It says something about the state of my life that most of the posts I have managed to post, have to do with food.  I may not have time to craft, but at least I’m still putting dinner on the table.  That’s something I guess.

We just got back from a five day family reunion, and two days before that of a visit from my mother, which meant lots of eating out. (Thanks Mom!) I was afraid that last week’s veggies wouldn’t survive, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the zucchini was still good and while we had to sacrifice the outer two or three leaves on the cabbage, it was salvageable too. There was no way they were either going to make it another day though, so I cooked them both.

Zucchini Fritters

Given amounts are estimates, both my mother-in-law and I make this one by feel.

• 4 zucchini, grated
• 3 eggs
• 6 Tablespoons grated parmesean
• 3 Tablespoons breadcrumbs
• Garlic salt

Combine the zucchini with the salt and allow it to sit until it releases its water.  Squeeze out the water.  Combine the other ingredients.  Form into loose patties and fry in at least a quarter inch of hot oil over medium high heat.  Brown on one side and turn, browning the other side. Drain excess oil on a paper towel, and serve warm.

Tonight I was trying variations on a theme.  The recipe is one of my Mother-in-law’s, and I love it as it is, but recently I’ve been playing with the recipe a bit. The first variation, on the right, is substituting hush-puppy mix for the bread crumbs.  I tried this, mostly to get rid of some left over mix, that I was trying to use up.  This makes the fritter, a bit more like bread or a pancake.  The other variation was the result of talking to my brother’s wife at the family reunion.  She has to be extremely careful about eating any kind of starch, so I was curious if the fritters could be made without any.  In the fritters on the left, I added only egg as a binder.  These worked pretty well also.  They seemed a tad greasy, and were a bit harder to cook, since they didn’t stick together quite as well. The faults were extremely minor, and very little would be lost preparing them this way.  If I do them again, I might try a little less oil when cooking them.

Roasted Garlic Cabbage

• cabbage, cut into 1 inch slices
• crushed garlic, 1 clove for every 3-4 slices
• oil
• salt

Place the cabbage slices into a casserole dish.  Rub each slice with the crushed garlic. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast at 400F for about 20 minutes or until cabbage begins to brown.  Flip the slices over and roast another 10 minutes or so.

This is scary simple, and so tasty.  I thought I didn’t really care for cabbage until I tried this. Why do people boil cabbage? Last time I made this, I also tried putting a little vinegar on some of them, others I laid a piece of bacon over. The husband liked those.  As a vegetarian, I have no opinion, but the vinegar was a nice touch.  The Produce Box is definitely doing its job and getting me to try some new things.