Last week I found some for sale from a garden in East Dean, Sussex. This weekend they came from Kent, via Brixton farmers' market. When buying courgettes, look for smooth, glossy skins (duller ones may be past their best) and go for smaller specimens which have more flavour and are less watery.
Courgettes and garlic are a wonderful combination, and this easy, North African-inspired salad makes the most of that, with the addition of some warmth from the chilli and extra interest from the fresh herbs. Best served at room temperature or just warm, it's become a staple of recent picnics.
Ingredients
Four small or three medium courgettes
2 tsp olive oil
1 fat clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp white wine vinegar (red will do if that's what you have)
A good pinch cayenne pepper
A few springs chopped mint (preferably) or flatleaf parsley
Method
Slice the courgettes about twice as thick as a pound coin. Brush them with the olive oil and place under a preheated grill, turning once, until they are browned on both sides.
Put half of them in your serving dish and sprinkle with half the garlic, cayenne pepper, wine vinegar and herbs. Add the rest of the courgettes and repeat with the rest of the ingredients. You can use a little more or less cayenne, depending on how spicy you like it.
This dish is best left for at least half an hour, so the courgettes can absorb the flavours, but it can also be quite happily made a day in advance. You could roast the courgettes in the oven instead of grilling them (for example if you had the oven on anyway) but I think the texture is slightly better when grilled.
By the way, much more beautiful than my courgette salad is this picnic blanket - handmade by Colin's mother. It brings sunshine to a picnic even when there isn't any in the sky.
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