Cheesy Zucchini with Garlic and Parsley

Earlier today I posted a garden update where I talked about my first zucchini of the year from the garden. If you know me and how I am about garden produce, you realize that before the day's over I'll have found a new recipe and cooked the zucchini. I'll make a serious attempt not to gush and moan too much when I describe how well this turned out, but it tasted fantastic, and I got to use some of the garlic from that big jar of garlic cloves too! If you have zucchini in your garden, or nice fresh zucchini from the Farmers Market, I highly recommend trying this.

This great recipe for zucchini came from Food to Live By, a wonderful new cookbook created by the owners of Earthbound Farms, the people who sell that beautiful organic baby arugula I love. I have a stack of fun cookbooks I've been looking through, and this one has lots of pages marked. It's a great book for summer cooking, especially if you have a garden of farmers market where you can get a lot of garden veggies.

Cheesy Zucchini with Garlic and Parsley

(Makes two servings, can be doubled or tripled, recipe adapted slightly from Food to Live By.)

Ingredients:
2-3 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (if zucchini are large, cut in half or fourths lengthwise, then slice)
1 T olive oil
4-6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
pinch sea salt
2 T chopped flat parsley
2 T grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated mozzarella

Instructions:

With stove set to medium, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan with a lid. Add sliced garlic and saute about 1 minute, until you start to smell garlic. Add squash and stir to coat with oil, then cover and cook 4 minutes, stirring once or twice. After 4 minutes, check to see if there is a lot of liquid and whether squash is tender. Cook 1-2 more minutes, uncovered until zucchini is tender-crisp and liquid is evaporated.

Sprinkle squash with salt and chopped parsley and stir to wilt parsley. Add Parmesan and stir until it melts, about 1 minute. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the squash, cover pan again and turn off the heat. Let sit 1-2 minutes until cheese is melted and serve hot.

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South Beach Suggestions:

This would make a great side dish for any phase of the South Beach diet, but it's probably best for a "once-in-a-while treat" due to the amount of cheese. For phase one this would taste great with Grilled Fusion Chicken or Grilled Sea Scallops with Paprika and Cilantro Salsa. For phase two or three, add something like Kalyn's Tabbouli with Almonds.

More Tasty Zucchini Side-Dish Recipes to Try:
Grilled Zucchini
"Creamed" Zucchini
Georgette's Greek Zucchini
Val's Kid Friendly Broiled Zucchini with Cheese
Feta Stuffed Zucchini from A Veggie Venture
Zucchini Fritters from Simply Recipes
Zucchini Stuffed with Pine Nuts and Herbed Basmati Rice from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Zucchini Carpaccio from The Paupered Chef
Baked Zucchini from Almost Turkish Recipes