Zucchini Caesar Is the (Almost) No-Cook Meal of My Summer

I never get tired of Caesar salad. Like my favorite white T-shirt, a Caesar is traditional yet stylish. With the right accessories, it’s exciting but still simple enough for everyday cooking. The standard romaine version is always welcome on my plate, but I believe other crunchy vegetables—especially zucchini—deserve to get in on this fun.

In the height of summer, squash in its many forms (zucchini, pattypan, yellow) are plentiful. And while I love grilled squash as much as the next person, I feel its raw form is deeply underappreciated—too often used as a stiff replacement for noodles. But give those raw ribbons of squash the Caesar treatment, and you’ll find that the creamy dressing clings to each slice without letting the zucchini lose any of its tender crunch. Better still, add a can of white beans, and you’ve got sufficient heft to make a meal from a bowl of salad.

Delicate ribbons of zucchini don’t need cooking.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Kim

This zucchini Caesar has enough familiar elements (creamy dressing, crunchy croutons, plenty of parm) to keep the purists happy but a few tweaks to place the salad firmly in the “dinner” category. Requiring minimal time, ingredients, and equipment, this is one of those meals you can toss together on a sweaty weeknight at home or lazy afternoon at a vacation rental.

Caesar dressing might look intimidating, but it’s so simple to make—all you need is a good whisk and a bowl (or food processor). Essentially a heavily seasoned mayonnaise, the dressing starts with raw egg yolks for richness and to aid in emulsification. Most eggs sold in the U.S. are pasteurized, eliminating a large portion of their potentially hazardous bacteria. However, if you’re still concerned, you can coddle them by gently dropping the whole in-shell eggs into a pot of boiling water and cooking for exactly one minute. (Then just shock the eggs in ice water and separate them as you would normally.)

Lots of smashed anchovies and raw garlic punch up the rich egg yolk dressing base, and you shouldn’t skimp on (or skip) either. Once you’ve whisked in all the olive oil and grated Parmesan, the dressing should taste slightly overpowering. That’s a good thing: There’s a lot of salad to dress.

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I use shaved raw zucchini here. The long, flat edges mimic lettuce, helping achieve the best (highest) dressing-to-vegetable ratio. The ribbon-like shape is easiest to pull off using a vegetable peeler on a long zucchini, but thinly sliced rounds also work well. Not a squash fan? This salad might be the recipe to convert you. But for those who are truly anti-squash, the next best option is cucumber, preferably less-pulpy English or Persian cucumbers. Carrot or asparagus also shave similarly to zucchini, and thinly sliced Brussels sprouts or celery also stand up to the rich dressing delightfully.

Though obviously not a part of a traditional Caesar, white beans add some substance to the mix, and their creamy texture is a great foil to the crunchy elements. Just drain a couple cans of cannellini, butter, or navy beans, give them a rinse, and plop into the salad along with homemade croutons. Technically the only part of this salad you must cook, the croutons are as simple as tearing bread and tossing it in an oiled skillet until charred. Of course, if you simply can’t bear to turn on the stove, buy a bag of croutons at the supermarket—a Caesar just isn’t a Caesar without them.

Rebecca Firkser

Originally Appeared on Epicurious