In the northern hemisphere, our gardens are teeming with the bounty of summer and Greeks like to grow zucchini. It’s an easy vegetable to grow and it can be stuffed, fried, grated and use in phyllo pies, raw salads, cakes, fritters and today, rice!

The flavours of this dish are inspired by Zucchini Fritters and Rice Stuffed Zucchini. To both of these dishes, I add the trio of herbs that meld so well together: parsley, mint and dill.

One could eat the rice alone but topping the dish with plump shrimp make it sexy. Sexy is good!

Zucchini Rice With Shrimp

(serves 4)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 finely diced onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups Arborio (Carolina) rice

3 cups diced zucchini

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped mint

1/2 cup dry white wine

6 cups vegetable, seafood or chicken stock

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

salt and pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup grated Kefalotyri cheese or Romano

1/2 cup finely chopped dill (plus 2 Tbsp. extra for garnish)

1 cup crumbled Feta cheese

For the Shrimp

About 12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. sweet paprika

salt and pepper

1. Place a medium pot on your stovetop and over medium heat, add your olive oil, onions and garlic and sweat for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add your rice and stir for a couple of minutes to toast the kernels.
2. Add the parsley, mint, zucchini and wine and deglaze the pot for a couple of minutes. Add the stock, butter and bring up to a boil and and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 18 minutes.
3. Near the 18 minute mark, a skillet on the pan over high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and saute your shrimp for a minute. Flip and cook another 30 seconds and turn off the heat.
4. Remove the lid, taste-test  for doneness (cover and cook additional couple of minutes if needed).
5. Take rice off the heat, add lemon juice, stir-in. Add Kefalotyri cheese, stir in. Divide and plate. Top with Feta, Shrimp on each plate and sprinkle some more dill.

Pro Tip: Use your eyes to judge when shrimp are cooked. They should be pink and they are cooked when the form a C. When your shrimp form an O, they are overcooked.