Celebrate the last of the summer veg with this crisp, crunchy, flavour-packed salad.

If you grow zucchini or are lucky enough to know someone who does then you’ll know that when they come on, they produce in abundance – and figuring out exactly what to do with them all can become a bit of a headache! The salad below was born out of such a dilemma. Sick of making the same old things from the zucchini that came out of our garden, I thought it was time I dusted off my spiraliser and made a salad with this versatile vegetable. My kids devour it every time I make it. The toasted pine nuts add a lovely crunch and the fresh herbs, in addition to looking so pretty scattered over the finished salad, add a fantastic hit of flavour.

ZUCCHINI & PINE NUT SALAD

Serves 6-8

For the salad:

• 675g (about 3 medium-large) zucchini
• 70g pine nuts (walnuts or flaked almonds are delicious too)
• 50g parmesan cheese (feta is lovely too)
• generous handful herbs (I used basil and parsley)

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• zest of 1 lemon + 1 tablespoon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Using a spiraliser or hand-held vegetable shredder (like a vegetable peeler but with a serrated blade), shred the zucchini and arrange on a platter.

In a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium-high heat, toast the pine nuts until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the parmesan over the zucchini. 

To make the dressing, put all the ingredients into a jar and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pop on the lid and shake well to combine.

Pour the dressing over the salad then scatter over the pine nuts followed by the herbs, leaves picked from the stalks. Serve immediately. 

To make this salad ahead of time, simply shred the zucchini and arrange on a platter then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Make the dressing and set aside, then assemble the salad before serving.