Vegetable Fritters served with Sweetcorn & Tomato Salsa
Prep time: 20 minutes/ Cooking time: 10 – 15 minutes
Serves 4
This recipe is vegetarian
Approximate price: £5.48 for full recipe
INGREDIENTS:
FRITTERS:
2 medium size courgettes, washed & grated
2 medium size carrots or 1 large, peeled & grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
85g plain flour
2 egg, lightly beaten
½ bunch of spring onions, washed & finely sliced
Oil for cooking, around 3 tbsp
Salt & pepper, to taste
SALSA:
1 tin of sweetcorn, drained
4 tomatoes, finely diced
½ red onion, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 lemon, juiced
1tbsp oil
½ red chilli, finely chopped, optional
Handful of fresh chopped coriander or parsley or chives, optional
Salt, to taste
METHOD:
SALSA: make it first as it will be nicer if it has been in the fridge for a little while before serving.
1. Wash the tomatoes first and dry them. Then on a chopping board and with a sharp knife, cut them vertically (from stem top to bottom) into four wedges. Then using the knife slice the seeds away from the tomato flesh (alternatively you can just scoop them out with a spoon). Chop the tomato flesh into small dice. The seeds are not needed in this recipe, put them aside and you can use them up next time you are making a tomato sauce.
2. In a medium size bowl add the drained sweetcorn, finely diced tomatoes, finely diced red onion, crushed garlic, the juice of the lemon, oil & red chilli (if using). Mix all the ingredients well.
3. If using fresh herbs add them now (finely chopped) and mix well again. Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge while you are making the fritters.
FRITTERS:
1. Put the grated courgette in a colander and sprinkle it with some salt. Let the courgette sit for 10 minutes and then using your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
2. In a large bowl: add the grated & squeezed courgette, grated carrots, sliced spring onions, crushed garlic, lightly beaten eggs & flour. Using a spoon/fork, mix until well combined.
3. Put oil in a large frying pan and turn on the heat medium to high.
4. When the oil is hot scoop a spoon full of the vegetable mixture into the pan and flatten it with the back of the spoon. Repeat 2 or 3 more times, depending on the size of your frying pan, making sure to leave a couple of cm between fritters.
5. Cook the fritters for 3 minutes (you will see that they go golden brown & crispy) and then turn them and cook the again for another 2 minutes.
6. Lift the fritters from the frying pan when cooked and put them in a plate or tray lined with some kitchen roll to absorb any excess fat.
7. Scoop more vegetable mixture into the frying pan repeating from step 4 until you have no more vegetable mixture left. You should end up with around 8 large enough fritters or 12 smaller ones, depending on the size that you are scooping them into the frying pan.
8. Serve a couple of fritters per person with a side of sweetcorn & tomato salsa.
TIPS:
Vegetable fritters is a great way to get children to try/eat more veg. The golden, crispy texture is very appealing to them and the fact that there is no big chunks of veg is another win for fussy eaters.
You could try different combinations of vegetables for the fritters instead of the courgettes & carrots, grated butternut squash & sweetcorn would be a great alternative or even sweet potato and peppers.
If you think your children will not like the salsa, you can make a little dipping sauce for the fritters with some fresh yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon. Or make some tzatziki for dipping: mix some natural yoghurt with some grated cucumber, crushed garlic, a little bit of oil, a squeeze of lemon and some salt. Tzatziki is awesome for dipping raw vegetable sticks too.
If you have vegetable fritters left over (although I doubt it because they are too scrumptious) they would make a great addition served cold in a packed lunch.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Nutrition per serving, based on 4 servings per recipe with no added salt:
Energy 347.27Kcal
Fat 16.87g
Saturates 2.48g
Carbs 36.64g
Fibre 8.17g
Protein 3.67g
Salt 0.54
Sweetcorn owes its yellow colour to carotenoid pigments, an antioxidant that helps protect your eyes. So like carrots eating sweetcorn will help keep your eyes healthy!
Red onions: low in calories but high in antioxidants! Onions are rich in an antioxidant known as Quercetin which is thought to fight inflammation and boost our immune system. A versatile flavour to add into many dishes.
Carrots are one of the sweeter vegetables that’s the reason we often find them in desserts (yummy carrot cake!). Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that helps to keep your eyes in good health.
Courgettes have few calories and a high water content so they are the ideal vegetable if trying to reduce calories in your diet. They are not super nutritious but contain useful amounts of vitamin C, some potassium and soluble fibre in their skin (soluble fibre is great to keep things moving in the inside).
Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C that helps protect cells & keeps them healthy, it also helps maintaining healthy skin, blood vessels & bones. Tomatoes also have a powerful antioxidant called lycopene that may help lower the risk of certain cancers as well as to improve heart health. Tomatoes should always be stored at room temperature as keeping them in the fridge impairs their flavour.
Eggs are one of the most nutritious food we have. Eggs are a good source of high quality protein (1 medium egg contains around 6g of protein) and a good source of fat.
Eggs contain vitamins B2, B12, D, A amongst others. They also contain selenium, iodine, iron, choline, and other beneficial minerals. Choline contributes to normal fat metabolism and liver function.
Garlic & onions are among the vegetables highest in antioxidants and have been shown to help cholesterol levels.
