Grilled Courgette Salad with Feta and Pomegranate

Name: Grilled Courgette Salad with Feta and Pomegranate
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Lebanese
Ingredients: 4 courgettes, washed and sliced into thin rounds; 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil; Salt and pepper, to taste; 100g (3oz) feta cheese, crumbled; 1 pomegranate, just the seeds; 15g (½oz) fresh coriander leaves, washed and finely sliced

4th August 2017 - By Michelle Minnaar
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Going on a mid-summer detox plan? Detoxing doesn’t necessarily mean drinking vegetable and fruit smoothies all day long. Been there, done that! Let me tell you, it takes a lot of self-control and it’s not easy to keep it going for a long period of time. Still, detoxing can imply ridding your intestines from elements such as gluten and other food intolerances. Therefore, this grilled courgette salad with feta and pomegranate is an excellent a superb choice for those who are especially going for the 7-day gluten-free challenge. You can read more about this challenge in my gluten free Spaghetti Bolognese recipe. This clever light salad might help you achieve those summer goals while keeping your digestion system intact!

basics first

Since courgette is the hero of this salad, I believe it should be cut perfectly. Remember guys, presentation is everything and it can make or break a dish. Therefore, I advise you to make your raw courgette slices as uniform as possible. Determining the thickness of slice is entirely up to you. However, since the recipe calls for grilling the actual courgettes, 1cm (1/2in) slices should do the trick. With this thickness, you can achieve softness and a slight crunch at the same time. If you cut them too thin, they can become soggy really easily.

If you want to make your dish more modern, you can also cut your courgettes into long strips. I prefer these being cut a little thinner. Once grilled, they become these beautiful delicate strips that I adore eating in any meal. Lastly, if you really feel creative and artsy, you can also roll up the long strips. It seems like a lot of people are doing this presentation technique nowadays.

courgetti anyone?

Instead of serving larger slices for the grilled courgette salad with feta and pomegranate, you can also try making courgetti. Courgetti is a great way to substitute pasta. Just yesterday, I made them for the creamy curried courgetti noodles recipe. This was exceptional and I didn’t crave any rice noodles or pasta. You can also use courgetti in this salad. The only thing is, that you will not be able to grill them, so just pan fry with some olive oil.

the perfect grill marks

Assuming you’ve got the traditional grill at home, here’s a handy trick. Make sure you prepare larger batches of courgette slices. This will speed up the grilling process and you can save a good minute or two. Essentially, grill marks are the essence of perfectly grilled courgettes. Leave them long enough on the grill, so they get caramelised. They will have a sweet and smoky taste, adding complexity and flavour to this salad. Who said healthy meals are boring and flavourless?

feta

Feta is an excellent source of nutrition. In addition, I love the salty taste it gives. Generally made from sheep’s milk, it’s a much healthier option than other cheeses made from cow’s milk. I like to crumble the feta in a small plastic bag or inside its wrapper. This way, more bits are spread evenly across the grilled courgette salad. A good substitute to feta can be goat’s cheese or the less popular blue cheese. Both work very well with the pomegranate. In general, I prefer using the feta for this salad.

pomegranate

Is the thought of pomegranate juice splattering you everywhere putting you off? Pomegranate is a tricky fruit to clean. There was a time, I didn’t even consider buying this amazing fruit because of the mess it creates in the kitchen. Luckily, a friend of mine gave me great advice. Simple take a bowl and fill it up with water. Once its full, cut the pomegranate open inside the water and the seeds will be pop out. Help the seeds by gently cracking some areas of the pomegranate open. You’ll see, this is the best way how to avoid that mess of spraying pomegranate juice everywhere.

toppings

This courgette salad works wonders with coriander. Remember, coriander is really aromatic and you just need to add a little bit for taste. Fresh parsley works really well but if you have neither you can resort to basil.

other ideas

Toss in a bit of rocket salad, drizzle a dash of high quality olive oil and add a few halved cherry tomatoes. You’ll have one heck of a salad, which will rock your world with those delicious Mediterranean flavours. You can also take a slight Greek approach and add olives, whether it be black or green. If you are not a huge fan of olives, why not make the dish even healthier and cut up some beautiful avocado.

substitute to courgette

Instead of making a courgette salad, why not use beetroot instead of the courgette? Grilled beetroot has those gorgeous sweet and earthy flavours. Similarly, you can also cut up some carrots and grill them. Sprinkle some coriander powder over the carrots and enjoy. Toss in more leaves and make it a nice leafy salad. Finally, you can also serve this salad as a side to meaty dishes such as the spicy smoked ribs.