Delicious zucchini fritters

Fritters seem to be the delicious side dish of the summer. In the past week alone, I've seen recipes for corn fritters, chickpea fritters and the recipe I finally decided to make: zucchini fritters.

I took a few liberties from the Smitten Kitchen recipe. For one, I doubled it. I used 4 small zucchinis and 2 small yellow squashes. Deb from SK recommends putting the squashes through a food processor fitted with the shredding disc.

After about 10 minutes of salting, you have to drain the squashes. Last year when Aunt Kathy taught me how to make pierogies we drained pounds and pounds of cabbage. Draining the zucchini works the same. I wrapped them in a flour sack towel, twisted the towel and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze until all the liquid drains out.  It's actually kind of incredible how much liquid gets drawn out of the vegetables from such a small amount of salt. But, this helps keep the fritters from getting soggy

I mostly stuck to the batter recipe put forth in the original recipe. I added a clove of garlic and substituted wheat flour for the regular white flour. I shaped about half of the batter into patties on a baking sheet, then fried the rest.

In the end, I liked the fried ones a little better. The baked ones were a little softer than I would have liked. I think if I had flattened them a bit more before the baking, they would have been crisper.

RECIPE: Zucchini Fritters (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
4 small to medium sized zucchinis, washed and ends cut off
2 small to medium sized yellow summer squash, ends cut off
1 TBS coarse salt
4 to 6 scallions, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Shred the zucchini and squash using a food processor, then toss with salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, then squeeze as much liquid from the vegetables as possible.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, stir in scallions, garlic, and zucchini. Mix to combine. Add flour and baking powder and mix until the flour is completely incorporated.

Drop walnut sized balls into a cookie sheet or into a cast iron pan. If baking, bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then flip, and bake another 5 to 10 minutes. I used a standard sized "small" cookie scoop to form the balls and they were perfect. Flatten with a spatula before baking or flipping in the frying pan.

Serve with greek yogurt sauce (greek yogurt + minced garlic + fresh herbs of your choosing + lemon zest and lemon juice).