Like I said last week, we have been eating a ton of salads lately, so in honor of the official start of summer (and the unofficial salad season), Recession Recipes will feature a new salad recipe each day this week.

The first up is Zucchini Carpaccio from the awesome cookbook, The Cafe Cook Book: Italian Recipes from London’s River Cafe. While neither Carlo or I have been to the River Cafe in London, we desperately want to go there next time we are in the UK because we just love the three cookbooks that we have from the restaurant. Their recipes are always fresh, seasonal, and simple, but with great flavours. This Zucchini Carpaccio is no exception. It serves 6 people as an antipasto at $1.22 per serving.

Zucchini Carpaccio
2 lbs young zucchini
1 bunch arugula
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces Parmesan, slivered

We got these freshly picked zucchini with the beautiful blossoms still on them from a Farmers’ Market event that Mario Batalli did at the Palazzo. The zucchinis are from Gilcrease Orchard, a local orchard and farm in North Las Vegas. The stand guy said that they are growing around 80 lbs of zucchini a day and that you can come to the farm and pick some yourself. I can’t wait to do this once I return to Vegas from my trip back to Texas.

This salad is really easy to make: Trim the ends off the zucchini and slice at an angle into thin rounds. I used a mandolin, but you can just use a knife if you don’t have one.

Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, and pour over the zucchini. Mix everything together and then leave it to marinate for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide the arugula between the serving plates, or on a large platter. Place the marinated zucchini on top, and then shave some Parmesan cheese slivers with a grater to finish off the salad. Season again and you have a summer worthy salad.