the joke goes something like this: when it’s summer in nashville you need to lock your car doors when you go anywhere otherwise when you come back there will be a bushel of zucchini on your passenger seat.

and THEN what would you do? because sometimes zucchinis and yellow squash can be a little perplexing, if only due to the lack of excitement they tend to cause.

i was reading ruhlman’s last post and decided that a version of his sauteed zucchini recipe would be a perfect jumping off point for a pasta dinner with friends. it’s hot as hell out and i’m eating very lightly right now – paying for some recent past indulgences. i knew i owed you all a pasta dish and although there’s really no recipe here, i urge you to do what i did with ruhlman’s post and just get inspired and use up a few zucchini and squash from your csa haul or garden or local farmers market.

oh, so there’s that and i need to tell you about a gadget… because i use them on occasion and this one is kind of fun, as gadgets go…

enter: the saladacco spiral slicer…

photo from the sur la table web site…

i’ve never hidden the fact that my knife skills are pretty lame if not dangerous. i get by, barely, so i tend to rely heavily on my mandoline, food processor slicer attachment and the kindness of others. and on occasion, this nifty little device which does two things. it makes long curly ribbons out of firm vegetables and it also makes an angel hair like strand. fun with vegetables. good times.

2 minced shallots and about 6 minced garlic cloves got sweated in some olive oil

and then added to that was a bit of salt and red pepper flakes.

next in went the zucchini, yellow squash and carrots and a good amount of fresh thyme. after about 3 minutes i added some butter and hit it with a good squeeze of lemon juice. it was tossed with some spaghettini and you can tell by the color that i used one of those multi grain omega 3 high protein pastas – but in a perfect world where i didn’t have to think about fiber and protein – OR if you were coming to dinner, i would have just used white pasta because it’s just better.

the dish was finished with some lightly toasted mediterranean pine nuts which are both hard to find and expensive. since, you’ve come to expect that from me, i didn’t want to let you down.

oh and tomatoes. it is august after all…