Squash Challenge

I have always like contrasts in my food. The hot with the cold, sweet with the savory, crunchy with the mushy, and onwards. Its a bit of fun to have a bite of one then of the other before bravely mixing the two in altering proportions to fine that one perfect mouthful. For today's challenge, rather than simply using zucchini as the star I chose it as the balancing half to my yin yang plate. On one side is the piping hot savory salty meatiness of a chicken drumstick, on the other are thin delicate strands of squash briefly pickled in a sweet and sour vinegar still chilled from its time in the fridge. The balance is beautiful. The sweet sour crunch of the squash helps cut through the fattiness of the drumstick. I don't give a recipe for the drumstick here since this is the squash challenge after all and well, *ahem* I cheated. I bought a bottle of "chicken marinade" which looks just like a dark soy sauce in a bottle available at most asian markets. All you do is dump the drumstick in a simmer until done. Its the no fail easy way to soy sauce chicken success.

Refrigerator Pickled Zucchini

1 medium zucchini cut into thin noodle like strands (I did this on my mandoline)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tblsp sugar
1/2 tblsp salt

Combine vinegar, sugar, and salt over medium heat and stir until all sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool. In a non reactive bowl toss shreds of zucchini with vinegar and leave in fridge for at least 1 hour tossing occasionally. Drain strands and serve chilled.