Summertime meals call for fresh flavors and lots of produce.  At our recent parent’s day out, one of the couples brought a dish I fell in love with and had to figure out to make once I got home.  For me, the combination of flavors made it the absolute perfect summer side dish.  I hit up the farmer’s market to make sure I got the freshest produce I could find.

Carpaccio is typically a dish that consists of raw meat that is sliced or pounded thin and served as an appetizer.  I took a little different approach though and sliced zucchini extremely thin to make my carpaccio.  I did keep the traditional flavors of lemon juice, olive oil and pepper though.

What You’ll Need:
– 2 medium zucchini
– 1/4 cup lemon juice
– 2 Tbsp olive oil
– freshly ground pepper
– 2 Tbsp grated or shaved Parmesan cheese
– 2 Tbsp chopped basil

Let’s Make It:
1)  Slice your zucchini in half.  Then, using a peeler {a Y peeler works best but a regular one will work too}, create thin slices of zucchini.  Put in bowl.

2)  In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil. Toss zucchini in juice mixture.  Add ground pepper, Parmesan and basil.  Serve immediately.

You can make this ahead of time and just keep the dressing separated from the zucchini until ready to serve.

What are you favorite summer meals?  Do you tend to go for salads more during the hot weather?