Happy Monday, friends and fellow foodies! I don’t know about you, but I am so excited about the warmer weather we are supposed to have today. I’m hoping it serves as some good motivation to get myself in gear for summer…. starting with my eating habits. I’ve got vacation on the brain, and to me that is the BEST motivation to clean up my act. Let’s start today! You with me?
One of the things I’m working on, and will post about, is eating as many fruits and vegetables off the “Clean Fifteen” list as possible. It can be difficult and expensive to eat organic, and I find myself blowing our grocery budget week by week as I continue to add more and more organic meat, dairy and produce to my cart. So instead, I’m going to try focusing on some of the items that don’t need to be organic, and are therefore a bit more cost effective. Coming soon!
In the meantime, are you looking for something different for dinner this week? In charge of bringing a side dish at the next family gathering and want to make something that isn’t full of cheese, mayo and cream-of-something soup? This could be the side dish for you! Crispy and full of veggies, you can prepare them ahead of time and reheat in the oven later. Allow me to introduce you to the zucchini-corn fritter!
I adapted this recipe from one that I found in an old Food Network magazine. Do you receive any magazines that include recipes in the mail? When Max was small, I went through all my magazines and ripped out the pages that I liked, put them in sheet protectors, organized them by category (as best I could) and made 2 huge binders full of recipes. When I’m feeling uninspired, I pull out those binders and find something new to try. Some of my favorite recipes were found this way. I encourage you to try something new this week too!
Here are some step-by-step instructions for the recipe to make it a little easier. I hope you’ll try them sometime.
First of all you’ll need to drain your zucchini. Pour a little salt on it and let it set for 10 minutes or more. Wrap it in a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
Meanwhile, saute your onion and garlic in a large fry pan.
Next, add the corn.
In a bowl, stir together your dry ingredients.
Add your zucchini and corn mixture to your dry ingredients. Whisk together your buttermilk and egg and add that to your bowl and stir only until everything is combined.
Once you have a nice thick batter, you can fry them up! I used coconut oil- be sure to use enough to cover the entire bottom of your pan. Use a small measuring cup if you have one, or a spoon will work too. Flatten them a little so you get the most surface coverage. I apologize that I don’t have a picture of this part (probably got distracted with the kids) but if you’ve ever made pancakes then you should be fine. Fry until golden brown and then flip and fry the other side. Drain on a paper towel and serve!
Zucchini-Corn Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini coarsely shredded (I used the shredder blade on my food processor)
- kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ small onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 ears corn kernels cut off or 2 cups frozen corn
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- ½ cup white whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk or whole milk with ¾ tsp vinegar
- 1 large egg
- coconut oil for frying
Instructions
- Toss the zucchini with ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Wrap the zucchini in a kitchen towel and squeeze as much liquid as you can.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and egg in a small bowl or cup. Add the buttermilk-egg mixture and the zucchini-corn mixture to the bowl and stir until just combined.
- Heat about ⅛ inch coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, scoop scant ¼ cupfuls of the batter into the oil and use the back of the measuring cup to flatten the scoops. Cook until the fritters are golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature. (You can make the fritters up to 2 hours ahead; reheat in a 375 degree oven on a rack set on a baking sheet.)
