Recipe: End-of-summer squash in a side dish or appetizer
These squash and carrot fritters make a great side dish, but also can be cooked mini-size for appetizers. Debbie Arrington
What can you do with the last squash of summer? So often, these latecomers are over-sized or thick-skinned. (And you’ve exhausted your squash recipes and your family’s appetite.)
This adaptable recipe can use any kind of summer squash – yellow crookneck, patty pan, zucchini or hybrids. Grated carrot adds color and crunch.
Full size, these fritters make a tasty side dish to salmon, chicken or pork. Or make them a vegetarian entree.
Top with a little sour cream or plain yogurt, if desired, along with more chopped chives.
Perfect for dipping, mini-fritters are kid-sized – sort of like little veggie nuggets. They also make good appetizers. Serve with ranch dressing or plain yogurt.
End-of-summer squash fritters
Makes 4 fritters or 12 mini-fritters
Ingredients:
1 pound summer squash
Salt
½ cup grated carrot
2 tablespoons grated onion
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon chopped chives, plus more for garnish
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Plain yogurt or sour cream, optional
Instructions:
De-stem squash. Remove any large or hard seeds. Grate with a large-hole grater.
Put squash in a colander and sprinkle with salt; gently stir. Let drain for 10 minutes.
Transfer grated squash to a clean dishcloth. Wrap the squash in the dishcloth and gently squeeze out the water.
While the squash is draining, combine the grated carrot and onion in a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon, stir in beaten egg, Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon chives and garlic salt.
Fold in the drained and squeezed squash. Sprinkle the flour and baking powder over the mixture; stir to combine.
Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Set aside.
Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with about 1/8 inch of oil, about ¼ cup. Heat the oil over medium high heat. Drop 1/4-cup scoops of the squash mixture into the hot oil and gently press down with the back of a spoon.
Note: For mini-fritters, use 1 large tablespoon per fritter.
Cook the squash patties until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Adjust heat as needed so patties don’t cook too fast. Remove to paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Serve warm with plain yogurt or sour cream and chopped chives.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
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March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 27
Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
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