Zucchini & chives on toast

I'm a big zucchini fan! Of Italian origin, it's one of those very versatile vegetables that can be eaten raw, fried, baked, grilled, sautéed, or braised. No....it doesn't take well to water so you should never boil it, unless you want to make it into a puree for soup! It goes well in salads, curries, pastas, sandwiches.....you can even use it to make bread. The best thing about it is that it takes on whatever flavour you give it!

A delectable appetizer idea...some grilled zucchini slices with chives and cream cheese on toast. Zucchini and cream cheese are a match made in heaven!

For 8 toasts:
1 medium green zucchini
2 tsps chives, finely chopped
1 tsp parsley, finely chopped
1 cup cream cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper
8 slices bread (of your choice )

Slice the zucchini width-wise into thin round slices and drizzle them with olive oil. Grill for 5-6 mins or until they start becoming tender and brown, turning them once in between. In the meantime, combine the cream cheese, chives, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper in a big bowl. Mix well.

Toast the slices of bread and arrange 4-5 zucchini slices on each of them. Then spread 1 tbsp of the cream cheese mixture on each slice on top of the zucchini. (You could also spread the cheese mixture first and then follow with the zucchini, but i like the way the green edges of the zucchini peek out from under the cheese). Serve crisp.