Cook This Now! Art of Eating’s zucchini, feta and olive slaw

With all the fuss lately about fancy tomatoes, you may be surprised to hear that there are other heirloom goodies at the farmstand and late summer markets. Take the costata romanesco, for example. This Italian heirloom zucchini looks distinctly different, with prominent ribs and pale green flecks.

“I love the nutty flavor of that one,” says Peconic’s Sang Lee Farms co-owner Lucy Senesac, “plus when you slice them, it’s kind of a decorative star shape.”

While many customers at the busy Westhampton Beach Farmers Market beeline past Sang Lee’s crate of golden and green zucchini for their famous tomatoes, you’ll spy a few seasoned cooks filling up their baskets with the surprisingly small fruits (yes, a fruit!).

“At the farm, we cut them smaller from the vine when they are firm and tender,” says Senesac, a 13-year cornerstone vendor at the WHBFM, “as the zucchini grows, the seeds get bigger, and they tend to get a little mushier when you cook them.” Which makes this splendid squash a great one for a no-cook supper — like this recipe from culinary professional Cheryl Stair of Art of Eating Caterers that keeps it raw.

“I try to offer clients salads that aren’t the same old salads you see all the time,” says Stair. “I have a plethora of recipes like this zucchini, feta and olive slaw, even though it can be a hard sell. People seem to gravitate toward what they know.” But sometimes getting to know something new can open up a whole new, delicious realm of possibility.

Committed to offering diverse menus that support farmers, foragers and fishermen, Stair sources North and South fork locations in search of ‘bi-forkal’ ingredients. “I source from Balsam Farms, Green Thumb, and Sang Lee,” she says. As to the occasional elephant in the room — the sometimes surprising cost of organic, locally grown produce — to Stair’s vast knowledge and experience, it’s worth every penny. “Organic farming isn’t easy.”

The self-described hard-sell factor certainly didn’t stop food guru Florence Fabricant from putting Stair’s delicious slaw recipe in her tome The Ladies Village Improvement Society Cookbook: Eating and Entertaining in East Hampton. Fabricant suggests serving this spot-on slaw alongside lobster cakes and notes how the feta cheese “marvelously punches up the flavor.”

And while Stair prefers the zucchini to be sliced shoestring style on a mandoline, a thicker julienne also works and “will hold up longer and not wilt in the heat.” A plus while we take advantage of the end-of-summer outdoor get-togethers. Show up your Labor Day Weekend cook-out with this not-so-sidekick of a side dish, and don’t be surprised if it inspires a great zucchini glut at your favorite farmstand!

(Recipe reprinted from The Ladies Village Improvement Society Cookbook: Eating and Entertaining in East Hampton by Florence Fabricant, Rizzoli, New York. Available for purchase at the LVIS Bargain Box Thrift Shop and BookHampton.)