Zucchini alla griglia

Wednesday evening I slathered a roasting chicken with Moroccan preserved lemons and threw it in the oven for dinner.  Roasting a chicken is such a great, easy dinner.  Once it's in the oven you're free to do other things.  My "thing" that day was to work in the garden.  I took a day of vacation since the weather was to be so beautiful.

Another great thing about roasting a chicken is it never has to be the same.  Whatever I have in the refrigerator at the time gets thrown into the pot with it.  But, this is not about the chicken.  It's about what I made to accompany the chicken for dinner.

It is Lighten Up week at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week.  I selected a grilled zucchini recipe from Tessa Kiros' Twelve cookbook.  It was easy, light and paired great with the lemony chicken.

Zucchini alla griglia - Grilled Zucchini
Adapted from Tessa Kiros' Twelve-A Tuscan Cookbook

Ingredients:
3 medium-large zucchini (courgettes)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
about 6 basil leaves

Mise en place:

• wash and dry zucchini
• measure out olive oil
• peel garlic cloves and lightly crush with the flat of a knife blade
• roughly tear up basil leaves

Method:
Divide the zucchini into half horizontally, then cut into vertical slices about 1/8-inch thick.  Put them onto the grill about 8 inches away from the coals and grill for a couple of minutes on each side until they are cooked through and grill marks appear.  Transfer them to a bowl.  Add the olive oil, garlic, basil leaves and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Tessa says this recipe may be eaten immediately, or left to marinate for a few hours.

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