Western Gourd

I went to visit my parents yesterday. My mom decided to make steamed buns for me. "Bao zi"as it is called in chinese, is a steamed empanada for lack of better words. The wrapper is similar to a pizza dough, made with yeast, water and while flour. The filling can be anything and everything. This time, mom filled the buns with zucchini, scrambled eggs, and chopped rice noodles. The size of the bun varies greatly from size of a ping pong ball to size of a fist. The spongy outer skin often catches the some of the juices squirting out of the bun when you bite into one. Like empanadas (topic of another post), the buns are easy to carry around. It is self containing. Of course, like (almost) everything, they are the best to be eaten as soon as they are out of the steamer. If you are reading this post and hoping for an recipe of buns, I have a sad news for you. I am not going to have a recipe of buns in this post. Why? Because I can't get the wrapper right. I am still working on all yeast based recipes. Be patient with me. Instead, I am going to post a little salad that I made the other day involving zucchini and squash.

Zucchini is called western gourd in chinese. I don't know why that is the case, but I do know if you don't pick zucchini everyday, you will end up with ones that are size of your upper arm.

Roasted Zucchini salad

1 lb zucchini, sliced into 1/2" thick half rounds
1 lb yellow squash, sliced into 1/2" think half rounds
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tsp of chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tsp of chopped fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 Tsp of extra virgin olive oil plus more for roasting
1 Tsp of balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a roasting pan, place all vegetables in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, roast the vegetables at 350 F until tender and some edges are browned.
2. Transfer roasted vegetables into a large air tight container, add the herbs, oil, and vinegar. Add more salt and pepper to taste, stir or shake to combine.
3. Let the salad stand for about 30 minutes, allowing the flavors to mix.
4. Serve