Zucchini with Roasted Tomatoes

A quick trip to the garden brought forth a couple of handfuls of yellow and red cherry tomatoes, a couple of zucchini, and several bunches of basil.  Just what I needed to round out our fish dinner.  Let me show you a quick and very inexpensive side dish to use up all the zucchini that's starting to show up in your garden.

First preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with baking spray.

Like most people, you probably have one of these devices for cutting vegetables into noodles, (there are hand held - like the little white on on the right side / free standing - like the one in the back of the photo / and the good ole' finger slicing mandolin with it's ever sharp blades - in the front of the photo).   Of course you can always use a good sharp chef's knife and hand cut your vegetables, (as I often do - I call it cooking with love for my family, since it takes much more time.  So first chose your weapon of choice!

OK, today we're going to need the following:
zucchini
a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes
2 large cloves of garlic
some basil (I love lots of basil with tomatoes)
olive oil
a light vegetable oil
salt and pepper
dried oregano
Italian seasoning
1 lemon

SO - get your zucchini sliced into spaghetti noodles.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 3 minutes.  You want just slightly cook the zucchini, and it remove from the microwave and let it steam under the plastic wrap for another 5 minutes.

(I only need 1 large size zucchini for all of this)

Mince your garlic cloves

Chiffonaud your basil, (I used all 3 bunches), because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fresh basil with anything tomato.

On the baking sheet, pour 1 Tabs of vegetable oil.  Toss together the cherry tomatoes, Italian seasoning, oregano, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, (until the skin on the tomatoes begins to wrinkle and pulls away from the flesh)   Remove from oven and let cool.  OH MY GOSH - this smell wonderful, like a spaghetti sauce or maybe a pizza sauce.

Grate 1 Tabs of zest from the lemon

Next juice the lemon and whisk in 3 Tabs of olive oil, the lemon zest, and the minced garlic

WOW does this smell so good.  Now let's add a sprinkling of salt, pepper, and 1 teas of the fresh basil.

 OH BOY - now it's really smelling good.  Can't wait to put this over the tomatoes and zucchini.

Now that the tomatoes and zucchini have cooled down, in a large bowl combine the zucchini, tomatoes, and lemon dressing along with the rest of the fresh basil.  Stir well.

An there you have it.  Simple and very inexpensive.  Yet so good.  It reminds me of our trip to Italy several years ago.

And a perfect side dish for our fish.  It's carbohydrate free for those wanting to cut back on calories.  And very tasty.  And the next day - leftovers are so good.  If you want to add a little protein for those who are vegetarians, you can always throw in a couple Tabs of nuts at the very end.  This dish will easily feed 4 people generously.

Let me know what you think of this zucchini side dish.  Enjoy!