Zucchini and Summer Squash Ribbons

When I decided to make Italian Salsa Verde, I wanted some vegetables to go with the sauce. At first I was thinking of blanched asparagus, but then I realized that asparagus is a spring vegetable, and since it is now the middle of summer, I was unlikely to find it at the farmer's market.  Next I thought of zucchini.  At first I was thinking of lightly sautéing zucchini and drizzling salsa verde on it, but I did a quick web search, I found Badger Kitchen's "Summer Squash Ribbons with Almond Salsa Verde" recipe which was modified from a recipe from Fine Cooking.  That recipe looks absolutely lovely, and I'd like to make that salad someday, but I didn't make it today, since I didn't want to spend the time to blanch almonds, and I also wanted to try out the Italian Salsa Verde recipe separately (though it is very similar to the dressing used in the Badger Kitchen recipe), and then just mix it into the zucchini ribbons.

I've previously avoided zucchini ribbons because the name "zucchini pasta" isn't appealing to me, because it isn't chewy carby pasta and I don't want to pretend it is pasta or use it as mock pasta.  I decided to try making it recently after a restaurant I liked used zucchini ribbons to garnish some salmon. They didn't call it pasta, and they didn't try to market it as a pasta replacement. It was on the plate simple because it went well with the pasta, and it was tasty.   I like the dish if it is referred to as "zucchini ribbons".

For this dish, I just mixed some Italian Salsa Verde, zucchini ribbons that I made on my Japanese mandolin (you can also use a vegetable peeler), and a tiny bit of extra salt to taste.  One note is that your zucchini ribbons should be thin, but you shouldn't make your ribbons as thin as pasta. You want the ribbons to be able to hold some shape when they are curled up.  Mine are a touch too thin, and when they are too thin they have a tendency to stick together, and not hold a lot of volume.