Inspiration can happen when two challenges collide head on. First my husband has mostly given up wheat (we won’t mention pizza night). This presents quite a challenge to find ways to ‘hold’ flavours that are usually combined in some form or other on bread. Second, we are in the midst of zucchini season and unfortunately I missed that very useful holiday: Sneak a Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day (August 8th if you were wondering). I hate throwing away good produce from the garden, so challenge number two — what to do with even more zucchini sitting on my kitchen counter.
The solution for this evening was to convert a traditional smoked salmon roll (using wraps or tortillas) into Zucchini and Smoked Salmon Rolls. And best of all, we liked these even better than the original!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces soft cream cheese
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dilled, chopped
- 1/3 clove garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- zucchini, sliced into ribbons
- smoked salmon
Instructions
- Slice skin off one side off zucchini to create a flat edge. Continue to slice zucchini into slices thin enough that they can be rolled up. A mandolin helps although mine is not large enough so I just carefully sliced the zucchini with a large knife. Salt zucchini and let slices sit for a bit to drain out some water.
- Combine cream cheese, lemon juice, dill, garlic, salt and pepper in small bowl.
- Pat dry zucchini slice. Place some of the cream cheese mixture on a zucchini slice, add smoked salmon and roll it up. Secure with toothpick. Since my zucchini was a little larger, I put two toothpicks through each roll and cut the roll down the middle. This made a nice flat surface for serving.
Note: if you make these Zucchini Rolls ahead place rolls on rack or on paper towels as they will still drain a small amount of water out of the zucchini.