Roasted Zucchini with Pomegranate Molasses and Chocolate

Summer garden harvests tend to bring zucchini… lots and lots of zucchini! In fact, I have friends who joke about people bringing them bags of zucchini and leaving it on their doorstep when they’re not home! Fortunately, zucchini is a versatile vegetable and can be enjoyed in many ways; it can be dressed up or down and made sweet or savory. For a somewhat traditional route, shave ribbons of zucchini into a salad. For a slightly less traditional meal, use zucchini in place of dough for pizza, super good! I even put raw zucchini in my green smoothies.

This week, when a neighbor gave me a ginormous zucchini from his garden, I wasn’t phased. Especially since my own garden had such a poor yield. Wanting to think outside of the box, I decided to roast it with a yummy pomegranate molasses glaze and dark chocolate!

INGREDIENTS

1 large zucchini
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon mustard (I used Walla Walla Sweet)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leafs only
Organic dark chocolate

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash the zucchini and remove the ends. Typically I don’t peel zucchini, but this one was kind of gnarly looking, so I did. You can decide if you want to peel yours or not. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, then cut each half lengthwise into quarters. My zucchini was actually so large that I cut the quarters in half, ending up with eight lengths of zucchini – enough to feed four people.

Cover a plate with several layers of paper towel and arrange the zucchini on the plate. Sprinkle liberally with course-ground salt and let rest for 15 minutes. This will sweat the zucchini and remove a lot of the moisture so that you don’t end up with a soggy vegetable once cooked.

While the zucchini is sweating, combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl, whisking with a fork to mix.

Dry the zucchini with a paper towel (not the ones that are wet, use a new one). Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil and arrange the zucchini without crowding. Drizzle zucchini with the pomegranate marinade, using a marinade brush to ensure each piece is well-coated.

Place the zucchini in the oven and roast for 22 minutes. Note: if you would rather grill them on the barbeque, cook on each side for 3-5 minutes.

Remove zucchini from oven when pieces are still firm but can be pierced easily with a fork. Transfer to a serving plate and grate chocolate over the zucchini. Serve immediately.

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