What is it about most children? Why do they develop an aversion to anything that is green (aka, vegetables) at such a young age?
When my kids were younger, they would eat whatever that was cooked for them, including vegetables. Then strangely, when they hit a certain age, they develop an “allergy” to anything that is green.
As a Mom, I am forever trying to find ways to get vegetables into my kids. Since it it all but impossible to reason with them – telling them they HAVE to eat vegetables just falls on deaf ears – I resort to hiding vegetables in their food.
By incorporating vegetables into food that the kids like, they will eat the food without fuss.
And mealtimes remain peaceful.
Which is a necessity for me, especially after a long day of work.
One of the things that most kids do like is potato. Somehow, potatoes do not fall into the “vegetable” category.
Go figure.
So today, I am sharing a zucchini fritters recipe that is spiked with potato. The zucchini is pan-fried with the potato, resulting in a plate of crispy fritters.
YUM.
To cook crispy fritters, there are two things that you need to do.
The first is to squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the vegetables.
The second is to get yourself a good quality frypan.
The Corningware Retroflam non-stick frypan is superior in its design. It is a non-toxic and non-stick cookware from Korea that has a cast aluminium body with specially designed radiating grooves on the base to distribute heat evenly. And because of the even heat distribution, food cooks at the same rate no matter which part of the pan you place the food.
The Retroflam range of cookware comes in two beautiful colors – Ruby Red and Emerald Green, and are made of black titanium and sparkling pearl ceramic coating. This means that not only are the pans non-stick and non-toxic, they are also extremely easy to clean – simply wipe off any residue if the pan has not been heavily used, then rub a piece of paper towel soaked with some oil over the pan!
Let me show you how to cook these beautiful zucchini and potato fritters.
Start by grating the zucchini, potato and onion with a box grater using the side with the larger holes.
Place the grated vegetables into a bowl and toss them with 2 teaspoons of salt.
Transfer the vegetables onto a mesh sieve, set this over a bowl and allow the vegetables to sit for about 30-40 minutes so that the water is released.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, minced garlic, parsley and mint. Season with salt and black pepper.
Squeeze the liquid out of handfuls of the vegetables. Add them to the egg mixture.
Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture and stir to mix.
Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan.
Spoon some of the vegetable mixture and drop it gently onto the frypan and use the spoon to gently flatten the mixture.
Cook until the vegetables are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes per side.
Transfer the fritters to a wire rack and season immediately with salt and black pepper.
To make the garlic yogurt, mix together yogurt, garlic, olive oil, honey lemon juice and the herbs in a bowl.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Serve this with the fritters.
I tell you, these are so good I would happily make a meal out of them and eat them all by myself! 😀
Here are some tips on how to care for your non-stick pans so they will last a long, long time! For a detailed explanation, see here.
1. Never use metal on a non-stick pan. These will scratch the surface of the pans.
2. Allow the pans to cool slightly before washing them so as to avoid major temperature changes which can cause the pans to warp.
3.Use only scratch-proof scouring pans to clean the pans.
4. Avoid adding anything acidic (eg lemons and tomatoes) to the pans as they can loosen a shallow non-stick coating.
5. Avoid using aerosol cooking spray on the pans. The sprayed oil will accumulate and ruin the coating of the pan over time.
6. Do not stack the pans with anything that has sharp corners.
7. Clean the pans soon after using and dry before storing.
8. Do not store food in non-stick pans.
9. Do not use high heats when using non-stick pans. Read the paperwork that comes with your pans to check what the maximum temperature the pans can withstand.
10. Avoid abrasive and harsh detergents when washing the pans.
Follow these rules and your non-stick pans will last a long, long time!
- 2 small zucchini, ends trimmed
- 1 small russet potato, peeled
- ½ medium onion
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint, plus more for serving
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup Prima top/plain flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- Start by grating the zucchini, potato and onion with a box grater using the side with the larger holes.
- Place the grated vegetables into a bowl and toss them with 2 teaspoons of salt.
- Transfer the vegetables onto a mesh sieve, set this over a bowl and allow the vegetables to sit for about 30-40 minutes so that the water is released.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, minced garlic, parsley and mint.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Squeeze the liquid out of handfuls of the vegetables. Add them to the egg mixture.
- Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture and stir to mix.
- Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan.
- Spoon some of the vegetable mixture and drop it gently onto the frying pan and use the spoon to gently flatten the mixture.
- Cook until the vegetables are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes per side.
- Transfer the fritters to a wire rack and season immediately with salt and black pepper.
- To make the garlic yogurt, mix together yogurt, garlic, olive oil, honey lemon juice and the herbs in a bowl.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Serve this with the fritters.
