GRILLED ZUCCHINI BRUSCHETTA

Steps:

• 1. Place the shredded chicken in a quart-size zip top bag. Add the thyme, 1/8 t. ground chili flakes, 1 T. of the lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix it up a bit with your fingers to distribute the marinade, then seal the bag and refrigerate 30 min.
• 2. Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a small bowl. Add the garlic, onion, parsley and 1 T. of the lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently to coat the tomatoes and blend. Set aside.
• 3. Pre-heat your grill pan, or heat up the barbecue grill. Meanwhile, cross-cut the zucchini into 1/2" slices. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil, then grill 2-5 min. on each side. They should be golden with nice grill marks, softened but still firm.
• 4. While the zucchini is grilling, smash the avocados in a flat-bottomed bowl with a fork to break up the chunks and make a coarse paste. Stir in 1 T. olive oil, 1/8 t. ground chili flakes, and lime juice. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• 5. Remove the zucchini slices from the griddle onto a platter or baking sheet. To assemble bruschetta, top each zucchini slice with a smear of avocado, then layer on a nice loaded forkful of the shredded chicken, then top with a bit of the tomato relish. Serve and enjoy!
• 6. NOTES: 1) This recipe is a great way to use leftover chicken meat. In the summer I like to put several boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot. When they're done I put them in an airtight container in the frig for use in various salads, chopped or shredded, stir fry, or soup -- keeps the cooking quick and easy and the kitchen (and the cook!) nice and cool :) 2) Substitutions: If you don't have any leftover or pre-cooked chicken, simply use the marinade on a couple of chicken breasts or tenders, then cook them, cool slightly, and proceed from there. You could use lemon in place of the lime juice, if you don't have it, but lime is best. Thin-sliced scallion would work in place of the onion. Garlic powder could be used instead of granulated garlic. 3) Choose M-L size zucchini, as evenly shaped as possible, and not too big and bulbous on the end; the bigger around they are the bigger the soft, seed area that turns to mush -- NOT good eats :p 4) I got about 12 good slices. 5) If you have leftover zucchini, grate it or fine-chop and freeze in a zip-top bag to sneak into muffins, brownies, spaghetti sauce, soups and stews... and feel *very* good about how you feed your family ;)