Fried Zucchini Recipes

What's for dinner? Whatever is ripe!

We love this time of year for the simple reason that when it comes time to figure out what we are going to have for a meal we just take a stroll through the vegetable garden. What could be on the menu for today? There is, of course, the ever present zucchini and summer squash for which there are countless recipes. We can have some Swiss chard. A little side bar here on the chard. It isn't one of the most popular greens with a lot of people because it isn't great eaten raw, like its counterpart, spinach. It is simple to cook. Just fill a soup kettle with clean washed and rinsed chard; about a pound of uncooked chard makes 2 to 3 nice portions. To that add enough water to cover the bottom of the kettle (2-3 inches), cover and start it steaming. It takes just a few minutes to wilt to a tender stage. Then your options are a little butter and salt and pepper to taste (that's how Marcia likes it) or straight up with some cider vinegar like I eat it. It has a wonderful rich flavor and is so tender it practically melts in your mouth. It is a little heartier than cooked spinach so the texture is nice. It is full of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants and fiber and all of the good things you should be eating.

There has been an adequate supply of cherry tomatoes and now we are getting some salad sized Bloody Butchers and some Stupices (pronounced Stew-peach-ka --- I love saying that). They are a little bigger than the cherries, in fact big enough to have a toasted tomato and cheese sandwich for the main part of one of our meals last week.

We can start to "sniggle" some Red Norland potatoes. I know I can do this because about two weeks after the plants blossom usually there will be some baby potatoes. As I have discussed before, this will not hurt the plant or later production. How would you like them? Fried, boiled, in a fresh potato salad (German or traditional), or anyway you want them is fine.

Broccoli (don't forget those side shoots after you pick the main head) and Dwarf Grey Sugar pea pods go well together in a stir fry with onions and peppers. Speaking of peppers, we have a lot of varieties to pick from this year including sweet banana, Cal Wonders, sweet home run, and Charly to name a few of the ones we have picked so far this year. I tried a Pepperoncini Pepper the other day and was quite surprised at the heat it had. I wonder if they are all going to be like that or if I just happened to get a real hot one? I plan to try to pickle them like the ones you find at the super market.

Fried Zucchini in the Oven: Baked Zucchini Fries with a Parmesan ...

Who doesn't love fried zucchini? With a crunchy coating and tender interior, it's the perfect snack to go with everything from beer to a bit Italian dinner.

And yet, like all fried foods, fried zucchini is heavy in saturated fat. Oven frying solves this problem. The key is to make sure you use the right batter. Since zucchini is 95 percent water, you need a relatively thick coating in order for your oven-baked zucchini "fries" to taste like real fried zucchini. Without it, the zucchini will just get soft and mushy, not crispy, like real fried zucchini.

In order to keep calories and fat down, this recipe uses buttermilk, cornmeal and just a touch of Parmesan cheese to make the thick breading. The result is a crispy, crunchy coating and a tender, sweet inside, just like real fried zucchini Parmesan.

Serve these zucchini fries with the apricot sauce recipe below or your favorite dipping sauce. Kids even like them with ketchup!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan generously with non-stick cooking spray.

Trim the ends off the zucchini and slice crosswise into 1/4-inch rounds. Sprinkle with kosher salt. This will help draw some of the moisture out of the zucchini. Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish. Mix the cornmeal, Parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper into another shallow dish. Dip the zucchini slices into buttermilk, then the cornmeal mixture. Place on the prepared cookie sheet.

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