What to do with all that zucchini you ask?

 

Zucchini or as the Brits refer to them, courgettes, seem to be overflowing this time of year at local farmer's markets, grocery stores or perhaps out in your own vegetable garden.

That is probably why, when you google zucchini, you will find a ton of recipes from breads and muffins to gratins, pizzas and pastas (yes you can turn these green gems into fine strands of "spaghetti" if you have the right tool.)  My all time favorite way to eat these little beauties is in the form of fritters. I know what you are saying: that can't be healthy if it's fried, but the way I justify it is that they are "lightly" fried in just a smidge of olive oil and if you use a non-stick pan, you will need even less!

The recipe I loosely based this weekend's fritters on comes from Nigella Lawson- I added and subtracted a few things to make it my own- which is what I highly recommend you do as well- using any combo of fresh herbs that suite your own taste. If you want to, you can omit the cheese (although it does give it a nice salty bite!) Get the recipe here.

 photo via marthastewart.com

For instance, I used shallots, red pepper and cilantro as my base and omitted the feta cheese-I also used GF flour to make them gluten free but feel free to use regular all-purpose flour if that's the way you roll. ( I ate mine so quickly I forgot to snap a photo. The one above is borrowed to give you a visual of how they look.)

I like to make a side of yogurt sauce to layer on more flavor and some tartness- all you need to do is repeat some of the herbs and add some lemon juice salt and pepper to some plain yogurt. It's that simple!

Serve these alongside any meat, chicken or fish dish or have them alone with a salad. It's a nice way to pay homage to one of the summer's most abundant vegetable!