I’ve been meaning to experiment with shaved zucchini for a while. I’ve seen it in a million places for very specific diets – vegans, gluten-free folks, paleo people, raw foodies and low-carb aficionados have all used it as a pasta substitute – kind of brilliant, actually. That’s not why I’m trying it today – as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t love to make substitutions that fundamentally change a dish – but that doesn’t mean an application isn’t good on its own merit.

In short, I wanted to try shaved zucchini to see if it was Good Eats. And you know what? It totally is.

I have used raw zucchini many times – as rounds, roughly chopped and thrown into a salad, etc – but none of those compliment the texture of zucchini the way this application does. The structure of the zucchini means that if you shave these at about 1/8th-inch thickness, they are crisp but flexible. They’re sturdy enough to be a cool structural element, as shown in today’s salad, and they also would be excellent with a sauce or gorgeous bunched up on a kebab.

I’m excited about what this means for lunches, too. It’s so easy to eat grains and carbs at every meal. While I think they are an important part of a healthy diet, I also think that if it’s pasta for lunch, rice for dinner, repeat, then there will be some issues. This was really filling and I’m excited to see how I can play with it for our work lunches.

Myth confirmed, as they say… I will be trying this again soon.

Here’s what you need for salad for two:

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 very large tomato or two medium ones – home grown or heirloom if you can!
• Parmesan (wedge form for best presentation, but if you’re not worried about that, grated will do)
• A handful of sunflower kernels (pine nuts would also work)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic Vinegar

All you need to make this fancy-looking lunch salad, first course, or appetizer is a vegetable peeler and a knife.

Start by washing your zucchini. Use a vegetable peeler to slowly shred off long, 1/8-inch thick (ish) slices. Stop when you have about a cup and a half per person (eyeball it – what’s most important is that you like the zucchini-tomato distribution).

Cut the tomato into wedges and slice off small (2-inch ish) slabs of Parmesan. Layer these three ingredients to make a fun food sculpture. I suggest “folding” the zucchini shavings so the curves from the gentle fold stick out sort of like flower petals, as show in the picture.

Add a sprinkling of sunflower kernels and then dress with olive oil and a touch of Balsamic. Salt and pepper liberally, as always

Sorry, I had to. I just got so many good ones today!