When I saw the title of title of this recipe I was pretty excited. I make a pasta with (cooked) zucchini that's been julienned and pesto that I really like. It's a great way to use up zucchini, and a little bit healthier than just eating pasta with pesto (although I do that frequently too!). I was hoping this recipe would be similar to that one. I was pretty disappointed when I opened the book and realized that this didn't actually include pasta, and that the zucchini remains raw. I'm lucky that I really enjoy all vegetables (except for mushrooms), but I'm kind of picky about which ones I'll eat raw, and zucchini isn't really one of them. But, it's for the blog so I tried to have an open mind and make it anyway. I followed the recipe exactly, but substituted in half yellow squash for the zucchini. For some reason Paul has grown an absurd amount of yellow squash this year, but almost no zucchini, and it just seemed crazy to go out and buy zucchini.
This recipe wasn't hard to put together (thanks to my mandoline), but the prep did take a while, and then the hour it requires in the fridge made it pretty slow for a weeknight. It was okay, but not something I'd make again. I just wasn't that excited about it. To go with it I served pasta and another squash dish - I told you I had a lot to use up! The second dish was another Canal House one with harissa, olives, and feta. It was much more exciting.
I also made the Salmon in a Jar recipe last week; another catch-up from last summer. I was really looking forward to it, and maybe set my expectations too high, but it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. It was definitely good, but I liked the potatoes better than the fish (and I normally love salmon), and felt completely overwhelmed by all of the leftover olive oil that I had to use up. So, all in all, nothing was bad, but this hasn't been my favorite French Fridays week.
I love the Canal House recipe or idea really. Sounds interesting, much more than the zucchini tagliatelle...! Have a great weekend Jora!
ReplyDeleteI knew the hubby wouldn't eat this one, and I didn't know if I'd be a fan either, so I backtracked to the carrot salad. Sorry it wasn't a hit! I did like that salmon, though.
ReplyDeleteI used lots of pepper on my salad and that spiced it up a bit. How lucky you are to have squash growing in your yard. Yellow squash is one of my favorites. I hope you have a nice weekend:-)
ReplyDeleteThis salad did need a little bit of change up to make it a hit here. We used summer squash as well and I liked the addition.
ReplyDeleteYou are a trooper about the salmon - we weren't very good friends :-)
Have a great weekend.
It's too bad that neither recipe did anything for you. Here's to a better French Friday next week!
ReplyDeleteCanal House recipes are wonderful - that zucchini dish certainly sounds delicious.
Jora, I must say that the array of colorful dishes on your table looks absolutely wonderful and summery and inviting! Too bad that some of them did not quite meet your expectations - we loved the Zucchini Salad (I did add some summer squash as well), kids and all, but I am also looking forward to the upcoming dishes this month!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend!
Kudos for making this and the salmon in a jar!
ReplyDeleteNice looking spread! I was disappointed too. I like my zucchini much better cooked, but as you say, for the blog, you've gotta try it. Hope you had a great weekend.
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