Zucchini Cutlets
6 cups shredded summer squash
¼ cup chopped onions sautéed until slightly browned, or fresh scallions or chives
2 cups bread crumbs or finely ground corn meal
1 cup Parmesan or goat cheese
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup chopped parsley
Optional: other veggies, black beans, minced hot peppers, roasted garlic, smoked paprika, and chopped herbs. I used goat cheese in the ones pictured, and added cumin, black beans, diced hot peppers, and coriander. As you can see, these cutlets can go in any ethnic direction.
Mix zucchini and other ingredients just before you cook the cutlets – if you mix ahead of time the squash looses water and the mix becomes runny. If you don’t like the taste of raw onions be sure to sauté them ahead of time.
Form the mix into patties and fry on medium-low heat for three to four minutes on each side. Don’t try to flip them too early – wait until they are firm before turning. They will be very soft but they will firm up when put in the oven for about fifteen minutes.
Lower heat if necessary so that they don’t get too brown on either side. When done, transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil. Place cooked cutlets on a cookie sheet in the oven to firm and keep them warm.
These are great served with salsa, tomato sauce or with soy sauce. These are also good at room temperature so save some for lunch the next day.
Shredded summer squash uses up LOTS of produce and can be prepared in a number of ways. If you place it on a clean dishtowel after shredding you can squeeze excess water from the squash before cooking. When preparing the cutlets this isn't necessary as the cornmeal or bread crumbs absorb this liquid. But for other dishes less water might be advantageous. The glass measuring cup in this photo has roasted garlic and I added some of that to these cutlets along with cilantro, cumin and black beans.
I served these South-weatern style cutlets with a fresh salsa made from garden tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers and lime juice.
