Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini is one of those vegetables that you can just do so much with. Boiled it's not so tasty, but when you do something fun with it, it can be a super tasty treat!

When I think of fritters, I think of donuts - apple fritters, raspberry fritters, that kind of thing - so when I saw a recipe for zucchini fritters, it didn't really sound all that appetizing. The reviews were mixed, but it seemed like the people who didn't like the recipe simply did it wrong. Follow instructions, people! If your recipe doesn't work and you didn't do what the recipe instructed, don't go all hating on the recipe. That's all I'm saying.

My disclaimer here is that these are fairly high in fat. They're fried in coconut oil, and because they're made with coconut flour, baking them is not an option, trust me on this one. But, if you have one fritter that is paired with a lean protein, it makes for a pretty tasty meal. Coconut oil is a heckuva lot better for your than vegetable oil, but it's still fat. Everything in moderation. So, this being said, don't eat a whole batch yourself in one sitting and then get mad at me when you see how much fat is in them. :)

Ingredients:
3-5 zucchini, shredded
Sea salt
Cheesecloth 
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Ground black pepper
Coconut oil

Directions:
Shred the zucchini with the large holes in a cheese grater. You can use a food processor for this if you like, but zucchini is so fragile that I prefer to do it by hand. There is a pretty big range in the number of zucchini needed - you need about 4 cups shredded, so the number of squash will vary depending on their size.

Put zucchini in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle generously with sea salt, toss with a spoon and let sit for at least ten minutes. The salt is drawing the moisture out of the squash, so don't cut corners here.

Put the squash into a piece of cheesecloth and squeeze all the water out. Get in there and really muscle it. When you think it's as dry as it can get, open the cheesecloth, move the squash around, and squeeze it some more. Do this a couple of times until absolutely no water is coming out of the squash. If you don't do this, your fritters will fall apart.

Put the dry zucchini back into the mixing bowl (be sure to wipe out any residual water first). Add the coconut flour, egg, baking soda, cumin and black pepper to the bowl, stirring to combine. Do this quickly, as the coconut flour will start absorbing the moisture from the egg, so you'll end up with a mess if you take too long.

Once your mixture is done, preheat a large skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Add some coconut oil. Once oil gets hot, make the fritters. Do one fritter at a time, placing it directly in the hot oil. Press mixture firmly into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Wiggle it out, press it a little flat with your hands, and set in hot oil. Use a spatula to flatten even more. Repeat with each fritter, doing 3 to 4 in a pan (or however many you can fit). Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown and crispy, flip, and cook on the other side. Be sure to add more coconut oil to the pan for each new batch.

Let cooked fritters sit on a cooling rack while making the others to avoid them getting mushy. My batch made 7 fritters.