Low Fodmap Fried Zucchini Salad
Can a fried zucchini salad become low fodmap fried zucchini salad with just a few changes? I think so. While zucchini is only low fodmap in small amounts, fried zucchini salad is only eaten in small amounts. It accompanies the star of the menu, in our case, the grilled chicken.
My Life Before IBS
When my grandmother made her fried zucchini salad, we were usually spending the summer at our Brookfield, CT. vacation house that we all called “the farm.”
It had 72 rolling acres, orchards, a cornfield and a huge vegetable garden. As the zucchini came in, she and my mother made stuffed, fried, or baked zucchini dishes in an attempt to use up this overly bountiful garden vegetable.
Repercussions After Eating This
Fried zucchini salad, always a favorite, called for mounds of fried zucchini rounds steeped in a vinegar, basil, garlic, parsley, mint marinade. It tasted wonderful, but let’s face it, everything drowning in olive oil tastes delicious. Sadly, every time I ate it I would have to leave our outdoor farm table loaded with grilled chicken and farm corn to find “il bagno.” While I was gone everyone gobbled up the chicken and corn, leaving hardly anything for me upon my return. IBS folk know about this!
Because I remember so well the price we IBS folk have to pay for eating the wrong thing, I was determined to find a way to make fried zucchini salad with low fodmap ingredients, eliminate the frying oil and retain the wonderful garlic and basil flavors. I somehow doubted that sliced green onion stems ( a favorite low fodmap substitute) could do the same thing.
Fat Was Not My Friend
Why eliminate the frying? IBS folk are scared of too much fat because it sends us to “il bagno” no matter where we are, if we aren’t paying attention. Then we have to make excuses for why we were gone for so long. Since no one really wants to know about our colon, we try to give answers that are charming rather than mortifying. This is why the fried zucchini salad must comply with our secret IBS standards of “No il bagno when I eat this.”
Ditching the Ugly & Keeping the Good
With this last point in mind, I decided to make this dish using zucchini rounds baked in a hot oven until they became crisp and golden. Did it work? YES IT DID.
Marinating the baked zucchini rounds in garlic infused olive oil, shredded fresh basil, a fabulous wine vinegar, sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and chopped fresh mint kept the garlicky, basil, minty divineness of the original.
A Happy Colon Feels Better Than Fried Zucchini Tastes
I feel proud for changing a favorite traditional family dish into a lighter version that IBS folk can enjoy without fear. I can honestly say that the baked version tastes exactly like the fried version that I remember from summertime on our farm. But there is one major difference. This fried zucchini salad does not send any unsuspecting IBS folk in desperate search of “il bagno,” while all the other guests are devouring every smidgen of the grilled chicken and freshly picked corn!
Ingredients:
4 large zucchini
1/4 cup garlic infused olive oil ( (I make my own garlic infused oil using Filippo Berio olive oil for its mild flavor)
1 to 2 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
2 to 3 Tbsp. fresh basil, shredded
2 Tbsp. of Italian parsley, finely chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper
1 cup of wine vinegar
Olive oil spray
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425º. Line two or three baking sheets with foil. Spray foil with olive oil spray and rub sheets all over with 1 tsp each of garlic infused olive oil. Set aside.
Wash and dry each zucchini. On a large vegetable chopping board, slice the ends off each zucchini and slice into 1/4 inch rounds. When all the zucchini is sliced up, remove it to a large bowl. Dry the chopping board with a paper towel. Lay three sheets of paper towels over the board and lay out zucchini rounds until the entire surface of the paper towels is covered.
Dry the rounds with paper towels. Salt the rounds. Lay fresh paper towels over the rounds. Lay another layer of zucchini rounds over the paper towels and then dry them with more paper towels. Salt them. Continue with paper towel layers until done with all the slices. Place fresh paper towels on the top of the last layer. Place a big wooden chopping board or baking sheet on top and weight it down with heavy cans as in the picture. Let the zucchini rest and give out its water for 30 minutes.
Then remove all the paper towels and dry the rounds one more time. This helps to keep the zucchini from becoming so watery that it will not brown as it bakes. As I was doing it, I wondered if this paper towel method would work, but it did seem to dry out the rounds when I took off the towels and dried the rounds one last time.
Lay the rounds in a single layer on the oil sprayed baking sheets. Spray the tops of the rounds with more olive oil spray. (I use a special sprayer that I fill with my own extra virgin olive oil.). Place them on the bottom rack of the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. After ten minutes I checked them. They did not seem at all brown on top, so I set the timer again and checked again after 5 minutes.
If they look too wet and underdone, try not to panic or ask yourself “what ever possessed me to bake enough zucchini rounds to kill an army and now they are not getting brown?” No, instead take deep breaths, put the baking sheet back in the oven, set the timer for 10 more minutes and check it in five. I did check and the bottoms were now golden brown. The tops were not, but I took them out anyway. The tops were slightly brown, but the bottoms were gorgeous and looked as if I had fried them. I was thrilled.
You may have to do this in several batches because you can only bake your rounds on the bottom rack and not bake them with one sheet on the bottom and the other on the top rack; otherwise, neither sheet will bake properly. This sounds annoying, but honestly it works and you will be so happy once it works.
While the zucchini rounds are baking, chop the mint, parsley and basil. Mix herbs ,salt and pepper together in a small bowl and set aside. Simmer the vinegar for 5 minutes and set aside.
When the rounds are golden brown on the bottoms, remove the baking sheets from the oven and slip the rounds off the sheet using a spatula. Place them in a baking dish. If you look at the picture you can see that they are golden brown and look almost fried, but they aren’t. How great is that?
In the baking dish, sprinkle each layer with some of the herb mixture that you set aside earlier and spray each layer with more olive oil spray.
When all the herbs have been sprinkled on each layer and each layer has been sprayed with the olive oil spray, pour the boiled vinegar over the top. Gently toss the zucchini rounds in the marinade mixture. Place in a glass bowl or plastic tupperware and cover tightly.
Chill in the refrigerator. The fried zucchini salad will last for two weeks in the fridge.
Low Fodmap Fried Zucchini Salad
Ingredients
- 4 large zucchini
- 1 cup wine vinegar
- 1 cup garlic-infused olive oil
- 1 to 2 Tbsp mint leaves chopped or shredded
- 1 to 2 Tbsp basil leaves chopped or shredded
- 1 tsp sea salt and fresh cracked pepperpepper
- 1 Tbsp Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Wash the zucchini and dry with paper towels. On a vegetable cutting board, slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch rounds.
- Lay out in single layers and cover each layer with paper towels and also blot dry each layer with paper towels. Cover the entire layered batch of zucchini with a final 3 double sheets of papertowels. Cover the board with another board and weight it down using heavy cans. Let zucchini exude its water for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop the basil, mint and parsley and mix together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat the vinegar in a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover two or three baking sheets with foil and spary them with olive oil spray. Also spread 1 tsp per sheet of olive oil all around the baking sheet.
- Dry the zucchini rounds thoroughly and lay them out in a single layer on the baking sheets. Spray the tops with more olive oil spray.( I use a special sprayer that I can fill with my own olive oil). Bake the rounds for ten minutes. Check to see if the bottoms are golden brown. If not, bake longer in 5 minute intervals until the bottoms look like the picture in the blog - golden brown and speckled.
- Remove the rounds and place a layer of them in a flat ceramic baking dish or foil baking pan sprayed with olive oil. Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper and the basil, mint, parsley, salt, pepper mix. When all the rounds have been layered, seasoned and topped with the herb mix, pour the vinegar over them. Gently toss the rounds so that they all get some vinegar and the herb mix permeates the entire salad.
- * Place in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap or in a plastic container with a tight top and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.* Low fodmap fried zucchini salad will keep in the fridge for two weeks.
