Zucchini Fritters

A few weeks back Brandy contacted me about being a part of a cookbook review for Faith’s new cookbook, An Edible Mosaic. Stoked doesn’t begin to describe how I felt about this opportunity. An Edible Mosaic is a Middle Eastern cookbook which is my alltime favorite cuisine but it’s not something I ever really cook at home so this book is perfect for me!

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some recipes from An Edible Mosaic and giving a full review of the book. A full list of bloggers participating can be found here. Get excited, y’all! I know I am!

The first recipe we were asked to make was Zucchini Fritters which I’m sure everyone has had at least once in their life. But these are different from the traditional fritters we’re used to here in the US. These are more of a savory pancake with zucchini throughout. They were absolutely delicious! My husband loves zucchini so I’m excited to make these for him when he comes home.

They were also very simple and quick to make. You guys know that I don’t enjoy frying but this was no more difficult than making regular breakfast pancakes.

One year ago:  Spicy Pecan Cheeseball
Two years ago: Pumpkin Yumkins
Three years ago: Turkey Sausage Manicotti

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Zucchini Fritters (A Mid-East Feast)
from An Edible Mosaic
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • 3/4 lb 350 g zucchini (about 1 medium), grated
  • 2 large cloves garlic crushed in a mortar and pestle with 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 bunch fresh parsley minced
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • Canola oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat; add the onion and cook until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the zucchini and cook until softened and the water has evaporated, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally; add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
  2. Lightly beat together the eggs, flour, parsley, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in the zucchini mixture.
  3. Add enough canola oil to a large nonstick skillet to lightly coat the bottom; heat the oil over medium heat.
  4. Drop the batter into the hot pan using a small (about 2 tablespoon) or large (about 4 tablespoon) scoop. Fry until set and golden on one side, about 2 minutes; flip and cook until set and golden on the other side, about 1 minute.
  5. Transfer the cooked fritters to a paper towel-lined plate to drain any excess oil, and cook the remaining egg mixture the same way, adding more oil to the skillet as necessary.

I was sent a copy of An Edible Mosaic for review but was not compensated in any other way.

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Chicken Club Egg Rolls

Chicken Club Egg Rolls – the most delicious egg roll recipe! Filled with chicken, bacon, avocado, and cheddar cheese. Plus, an amazing avocado ranch dipping sauce! 

Chicken Club Egg Rolls - the most delicious egg roll recipe! Filled with chicken, bacon, avocado, and cheddar cheese. Plus, an amazing avocado ranch dipping sauce!

It’s always exciting for me to receive a blog I already know for my Secret Recipe Club assignment.

This month I got Erin of Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts. Erin organized that Colorado Fires fundraiser that I participated in and I’m happy to call her a friend.

When I sat down to pick a recipe from Erin’s blog, I had brownies on the brain and knew Erin would have the perfect recipe for me.

Buuuut as soon as I opened her blog, my 2 year old spotted these and started shrieking “THAT ONE! THAT ONE! THAAAAAAAAAT ONE!”

So yeah, I made her Chicken Club Egg Rolls.

Click for the full recipe

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Fried Pickles

Fried Pickles

One last Superbowl idea for you!

I don’t usually like doing fried foods when I’m entertaining. They take a lot of time and since you can’t really do them ahead of time, you wind up spending most of your time standing over the stove.

But as we all know, fried foods are almost always crowd-pleasers! These fried pickles take no time at all so they’re perfect for cooking up right as your guests are walking through the door

And umm… fried pickles? One of man’s greatest inventions!

(I am never going to get rid of that Natural Light that my husband’s friends left in my fridge. I’ve been cooking with it at least once a week but it seems to be multiplying. Send beer recipes.)

Fried Pickles

5 from 1 vote
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Fried Pickles
Ingredients
  • 2 cups pickles drained and patted dry
  • 1 egg
  • 1 - 1¼ cup beer
  • 1 cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Pour oil into a heavy pot, a couple inches high. Heat over medium-high.
  2. Whisk together egg, 1 cup beer, flour, and salt until smooth. If batter is too thick, add in the other ¼ cup beer.
  3. Once oil is hot, dip pickles, one at a time, in the batter. Allow excess batter to drip off and then drop the pickles in the oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.

Fried Pickles

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Falafel

Last night when I was making our little falafel balls, I got to thinking about how easy meal prep is when the meal is meatless. There’s no meat to worry about, don’t have to stress over expiration dates (don’t tell me I’m the only procrastinator here), don’t have to pull anything out of the freezer, etc. I just opened the cabinet, grabbed a can of chickpeas, and was ready to cook.

To make this recipe even simpler, I went ahead and processed everything but if you don’t have a processor, just diced your veggies and use a fork to mash the chickpeas. You don’t want a smooth paste so mashing works just fine.

I’ve made these twice in the past 2 weeks. That’s saying something because you know I hate frying things. (I burnt my eyelid last night, thanks for asking.)

We love this recipe, obviously. Sometimes I make pita to go with them and sometimes we make lettuce wraps with broken up falafel, tomatoes, and yogurt sauce. It’s good just about any way you can think of.

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Falafel
Ingredients
  • 1 15 ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
  • 1 onion quartered
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash pepper
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • oil for frying
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of your food processor, add chickpeas, onions, parsley, and garlic (I have a very tiny processor and just did this in 3 batches). Process until pieces are small but haven’t turned into a paste. You want it a little chunky. Pour into a large bowl and add egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder. Stir together to make sure everything is evenly distributed. Add bread crumbs and combine.
  2. In a large, heavy bottomed pan, heat about 1 inch of oil over medium high heat. When oil is ready shape falafel into balls or patties and fry until golden brown, just a couple minutes per side. Drain on paper towel lined plate.
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Fried Green Tomato BLT

My husband and I talk about food a lot. What he wants me to make. What I want to blog. What we wish we were eating right this second. Our last few conversations have centered around tomatoes and how they’re usually too mushy for us. So this past Friday night when I was grocery shopping (too much excitement for you, right?) I sent him a text saying I picked up some green tomatoes and his response was… well, not appropriate for a family friendly blog such as this. ;) Let’s just say he was scared.

As soon as I saw the tomatoes I knew what I wanted to do with them. BLTs are one of our favorite meals and I thought a fried green tomato would kind of shake things up a little bit without adding much work to the simple meal. And they did exactly that. They added a whole new texture with the crispy cornmeal crust that just really put the sandwich over the top. I’m not sure we’ll be able to go back to eating regular BLTs after this!

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Fried Green Tomato BLT
Ingredients
For the tomatoes:
  • 2 large green tomatoes sliced
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • about 3/4 cup canola oil for frying
For the sandwiches:
  • Kaiser rolls
  • mayo mustard, any other condiments
  • bacon sliced in half and cooked
  • iceberg lettuce
Instructions
  1. Pour oil in a heavy-bottomed pan; heat over medium-high heat.
  2. Whisk egg and milk together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
  3. On a plate, stir together flour, cornmeal, Panko, salt, and pepper.
  4. Once oil is heated, dip tomato slices one by one in egg and then flour. Make sure tomato is coated in flour mixture and then place in oil. Fry 3 or 4 at a time, making sure not to crowd the tomatoes. Fry for about 3 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown; flip and cook other side until golden. Drain on paper towels.
  5. Assemble sandwiches and enjoy!


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