Pan Fried Zucchini Fritters is just one of the ways I’m cooking zucchini. Gardeners are forcing it on their neighbours, Farmer’s Markets have an abundance of it and thrifty cooks are searching for clever ways to sneak it into everything. I’m not that crazy about zucchini but this is the time of year to experiment with some new zucchini recipes.

Shredding vs Grating Zucchini

For many recipes it doesn’t matter how fine or coarse your vegetables are shredded or grated. It may affect the cooking time but it’s more of a personal preference about the texture. The terms shredding and grating seem to be used interchangeably so when I’m confused (it happens!) I just think about what I want it to look like when I’m done.

• Grated Parmesan cheese should be a pile of fluffy cheese.
• Shredded cheddar cheese should be longish shreds for melting.

Applied to zucchini, especially for baking, I want to see those shreds. They can be finely or coarsely shredded but I know I don’t want a pile of grated mush. Then the irony of cooking, I’ll pull out the old boxed grater and use the side that will give me the coarsely shredded zucchini I’m looking for.

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Get The Tools

The typical boxed grater found in many kitchens is most convenient for small jobs like finely grating cheese or shredding a single carrot. For bigger jobs like making potato latkes or these zucchini fritters I pull out the food processor. It takes a few minutes to set up and clean up, but the shredding takes only ten seconds. It’s always a toss up in my mind whether it’s worth pulling out the food processor or just doing the work by hand.

You can cook almost anything with a good cutting board and a sharp knife but the more you cook the more tools you collect. These all have a place in my kitchen and once you have them all you’ll spend your time deciding which is the right tool for the job.

• A sturdy boxed grater.
• A mandoline to make perfectly sliced and julienned vegetables.
• I love my Cuisinart food processor with different disks for fine or coarse shredding. It’s about thirty years old but for some jobs it works like a charm.

A Seasonal Strategy – Zucchini Fritters

Of course zucchini is available all year long like most produce. Where I live the real zucchini season starts in August and goes all the way to the end of September. I see it all over the neighbourhood growing in backyards and alleys. That’s when I start to think of all the ways to use zucchini. I say challenge yourself to find or create a new favourite recipe. Then add it to your list so you remember to repeat it again next year.

Here are a few ways you can cook (or get rid of) all that zucchini.

• Fold grated zucchini into quick breads or muffins.
• Toss chopped zucchini in any salad.
• Cook it in soup.
• Cut it in sticks to add to a veggie tray.
• Roast slices to make these impressive  vegetable stacks.

• Dip slices into a tempura batter, pan fry and serve with a dipping sauce of soy and rice vinegar.
• Add zucchini to pizza; raw, sautéed, grilled or roasted.
• Toss zucchini into almost any pasta dish.
• Lay slices on a quiche before baking or add it to a breakfast frittata.
• Make these pan fried zucchini fritters or create your own variation of vegetable fritters. Try half potato and half zucchini or another shredded vegetable, whatever sounds good to you

Let me know in the comments below what you’re making with zucchini.