This is recipe #4 in the #TABASCO10 third annual 10 Ingredient Challenge - creating 5 different recipes in 5 days with the following 10 ingredients: TABASCO® Original Red, Green Jalapeño or Chipotle Sauce, Chicken, Eggs, Mozzarella, Fennel Bulb, Zucchini, Rice (Brown, Basmati, Jasmine or Wild), Rigatoni, Ciabatta, and Honey (Salt, pepper, oil are 'free' ingredients).

I think that this week I have eaten the most amount of zucchini that I have eaten in a whole life (except that time in college I made 5 zucchini loaves and ate them over a 4-month span). This challenge has definitely pushed my creative level, forcing me to come up with meal ideas that I wouldn't normally. Half of me wishes that I ate chicken so that I could have a little more flexibility with the recipes because so far, there have been some pretty fantastic looking chicken dishes from other bloggers. But the other half of me (the competitive side) is pretty stoked that I was able to come up with some pretty decent vegetarian dishes out of the 9 ingredients. 

The dish that I am sharing today is a shaved zucchini and fennel salad, with a spicy honey dressing. Normally, I like to eat shaved fennel in an apple/sharp cheddar salad concoction, or a farro, grape, and spinach type dish. I would have never thought to pair fennel with zucchini, and it actually works. Top it off with an olive oil, TABASCO, honey dressing with a few fennel fronds for garnish, and you've got yourself a tasty little salad. I grilled up some ciabatta slices, brushed with olive oil, to serve on the side. A nice and light summer salad with loads of flavor.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow to check out recipe #5, and if you want to check out what other bloggers have created during the challenge, you can follow the hashtag #TABASCO10.

Thanks to the folks over at TABASCO for sponsoring this post.

recipe

ZUCCHINI AND FENNEL SALAD WITH A SPICY HONEY DRESSING

serves 2

prep time: 10 minutes

cooking time: n/a

2 small zucchini, thinly sliced

1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp 

TABASCO® Original Red

With a mandolin, thinly slice the zucchini and fennel. Save some of the fennel fronds for garnish. Place the sliced zucchini and fennel into a medium bowl.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, add the olive oil, honey, and Tabasco. Shake.

Pour the dressing over the salad. Season with salt and pepper. Plate the salad and garnish with the fennel fronds.