Fritters are a wonderful way to use up knobby bits of root vegetables, spicy radishes, or the cabbage that just keeps coming from our winter CSA. They are also the secret to surviving zucchini season if you are one of those people who sees zucchini as a pointless, watery, tasteless vegetable.
I borrow Deb‘s approach to fritters, which is to say that I finely chop or grate a pile of vegetables, stir in a beaten egg or two, and enough flour to bind, and then fry them up like adorable little latkes.
Last night, I grated green meat radishes, carrots, parsnips, jerusalem artichoke, and celery root until I had about three cups of grated vegetables. I stirred in two beaten eggs and 1/3 cup of floor, then fried them up like little latkes. I think I could have made this with 4 cups of vegetables and maybe a little extra flour, but Ava had reached her limit for letting me grate vegetables without her.
When I make zucchini fritters, there are a couple of things I modify. First, I salt the zucchini and then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Second, I use one egg instead of two because zucchini is so watery, and a little more flour (about half a cup) to absorb all that liquid. Third, I add a scoop of pesto (about 1/3 cup for 3-4 cups grated zucchini), because zucchini desperately needs some flavor.
This is also a very baby- and toddler-friendly way to serve vegetables. The vegetables get softer (and a little crispy after frying), so it’s easier to chew them up without molars. Fritters are fun to pick up with your hands, so they’re good for baby led weaning. And when Ava gets the urge to roam during dinner, she can always get a bite of fritter as she orbits the table.
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