2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative Recipe 3: Zucchini Patties

Still hungry for delicious nude & eco-cheap dinners for less than $11.50?  Good, because today we’re making

Egg Topped Zucchini Patties With Bacon!

Egg Topped Zucchini Patties
Egg Topped Zucchini Patties

So, wait, what is this 2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative you may ask?  Well, the constantly amazing gardener extraordinare Shawna Coronado has been doing her thang in her garden and flooding my kitchen with delicious nude vegetables (in other words free from harsh chemicals) and I turn them into delicious dinners for a family of four costing less than $11.50.  Of course, when making these dinners, I get to raid her garden for whatever ingredients she has and I get cooking oil, flour, salt, and pepper, but it’s still a challenge.  And hopefully it’s one you all are enjoying!

So, wait, what then are zucchini patties?  Glad you asked!  Zucchini patties are patties made from shredded zucchini mixed with onions, sometimes carrots, spices, and breadcrumbs to make a delicious patty kind of like a crabcake.  Sans the crab, of course!  (Though I baked some for about an hour and they tasted like crabcakes.  Cool, huh?)

Want to make them?

Making The Zucchini Patties and Their Egg Topping

Zucchini From Shawna Coronado's Garden
Zucchini From Shawna Coronado's Garden

Zucchini patties are very simple to make.  Just shread the veggies with a box grater, mix the ingredients and cook.  Even better, they are very versatile when it comes to how they are cooked.  You can deep fry them, bake them, or you can pan fry them like I did.  In fact, since I served these patties with bacon I, of course, cooked the patties in bacon grease, but you can use olive oil if you would prefer to keep it vegetarian!  (Or you know, healthy.)

You will need:

  • 1 large zucchini or 2 smaller ones
  • 1 yellow onion (75 cents)
  • (optional) 1 carrot (25 cents)
  • 7 eggs ($1.50) (divided)
  • 1/4 cup light mayonnaise ($2.00)
  • 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (25 cents)
  • 2 tablespoons each garlic powder and dried oregano (50 cents)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs ($1.25)
  • 12 strips of bacon (3 per person) ($5.00)

For a total of exactly $11.50, making this my most expensive meal yet.  Darn bacon is expensive!!

To assemble this dinner:

Vegetables After Shredding, Before Anything Has Been Added
Vegetables After Shredding, Before Anything Has Been Added

Shred the zucchini, onion, and carrots.  Place in a bowl with 3 of the eggs, the mayo, parmesan cheese, spices, salt, flour, and panko.  Mix will with a fork or with your fists.  Let it sit.

Ove medium high heat, cook the bacon and reserve the grease.  As you cook your bacon, preheat your broiler to 350 degrees.

Now, it’s time to cook the patties.  First, get a skillet warm over medium-medium-high heat (no, that’s not a typo, there’s a notch between medium and medium high, there’s your sweet spot.  Trust me, I’m a professional. ;))  Then add about two tablespoons of bacon grease and swirl it around the pan.  Scoop out four patties each consisting of about a tablespoon of patty mix and put them on the skillet.  Use a spatula to pat them down so they are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.  (Yes, I am being precise, but that’s because of the trail of ruined patties in my … well … stomach, but better mine that yours or your families’!)

Cook 4 minutes to a side and then flip.  Use a spoon to put an indention in each patty and crack an egg on top of each one.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put in the broiler until the whites have set.  Start checking after 3 minutes.

Transfer the be-egged patties to a plate, sprinkle with some of Shawna’s freshly chopped basil and serve with bacon.  And then you must enjoy!

Get healthy today and follow the “2009 Nude & Eco-Cheap Cooking Initiative” with Blog Well Done’s Chris Perrin and the Casual Gardener, Shawna Coronado.

 

Baked (Lower) vs. Pan Fried (Top) Zucchini Patties
Baked (Lower) vs. Pan Fried (Top) Zucchini Patties

Note:

 

 

  1. I actually made my version with spring onions instead of a white onion, but finding spring onions is tough when they’re not in season.  However, if you can find some, use a garlic press to mince the onions, and then thinly slice the greens.  I have to tell you, it was worth it.  I much preferred the fresh spring onion over the more plain yellow onion.
  2. You can also make the patties in the over for 35 minutes before broiling the egg, but they just aren’t as crispy or tasty.

Thanks to Shawna for the pic of the zucchini!

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