Shaved Zucchini Salad With Homemade Greek Lemon Vinaigrette, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Fresh Mint

Shaved Zucchini Salad is a delicious and refreshing dish for Spring and Summer! Join Eric from Simply Elegant Home Cooking as he demonstrates a delicious Greek variation of this salad recipe using toasted pine nuts, fresh mint, and a delicious homemade lemon and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette!

To get authentic Greek flavor, we will be using an EVOO sources from Greece, as well as fresh mint and dried oregano. This dish can, however, be customized for other fare such as Italian by swapping out the herbs and olive oil.

Ingredients:
-2 medium zucchini
-12 grape (or cherry) tomatoes
-1 ounce pine nuts
-25 fresh mint leaves
-1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
-zest of 1 lemon
-2 ounces Greek extra virgin olive oil
-1 teaspoon dried oregano
-salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:
-Begin by toasting the pine nuts on medium-low heat in a small skillet. Toast them dry, for about 4-5 minutes, or until they are LIGHTLY browned. Be sure to shake or flip the skillet every few moments to toast them evenly and avoid burnt spots. Once pine nuts reached desired doneness, be sure to remove them from the hot skillet to stop the cooking process.
-Use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini into thin strips. Once you reach the seeds, turn the zucchini 90 degrees and continue slicing in this manner on all four sides. Discard the care as it can be tough.
-Use a microplane to zest the lemon.
-Juice about 2/3 of the lemon or until you have about 1 ounce of lemon juice.
-Crush the oregano with your fingertips to release extra flavor, and add to the lemon juice along with the salt and black pepper. Begin vigorously whisking with a fork while you SLOWLY add in the Greek extra virgin olive oil. Continue whisking for several minutes or until a creamy, emulsified consistency is reached with the vinaigrette.
-Use a serrated knife to cut each of the tomatoes in half.
-Use a very sharp knife to slice the mint leaves, and then run your knife back through them until they are finely minced.
-Add all the tomatoes to the zucchini slices, in a bowl, along with about half of the toasted pine nuts, fresh mint, and lemon zest. The other half will be used later as a garnish. Add in a light coating of the vinaigrette. Use your hands to GENTLY incorporate the ingredients.
-Serve, with extra toasted pine nuts, lemon zest, and fresh mint over top.