I love the generosity of gardeners!
Take, for example, my new friend Peggy. Besides being an all-around wonderful gal, she’s a fabulous artist and a horse lover… she’s also a terrific gardener. In the short time we’ve been in Idaho, she’s delivered gorgeous onions, cucumbers, beets, purple potatoes and state-fair-worthy zucchini. {I’m not kidding, you could use them for batting practice, they’re so big!}
Sonya, another friend from the stables, delivered her picture-perfect home-grown cherry tomatoes.
There’s only one zucchini left for the picture because the others were already made into the Baked Zucchini Fries for this post!
The onions have been caramelized and are ready to top pizzas. The cucumbers have pretty much all been consumed. We roasted the purple potatoes. And we’ve been eating the tomatoes like candy.
The ginormous zucchini? I experimented with making baked zucchini “fries” the other night, and they were such a hit, we made them again.
The “fries” are baked, not fried, so they’re pretty healthy – yet just as crisp as if you dropped them in the Fry-Daddy. You can skip dredging in flour if you want to save a few calories, but the egg and coating won’t stick as well.
- 3 medium zucchini
- ⅓ cup flour
- ½ cup panko
- ½ cup finely grated parmesan
- 2 eggs
- pinch salt
- 1 Tbs milk
- Marinara sauce for dipping
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Trim ends from zucchini. Cut into wedges.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment.Place flour in zip-lock bag.
- Mix eggs, salt and milk in a pie plate, or other shallow dish.
- Mix panko and parmesan in another shallow dish.
- Place zucchini in bag and toss gently to coat.
- Place zucchini in egg mixture and turn several times to coat. Let excess drip onto plate.
- Holding zucchini by the ends, hold over panko mixture and spoon mixture onto all sides. (If you roll zucchini in the mixture, it quickly clumps from the egg.)
- Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes, turning once, until coating is golden and crisp.
- Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.
Crispy on the outside, perfectly cooked on the inside, these are perfect as an appetizer – or a side dish. We’ll be serving ours tonight with Cowgirl Turkey Burgers! What a gift to be able to enjoy these delicious garden-to-table vegetables… talk about “eating local!”
After 9 years of coming to Coeur d’Alene for our summer vacation, this place has begun to feel like a second home. Thanks, in no small part, to the generosity of our Idaho friends.
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