Grilled Zucchini Roulades with Goat Cheese, Za'atar vs. bad back-to-school drivers

It seemed to be a tough week for people, as school started again. M and I have been carpooling in the morning to work on the very early side of the morning. I get to experience the school drop off rush, which features these real things I have seen: crazed parents waving their arms at children also on cell phones running stop signs and  a car driving on the wrong side of the road. Im sure its hard to be you. A tiny woman in a Suburban large enough to be a space shuttle tried to run over my car. I give her a look, like WHHHHAT!- You think you are bigger than me? Ill crush you! People say I communicate very well when I drive.
End of story, thankfully I survived, am still alive, to enjoy tomatoes and zucchini! I hope everybody's tension simmers down by next week. Seriously people.

Obvious to anyone from my pic of the farmers market bounty that this, currently, is the best time of the year in the northeast for fresh foods. My visits to the farm and the farmers market leave my tote bags busting seams. And it means lots of cooking to be done. Such happiness! 

I was totally inspired by a recipe in the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook, grilled zucchini rolls with za'atar. I love any excuse to use use some za'atar spice mix and the zucchini was so young and tender I thought it was the perfect size to make bite size rolls. Of course I made some changes, but I like to give credit where credit is due.  So eat up! They would be really nice as apps at a party. A little messy, I would use toothpicks if people are in nice dresses!

If you are one of those people driving like a maniac on the way to school, you might not have time to make these for your little tot's lunches. You should focus on driving. But if you are a cool and collected cucumber of a parent then this is a real cute lunchbox item.

I used a mix of kefir and goat cheese because thats what I had in my fridge. If you have greek
yogurt, thats what Sprouted Kitchen uses.

Grilled Zucchini Roulades with Goat Cheese, Za'atar, and Sumac

Keffir 1/4 cup
Goat cheese 1/4 cup
Ground sumac 1/2 teaspoon (save some to sprinkle on top)
1 1/2 tablespoons Za'atar
pinch of salt

5 zucchini, about 6"-7" long.
olive oil
sesame seeds


Mix the cheese, kefir and spices in a bowl, the goal is a spreadable sauce, the consistency of mayonnaise. Set aside till later!

Cut the tops off the zucchini. Slice them the very long way, into tongue shapes which are a 1/4" or thinner. But not paper thin, or they will tear when grilled. Put slices into a bowl. Drizzle them all with salt and a little olive oil, toss with your hands to cover.

Get a grill nice and hot (indoor, outdoor or Forman) and lay the zucchini all over it. It takes about 4 minutes for the first slide to become tender and supple, and develop nice black grill marks. The slices should be halfway or more cooked through.
Flip-em-over! Wait for the same nice grill marks on this side. The zucchini will be cooked through and quite floppy which is what we want. Remove them gently with tongs to a plate.

Let them cool before spreading with cheese mixture or you will make soup of it all! Once cool, take one tongue of zucchini, spread with some cheese mixture, not too much, you will figure it out after 1 or 2. Roll up from one end, making a spiral. Set it on one end on a pretty plate.

Once all rolled up, sprinkle the plate with sesame seeds and some sumac which is so pretty and tasty.

I do have to say, they are best the first day, the zucchini let out more juices and it was all a little less perfect as leftovers. But still good.