Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

The zucchini and I are hitting that very delicate stage where I have to make concerted efforts to eat them fairly often (daily?) lest they take over my fridge.  I seem to be able to consume the small ones with not so much problem, but inevitably a few grow big before I pick them and those ones are a little more challenging for me to figure out what to do with. And then I remembered a post I had come across in the Smitten Kitchen a couple of years ago for a salad that was primarily "sweated" zucchini slices. At that time I had made a (glutenous) zucchini galette that also utilized this "sweating" technique, and I remember it sort of altered the texture and flavor of the zucchini in a really nice way.

So. I had a family wedding/pot luck to go to this weekend, and three rather enormous zucchinis in the fridge. The recipe is really simple - just zucchini, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, and though sweating the zucchini is a bit more labor intensive, the taste and texture make it worth it (you will need a thin slicer of some kind - I have an old mandolin that worked well). The salad turned out really amazing - simple and fresh and so perplexing in it's un-zucchini-like quality. *If you want to be dairy -free, I think this salad would also be good with nuts in place of the cheese. I also tried it again later with chicken on top (no cheese) and it was great.

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

1 1/2 pound zucchini (about 3 large)

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 pound arugula, stems discarded and leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips (6 cups)

1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated (on large holes of a box grater; 1/2 cup)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of one lemon

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Cut zucchini crosswise into paper-thin slices with slicer. Toss zucchini slices with one teaspoon salt in a large colander set over a bowl and let drain 20 minutes. (I was making a bit extra and "gently stirred" the slices every so often to help the water drain through. I also let mine sit about 30 minutes.)
2. Drain zucchini slices, pressing gently on slices to extract any excess liquid. Pat zucchini slices dry with a kitchen towel. (This is the slightly laborious part. I laid out the slices on a towel on my cutting board, and then put another dish towel across the top and patted them dry. It took several rounds of this to get through all of the slices!)
3. Put arugula greens in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil over greens and toss. Arrange zucchini slices over arugula greens, then drizzle with remaining oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and pepper. (I sort of tossed this a bit more to mix the arugula and zucchini - but whatever looks best to you!)