It is almost impossible to find a person whose life has not been touched by cancer. Whether friends, family members or co-workers, we all know someone who either battled this disease and hopefully beat it, or sadly, someone whose life was cut short by it.

A Taste of Yellow is a food blogging event that started through the initiative of Barbara from “Winos and Foodies”, who is herself a cancer survivor. You can read her touching tribute here.  She launched this event in support of  The Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization with the goal of increasing cancer awareness in society.

Food bloggers participate by sharing their stories and a recipe with a yellow ingredient; Barbara assembles all the links and publishes them in her website. This year the event was postponed until October 2nd, to fall on the 10th anniversary of Lance Armstrong’s cancer diagnosis (LiveStrong Day). As everyone knows, he not only won that medical battle, but went on to win the Tour de France seven times! And after taking some time off from competing he went back at it this year and finished in third place.   Of course, he did run a few marathons while away from the “Tour”…   Talk about an inspirational story!

This is my first time in “A Taste of Yellow”. I chose yellow zucchini to convey the “LiveStrong” message.

Even though yellow is often associated with lemons, a nice golden zucchini also says yellow in all its glory… This past week our farmer’s market had such beautiful golden zucchini for sale that I had to bring some home with me!

I went with a mix and match of recipes, joining the method from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and my favorite yogurt sauce from Mediterranean Fresh.  I tweaked the yogurt sauce ever so slightly.  Both cookbooks are amazing, by the way…

ZUCCHINI DUO WITH YOGURT SAUCE

(receita em portugues na proxima pagina)

for the veggies:
2 golden zucchini
1 green zucchini
1 T olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

for the sauce:
1/2 cup Greek style yogurt
1 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T fresh mint leaves, minced
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt to taste

Remove both ends of the zucchini; slice them in half crosswise, then lengthwise in 1/3 inch-thick slices. Cut each slice again, into sticks, also 1/3 inch thick, as shown in photo. Sprinkle the slices with salt and place them in a colander for 20-30 minutes. Rinse well and drain, pat dry.

Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients. If using regular yogurt, then drain it for a couple of hours, because you need thick yogurt for this recipe.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan, and add the zucchini sticks when its very hot. Cook them undisturbed for a couple of minutes to get the pieces lightly browned, then move them around, cooking for a total of 5 minutes.

Transfer the zucchini to a bowl and spoon some of the sauce over it when serving. Garnish with fresh mint, if you like.

ENJOY!

To print the recipe, click here.

jump for comments, photos and receita em portugues…

Zucchini is a veggie that changes quite a bit depending on how you cut it: from paper thin, to fine shred, to thick slices: each situation requires a slightly different approach to get the best out of it. For this dish, it’s important to cut the sticks 1/3 inch thick, thinner than that and they might get mushy. The yogurt sauce, to which my only modification was the addition of a little cayenne pepper, is a perfect match: refreshing and light.

CANTINHO BRASILEIRO

DUETO DE ABOBRINHAS ao MOLHO DE YOGURTE

para os legumes:
2 abobrinhas douradas
1 abobrinha verde
1 colher de sopa de azeite
sal
pimenta do reino

para o molho:
1 / 2 xícara de iogurte estilo grego
1 colher de sopa de  azeite
1 colher de sopa de suco de limão amarelo
1 colher de sopa de folhas de hortelã fresca, picada
pitada de pimenta caiena
sal a gosto

Remova ambas as extremidades da abobrinha, corte ao meio e em seguida em fatias no sentido do comprimento, com pouco menos de 1 cm de espessura.   Corte cada fatia em palitos, com a mesma espessura (veja a foto).  Salpique com sal e deixe as fatias em um escorredor por 20 a 30 minutos. Enxágüe bem e seque espalhando sobre papel absorvente.

Prepare o molho misturando todos os ingredientes. Se usar iogurte comum, deixe drenando sobre um coador finissimo coberto com gaze por cerca de duas horas. E’ preciso yogurte bem grosso (estilo grego) para que o molho nao fique aguado.

Aqueça o azeite em uma panela antiaderente, quando bem quente adicione a abobrinha. Cozinhe sem mexer por uns dois minutos, para que comece a adquirir uma crosta dourada. Misture ligeiramente e cozinhe por cerca de 5 minutos ao todo.

Transfira para uma tigela e  adicione o molho por cima no momento de servir. Decore com folhinhas de hortela, se quiser.

BOM APETITE!