“Something Different”

Italian Pickled Zucchini

BY DANA JACOBI FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH

The summertime glut of green squash, or zucchini, is quickly dwindling, and it’s time to take advantage of what’s left in farmers markets before it disappears completely. Pickling zucchini is my way to finish the season with zip. It is easy, particularly when done for immediate consumption, without the extra process of canning and all its attendant concerns.

Savory, pickled squash, accented with green peppers, keeps up to two weeks, long enough to enjoy while adjusting to trucked-in produce. And in mid-winter, when squash and peppers grown in the weaker winter sun of distant places appear in supermarkets, you can happily make more. In fact, pickling is a great way to fire-up the flavor of these vegetables and satisfy cravings for that memorable tang.

Zucchini can be pickled many ways - enhanced with garlic and mustard seed, added to sweet and sour chow-chow pickles, or diced, spiced and simmered into chutney. My current favorite evolved from Neapolitan zucchini a scapace, which is based on Spanish escabeche, a pickled fish dish. In both this and the Neapolitan versions, the vegetable is first cooked, then marinated in hot vinegar. In both countries, these pickled vegetables are served as an antipasto or side dish.
Italian Pickled Zucchini, page 2

Neapolitans air-dry sliced squash, fry it in olive oil, then marinate it in heated, seasoned vinegar. In my simpler, but equally effective version, the squash is oven-roasted and combined with raw peppers and carrots, then marinated in a pungent, hot pickling liquid.

Italian Pickled Zucchini

Canola oil spray
2 large zucchini, cut at slight angle into 1/4-inch slices
1 medium carrot, cut at slight angle into 1/4-inch slices
1 small green bell pepper, seeded, halved
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
and thinly-sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a baking sheet with spray oil. Arrange zucchini on the sheet in one layer. Spray zucchini liberally with cooking spray. Roast until zucchini is just slightly softened, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add carrot and bell pepper. In a small, non-reactive pan - like an enameled, stainless steel, or non-stick pan - combine vinegar with water. Add garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Pour hot mixture over vegetables.

Cover with a plate or other heavy object to hold vegetables under pickling liquid. Refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes 3 cups, or 6 half-cup servings.

Per serving: 30 calories, 0 g. total fat, 5 g. carbohydrate, 1 g. protein, 2 g. dietary fiber, 203 mg. sodium.

Author:

“Something Different” is written for the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy of Soy, and recipe creator for AICR’s Stopping Cancer Before It Starts.

AICR offers a Nutrition Hotline (1-800-843-8114) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday-Friday. This free service allows you to ask a registered dietitian questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR is the only major cancer charity focused exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition and cancer. It provides a range of education programs that help Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk. AICR also supports innovative research in cancer prevention and treatment at universities, hospitals and research centers across the U.S. It has provided more than $62 million for research in diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR’s Web address is www.aicr.org. AICR is a member of the World Cancer Research Fund International.

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