I’m baaaaaa-aaaack!!  It has been way too long since I’ve shared a recipe with you.  And now that I have a beautiful working kitchen again, I’m getting back in the groove.

I spent the entire day today in the kitchen experimenting with a few things.  And I am pretty sure that this recipe is considered “shareable.”

It is August, and that means zucchini season.  I found a GIANT zucchini at my local farmers’ market last weekend that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with.  Honestly, I don’t love cooked zucchini.  I know a health nut like me shouldn’t be shunning any vegetables, but I’m actually pretty picky about the whole squash family.  I don’t mind it, but there are many a veggies I prefer over the ol’ “zukes.”

But I do like pretty much anything turned into quick breads and fritters.  So after I baked a third of this giant zucchini into a bread, I decided to turn the rest of it into fried cakes of yumminess.  The bread wasn’t my favorite, so I’ll have to try a different recipe and get back to you with that one.  But the fritters turned out to be pretty tasty.  Especially paired with the creamy tomato pulled chicken I made for the other side of the plate.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 cups of tightly packed, grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 Tbsp coconut flour
• 3 Tbsp all purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp dried basil
• avocado oil, for pan frying

Here’s what you do:

DRAIN, DRAIN, DRAIN your zucchini.  Start by salting it and tossing it in a colander placed in a big bowl.  Let it sit for 10-20 minutes. There will be a lot of water.  Squeeze out as much as you can by pressing down on it with paper towels or a dish towel, letting the water strain.  Alternately, you could pick up handfuls of it and squeeze it over the sink as well.  But the dryer the zucchini is, the better these will cook up.

Warm up a skillet or griddle to medium heat while you prep the fritter mixture.

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients with a fork.  Add the eggs, garlic, and lemon zest to the zucchini in a separate bowl and mix well.  Pour the dry ingredients into your wet bowl, and combine all of it together.

Add a generous pour of avocado oil to your hot griddle, and spread evenly.

Then, using a TABLESPOON to measure out your fritter batter, begin dropping dollops of batter onto the griddle and spread them out a bit. Add a sprinkling of sea salt to the fritters as they cook. I stress using a tablespoon and making smaller sized fritters because gluten free cakes like this tend to break easily.  Smaller cakes hold together and flip much better.

Wait, and I do mean WAIT for the fritter to thoroughly fry up on one side before attempting the flip.  They should be sizzling and golden to deep brown on the bottom before carefully using a small spatula (I use a very tiny scraper) to make the flip.

After the other side turns a deep, but not burnt, brown, carefully transport the fritters to a paper towel lined plate.  If the batter was too wet and they still seem too fragile, you may add them to a parchment paper lined baking tray and keep them in a 250 degree oven for another 15 minutes before serving.

Before you dive in, squeeze fresh lemon juice and a bit more zest over the tray for some added zing.  These can make a meal on their own, but a marinara or pesto sauce would be a delicious accompaniment along side a piece of grilled fish, chicken, or steak.

Hope you enjoy!