Looking for a very simple salad to accompany your BBQ? Then this quick raw courgette salad is perfect. With a handful of ingredients thrown together 30 minutes before serving your BBQ, you have the ideal side dish. Slicing the courgette into ribbons thinly allows them to soak up the flavours, as well as looking great. With a sprinkling of fresh mint and a few chilli flakes to lift the salad further, this would go well with any meat dish.
This is too easy I hear you cry!
I know! But then sometimes the simplest things really are the best. When you have great seasonal produce, let it sing. All we need to add are some basic dressing ingredients that gently soak into the courgettes. The cooling mint, married with a hint of spice from the chilli, works in perfect harmony to give the salad a fresh, vibrant finish.
BBQ side dishes – often harder work than the main star!
Deciding what the main star of the show is going to be at a BBQ is the easy bit. Deciding what to serve with it is the hard bit. That’s why this dish is a dream. It’s more than a green salad – don’t get me wrong, I love a crispy green salad – but it takes minutes to prepare and tastes great. Prepare the dish 30 minutes ahead of serving, and you can get on with everything else – or sit in the sunshine with a glass of wine and your friends.
Other quick courgette recipes
Here are some other quick courgette recipes you might want to try:
Growing courgettes
Courgettes are remarkably easy to grow in the UK and are perfect for beginner gardeners. They thrive in the British climate when planted after the last frost (typically late May or early June) and can produce abundant harvests from just two plants throughout the summer months, making them one of the most easiest and rewarding vegetables to plant at home.
Courgettes like a rich, well composted soil, and above all else constant watering – especially in hot weather – as plants can produce 1-2 courgettes per day which requires a lot of water. Ensure you regularly harvest the courgettes to encourage further production.
Yes, you could use oregano or parsley as an example. Really, any fresh herbs you have to hand would go perfectly fine.
Yes, you can definitely use a peeler. You’ll need to use smaller, younger courgettes to fit the width of the peeler.
Quick raw courgette salad
Ingredients
- 500 g courgette 1 large/ 2 medium
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice roughly half a lemon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 tbsp fresh mint finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes or to your taste
Instructions
- Top and tail your courgette(s) and cut in half widthways. Take your mandolin, using the guard, create thin ribbons of courgette lengthways with both halves. Place the sliced courgette into a medium-sized bowl.
- If you don't have a mandolin, you can use a vegetable peeler. If this is the case, then you will need to choose smaller courgettes otherwise they won't fit the width of the peeler.
- Pour over the olive oil, lemon juice, sprinkle on the sea salt and a good griding of black pepper.
- Finely chop your fresh mint and scatter over the top of the salad along with your chilli flakes and giving the courgette ribbons a gentle mix – tongs are best for this.
- Serve alongside your BBQ'd meat and other accompanying dishes.
Notes
- You can use other herbs, instead of mint, like oregano or parsley.
- A mandolin or a peeler would work to create the courgette ribbons, I find a mandolin easier.