Marinated Zucchini Salad

Zucchini is still coming out of my garden.  I found this yummy marinated salad over at Kalyn’s Kitchen.  The combination of zucchini along with Italian dressing, olives and marinated artichokes was one I couldn’t pass up.  This salad is easy but you do need to plan ahead due to the 4-8 hours of marinating time.  For me, I say the longer the better.  I must say I love artichokes.  So YUMMY!  This salad was delish!

Marinated Zucchini Salad

• 4-5 small zucchini, cut into half moon slices about 1/2 inch thick (or bite sized pieces)
• 1 can large pitted black olives, drained very well
• 1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained very well
• 1  red  pepper chopped into bite-sized piece (I used some red and some green because I had that on hand)
• 1 red onion chopped into bite-sized pieces

Dressing:

• 1 cup Italian dressing ( I recommend getting one with a nice strong flavor)
• juice of half lemon (2 T)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Asiago, or Romano cheese
• 1 T dried basil (or use 2 T basil pesto or 3 T. chopped fresh basil)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano

Optional: additional 1/4 cup grated parmesan to sprinkle over salad just before serving

1. Cut zucchini into quarter slices or bite sized pieces. (If you’re using large zucchini, cut away the seeds and most of the white part.)
2. Steam zucchini until barely tender/crisp, about 3 minutes, then drain very well. (You can plunge the steamed zucchini into water with ice cubes to stop the cooking if you’re in a hurry)
3. While zucchini is cooking, open olives and artichoke hearts and dump into a colander to drain well. (Draining the zucchini and olives well is essential or the finished salad will be watery.)
4. Chop the red bell pepper and red onion into bite-sized pieces.
5. Combine zucchini, olives, artichoke hearts, red pepper and red onion in plastic or glass container with a lid (or use a Ziploc bag.)
6. Pour dressing over, just enough to cover veggies, and stir gently. (use part of the dressing to marinate the veggies and then stir in a little more dressing when I serve it.)
7. Marinate in refrigerator 4-8 hours.  Turn it over once in a while to keep the vegetables covered with dressing.   Just before serving stir in a little of the reserved dressing. Sprinkle the salad with more freshly grated Parmesan cheese when serving if desired.