cut four hearty slices from your bread and brush both sides with olive oil. Grill the bread for 2-3 minutes on each side, until the slices are charred front and back as well.
Now you can pile zucchini onto the slices of bread, top with crumbled feta, and serve with lemon slices to squeeze over everything.
We really enjoyed all the different tastes going on here: grilled zucchini, tossed in a spiced oil, topped with cool and creamy and salty feta, all piled onto a slice of bread. And it’s super easy to make, because you just need to do a few quick slices to the zucchini and then let them sit on a grill, chop them, slice and grill some bread, and measure some spices into oil. Then stir the oil into the chopped zucchini and arrange everything on bread, and tada! A simple, green, tasty meal that covers all your bases – vegetables, cheese, carbs, spices – to make for an interesting vegetarian dish.