Good Morning. The first Wednesday of every month is usually reserved for restaurant reviews. But, we are clocking some chill time this month in preparation for proper introductions to some new foodie folks here on Our Big Earth. In the meantime family gardens around the Comox Valley are bursting with lots of onions and zucchini right now.
I love them both, could eat them in salad, on sandwiches or in my newest noodle-free lasagna concoction non-stop.
But, the tiny person is starting to revolt.
I’ve tried slipping them into eggs, chopping them up in sauces – she hunts them down and spits them out.
Seeing that they are THE major veggies on the counter for the foreseen future, I resorted to my favourite veggie trick – zucchini fries and onion rings.
These are two yummy good kids treats that we never get when out to eat with a tiny person who’s allergic to wheat.
So, making them at home with our trusty spelt and rice flour options means some serious yumminess and veggies that disappear faster than I can get them out of the pan.
What I love best about these gems? They take about five minutes to make from start to finish.
That is my kind of veggie bribery.
Here’s the recipe:
- 1 zucchini, cut into strips or 2-3 onions cut into rounds
- a pinch of salt and pepper
- Around 1/2 C of flour
- 1 egg
- A bit of garlic powder and spices like parsley (depending on how your kids do with herbs)
- sunflower or olive oil for frying
- A friend of mine adds parmesean cheese as well. But, with the dairy allergy in play for us, we skip it.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix up the flour and spices and set aside.
2. Heat your pan up with the oil in it.
3. Take your zucs and/or onions and dip them in the egg. You can add a bit of flour in the egg if you want a thicker crust on your veggies.
4. Dip in a bit more flour to coat the veggies.
5. Fry in pan about 2 minutes on each side.
Let cool a bit and chow down.
I’d love to hear some of the ways you are using up all of those zucchini and onions making their way out of the garden right now!
Enjoy your Wednesday.
AWESOME!!! I’m doing 30 days of zuchini recipes here myself, so I’ll add this to the mix!!
Do the darn things NEVER stop growing?????
On our table at the moment: Zucchini bread and muffins (doesn’t use all of my Manhattan sized zucs though) and a pasta dish with zucs, tomatoes, onions. I will try these yummy fries. Thanks, Robin!
Mmm, we do these to except fry them in a bit of butter instead of using oil. So good!! We’ve been doing fried, baked, and cake with all our zucchini LOL. The kids actually like to eat them raw to. I just peel the skin and they dip them like eating cukes, I have to admit they’re pretty good that way
If you are looking for a way to preserve a bit of the zucchini goodness for the cold, dreary winter, it is so easy! Just grate the zucchini (using the food processor saves a bit of time and energy), bag and freeze. I usually freeze it in 2 cup measures. Then in the winter, add it to soups and stews, bake breads and muffins for a taste of summer! I buy the humungous zucchinis from the farmers market for grating. There are sometimes a few big seeds in there, but the food processor takes care of most of them.
Besides the obvious stirfries and grilled, we’ve been loving my mom’s zucchini pie recipe and indulged with Rebar’s chocolate zucchini cupcakes with company recently. The freezing really is awesome – I do 1 cup portions, and add it to spagetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc as well as all the yummies Stacey mentioned above!
Grilled zucchini with cheese melted on top, chocolate zucchini muffins(fooled all the neighbourhood children). I am definately going to have to freeze some for the winter.
I freaking love zucchini, love love love. And I have never tried zucchini fries, not sure quite what the problem is there? I have a great pasts recipe though where after you pan fry the zucchini (no breading) you toss it with egg yolk and lots of romano cheese, so simple and so good. It also pleases those who don’t think they love zucchini.
Every summer my mom’s garden yields a ton of zucchini, as kids we avoided it as much as possible….except for the chocolate zucchini cake! Moist and delicious, a hit with us all!! The fries sound very good though, I think that the zucchini in the fridge is destined to become fries now!!! Thanks!
Mmmmm… I made these tonight and they were a huge hit. Shared some with the neighbours too, and they gave me cookies in return because they liked them so much!