One year the courgettes I grew in the garden seemed endless. Everytime I went out there were two or three ready to pick. This year I have had two – one, small and perfect which I chopped up raw into a salad. The second had been missed beneath the leaves and was enormous, a small marrow in fact. Courgette and mint soup for that one.
Fortunately though, courgettes are plentiful and cheap in the shops at the moment and this salad is one of my favourite things to do with them. The slight charring can be achieved on the barbeque or griddle pan, whichever suits you. It is this cooking process though that seems to transform the flavour of the courgettes into something delicious that my children will happily eat whilst a steamed disc of the same would fill them with dread.
The combination of the salty feta and fresh mint with the lemony dressing completes the picture. We ate this with chicken thighs marinaded in a bit of chilli and garlic then cooked on the barbeque (sorry South African husband, the braai) and new waxy potatoes dug from the garden just before supper.
The treat of the brand new freshly dug potatoes makes up for this years disastrous courgette crop!
Courgette, feta and mint salad
6 courgettes, thinly sliced lengthwise
100g feta, cubed
A handful of fresh mint leaves
Juice of one lemon
A clove of garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons good olive oil
Mix the sliced courgettes with one tablespoon of the oil. It seems very little but they only need the merest coating then griddle or barbeque until lightly charred and floppy. Put aside on a large plate. Mix the remaining oil with the lemon juice, crushed garlic, some pepper and a little salt (remember the feta with be salty). When you have cooked all the courgettes, tumble them onto a large serving plate along with the feta and pour over the dressing. Mix it carefully together and then top with the mint leaves. Enough for 4.