Grilled Zucchini with Lemon Salt

Last weekend my friend decided to come over for dinner kind of last-minute, to help me put my new bed together later that night. I typically just order Thai food on Saturday nights, but wanted to cook dinner as a thank you.

Sometimes my dinners get a little overambitious and exhausting, so we decided to keep it simple. So I got a few salmon fillets and marinated them, and then decided to stick to a grilled theme with this beautiful grilled zucchini.

I’ve experimented with a number of grilled veggies, including zucchini a few times. However, this recipe has a unique element—lemon salt.

The bright, salty citrus combined with the smoky char marks on the zucchini really elevated this from average grilled zucchini to something that just felt special, while also being super easy.  Easy + fancy? I’m on board.

Look at those shiny green beauties! That bottom one is a little fat for our purposes though…

Chop off the tops and bottoms of the zucchini and slice them length-wise into quarters.

Zest up your lemons.

Place the zucchini quarters in a big ziploc bag. Pour in the olive oil, lemon juice, and one tablespoon of the zest (around one of the lemons’ worth). Throw in the teaspoon of sea salt and grind the pepper in.

Now comes the smooshing. Seal the bag and smoosh everything around the zucchini gets evenly coated.

You can set it aside for 15 or 20 minutes to marinate, or you can toss those babies on the grill right away if you can’t wait.

Heat your grill (or indoor grill thing) to somewhere between medium and medium-low. Grill the zucchini on all three sides until they’re nice and tender.

You want to get nice, pretty grill marks but not burn them. It took about 3-4 minutes on each side with my grill, for about 10-12 minutes total (but will depends on the thickness of your zucchini). Put them onto a plate when they’re done.

While the zucchini are grilling, we make the lemon salt. You want to do this pretty close to when the zucchini are done.

On a cutting board, pile the rest of the lemon zest and sprinkle the salt on top. Use a knife to chop the salt and zest together until it becomes one. Et voila—lemon salt!

Here are your lovely grilled zucchini spears…

And then all it takes is a sprinkle of lemon salt, and you’re done. It seems like you’ve done something really fancy but it’s the easiest thing ever. Serve hot if possible.

Grilled Zucchini with Lemon Salt

For two people, use one zucchini & divide all ingredients by 3 or 6—don’t need to be exact

• 6 whole zucchini (medium size, preferably on the skinnier side)
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of fresh-ground black pepper
• 3 whole lemons, zested
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 additional tablespoon of sea salt or kosher salt

Chop off the tops and bottoms of the zucchini and slice them length-wise into quarters. Place them all in a large ziploc bag and pour in the olive oil. Toss one teaspoon of salt, the pepper, one tablespoon of lemon zest (roughly one of the lemon’s zest) and the juice from two lemons. Seal the bag and smoosh everything around the zucchini gets evenly coated. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to marinate (or you can grill right away).