[VIDEO] Summer Squash with Chermoula Recipe? Yes, Please!
ICE culinary and GrowNYC publish a monthly recipe series spotlighting seasonal ingredients from the local greenmarket. The result is dozens of delicious recipes starring fresh vegetables. This summer squash with Moroccan chermoula recipe is a prime example.
One of its key advantages is that making it requires no oven — which is important when NYC temperatures soar. (With daily averages in excess of 90˚F, nobody wants to make their home hotter.)
Culinary Arts Chef-Instructor Chayanin “Nin” Pornsriniyom managed to keep it cool at the greenmarket with this fresh-meets-spicy dish.
She used a variety of summer squash and zucchini as the base for the salad, and peeled them into pasta-like ribbons. She kept them raw to showcase their versatility.
"People tend to think of grilling or roasting when it comes to these vegetables," Chef Nin says. "But they're great raw."
Chef Nin accompanied the squash with chermoula, an herbaceous Moroccan sauce comprised of warming spices, parsley, cilantro and preserved lemon. Inspired by a similar chermoula she made while working at Dirt Candy, Chef Nin knew the mild flavor of summer squash would be a great canvas for the zesty sauce.
To round out the flavors and add rich depth, Chef Nin toppped the salad with a small dollop of labneh.
Summer squash's peak seasons are July and August, so make sure to get your squash soon if you want to make this recipe before summer ends. Here are Chef Nin’s tips:
- Toast and grind your spices: Chef Nin insists this yields a more robust flavor than dried cumin and coriander could provide.
- Don’t shave the squash to the core: Using a vegetable peeler, Chef Nin peeled the squash until she reached the seeds. She said the seeded part holds a lot of moisture and can make the salad soggy. But don’t discard the cores — instead, roast them for a snack or shred them for use in zucchini bread.
- Don’t over-mix the squash: Adding a little salt and lightly mixing the shaved squash helps condense the structure into a noodle-like form. Over-mixing at this step, and after the chermoula has been added, can make the dish too watery.
Chef Nin recommends serving this salad as a side to skirt steak or eating it with toast for a simple summer dinner. Chermoula is a versatile sauce and pairs nicely with grilled corn if squash isn’t your thing.
Check out the recipe below and let us know how your summer cooking goes.
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini
- 2 yellow squash
- ¼ cup crème fraîche or labneh
For the chermoula:
- 1 bunch parsley, minced
- 1 bunch cilantro, minced
- ½ preserved lemon rind, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole cumin, toasted and ground
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander, toasted and ground
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Thinly shave squash and set aside.
- In a bowl, mix together all ingredients for chermoula and adjust salt to taste.
- Lightly mix squash with small amount of salt, then add in chermoula and gently combine.
- Garnish with dollop of labneh or cultured cream of choice.
Check out more seasonal recipes from this series:
