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Zucchini: 7 Superstar Supereasy Recipes

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all love summer veggies fresh from the garden. Except — admit it! — when there are piles and piles and piles of zucchini sitting around your kitchen counters waiting for a purpose. For that time there is this post.

I have collected some of my favorite zucchini recipes here to inspire you and yours to enjoy zucchini in different ways (and overwhelmed gardeners can send this to their friends as they pass off some of the overabundance of zucchini from the backyard).

Enjoy! You will remember these days fondly in the dark of winter.

Rosemary-Manchego Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Rosemary Manchego Fritters Yum

Remoulade (Easy Summer Squash Slaw…cooooool)

Zucchini Slaw

Crunchy Creamy Zucchini Corn Fritters

Light and luscious, the abundant corn kernels make this fun to eat

Easy Stovetop Lemon-Oregano Zucchini and Yellow Squash

How this dish looked at our campsite on the beach

Healthy and Happy Grilled Veggie Kebabs Continue reading →

Tags: cooking, food, fritters, kid-friendly, recipes, summer, tortilla, vegetables, zucchini

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Camping, CSA, Entertaining, farming, Food, gardening, Grilling, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Bacalaitos: Light and Luscious Puerto Rican Cod Fritters

27 Dec

One of the pleasures of visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico is heading straight from Luis Munoz Marin International Airport to a beach area about five minutes to the east. Piñones, a long stretch of relatively undeveloped coastline is where beach shacks under the shade of coconut palms serve up ice cold beer, whiskey con coco, and all manner of snacks or frituras, flour or banana dough shaped in seagrape leaves and dropped into hot fat in blackened cauldrons over coal fires by ladies in hair rollers. Oh my God, I am so glad to be back, you say, toes in the crystal water and tearing into a delicious and greasy and tropical hunk of something.

Break up the de-salted cod as much as you can

One of the iconic frituras is bacalaitos: fried cod fritters. Salt cod is well-known to Atlantic coastal areas and the Caribbean…the New England cod fisheries have for centuries supplied coastal people with an abundance of this oily fish that preserves really well (if you are interested in the history of cod, you must read Mark Kurlansky’s Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World).

Sawtooth coriander or recao or culantro adds authentic flavor to this dish, but cilantro is a worthy substitute

Its popularity has led to overstressed fisheries. While they are being managed, they are not recovering well or quickly enough for me to have them as anything but an occasional treat.

skewered fritters draining, even as the next batch goes in!

In Puerto Rico we use salt cod in rice dishes, vinaigrette-style with local tubers, with tomatoes like the Basque people…in any number of ways. Bacalaitos are a good entry-level bacalao dish if you are afraid salt cod is too fishy for your family’s taste. Here it is not overwhelming, but more of a condiment and I daresay that salt cod lends umami (that fifth sensation of rich meaty mouth-feel) to what would be just a fish fritter…like many salted fish it is high in glutamates.

Letting the batter rest gives time for the baking powder to activate. that will give you nice airiness in the fritters.

Most of the credit for this recipe is shared between Carmen Aboy Valldejuli’s classic recipe in Cocina Criolla* and my dad’s adaptations and execution. It makes a perfect light dinner or appetizer…I like it with cold, dry sparkling wine, but of course a cold beer (on the lighter side) is a classic match-up. Kids and adults alike love them; we’ll be doing them up for our New Year’s guests when they arrive. Read on for recipe! Continue reading →

Tags: bacalaitos, bacalao, cod, comida criolla, cooking, food, fritters, kid-friendly fish, Puerto Rican, recipes

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Comida Criolla, Entertaining, Food, Holidays, Party Snacks, Puerto Rican, Recipes, Side Dishes, Spanish, Tapas

Easy Black Bean, Corn and Scallion Fritters

12 Dec

Here was a nifty little trick to use up some bits and bobs…black beans from a batch I had soaked, some frozen corn, a couple of leftover scallions. I went light on the seasonings, but you can certainly go more heavy.

This is an example of a denser fritter! More water will make the batter lighter

These were a big success at my house on a night that everyone just wanted something casual that you could grab with a napkin and keep going. You’ll have to play around with the consistency…add more water if you want a lighter fritter, less if you want it dense (which will need more cooking time in order to cook that flour).

I didn’t think Leandro woud like them, but he loved them and ate loads!

Black Bean and Corn Fritters With Scallions

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp salt

5 black pepper corns

1 Cup black beans (either from a can or soaked)

1 Cup corn kernels

Half an onion, minced (at least ½ Cup)

½ Cup scallions, sliced, green and white parts

2 eggs

2 Tbs cilantro

¾ Cup flour

Water

2 Tbs vegetable oil (or more) for frying

Grind coriander, salt and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle until pulverized.

In a large skillet, heat oil at medium-high. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix beans, corn, onion, scallions, eggs, cilantro and flour until blended. Add water to create a more liquidy batter that drips thickly off a spoon.

Drop large tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and smooth out a bit into fritters. Don’t crowd them and cook about 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on thickness, adjusting temperature as needed. Place cooked fritters on paper towels to cool while you start the next batch and continue until done. Makes about a dozen fritters.

Tags: black beans, cooking, corn, food, fritters, kid-friendly foods, leftover solutions, recipes, scallions, vegetarian

Comments 4 Comments
Categories Food, lunch, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian

¡Comida Hispana! Recipes to unleash your inner Latino

Mango Mojitos With Ancho Chili Salt

It was another summer Friday in the neighborhood and that called for another festive cocktail. Riding high on the success of last session’s passionfruit mojitos, I decided to make mango mojitos. The drink itself followed much the same construction, but the mango was decidedly sweeter than the passionfruit, so I decided that it needed a […]
Passionfruit Mojitos by the Pitcher or Glass

Summer evenings in the neighborhood can be wonderful. Occasionally on a Friday some of us neighbors bring out folding chairs and sit together in one front yard for a bit of happy hour while the kids go mental on someone else’s lawn. It’s pretty much BYO, but we do mix up a pitcher of experimental […]
KID IN THE KITCHEN: Tembleque (Tropical Coconut Pudding)

We spent the better part of last summer in Puerto Rico, and among the tasty things that my little guy fell in love with was tembleque, a jiggly (temblar means to tremble) dessert that falls somewhere between pudding and flan. I promised him we’d make it back in New York, and this weekend, for a […]
Sangría Tropical (and rainforest paradise pictures)

When the heat gets tropical, so should the drinks. On a recent trip to the mountains of Puerto Rico, I was inspired by a wonderfully cooling and exotic sangría I had up around and about El Yumque (Caribbean National Forest, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. Forest Service system) at Noelia’s, recommended to us […]
Salmorejo de jueyes (Land Crab Stew)

There are a number of land crab species skittering about Caribbean coastlines. Some are edible and the one we eat most here in Puerto Rico (although I am told they mostly are imported from Venezuela these days) is Cardisoma guanhumi which we call juey and — if you are English-speaking — you might call the […]