Savory Zucchini Fritters

These zucchini fritters are so tasty we ate them all up for dinner the other night. Super-fresh zucchini has flooded the stores - it's a glorious time of year for vegetable lovers.

One year we had a perfect storm of conditions to grow tons of zucchini and cucumbers. Every Friday night we had "Drinks on the Drive" with our neighbors, and we got to begging them to take some more zucchini home. Eventually they didn't even look at the baskets we pulled out, but we still had piles to give away. One night after everyone had gone home, we walked around the 'hood and dropped off veggies on everyone's front steps. No one ever mentioned it, lol!

Marjoram is one of my favorite herbs. It tastes like a blend of mild oregano and sweet lavender. It adds a nice subtle extra flavor to these zucchini patties.

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, grated
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chives, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 large egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
About 1/3 cup vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Toss the zucchini with the salt and let it sit for about 10 minutes. This will draw the water out of the zucchini, which will make the fritters crisp rather than soggy. Place the zucchini in a towel or cheesecloth and wring out any remaining water. You'll probably be surprised how much water you'll get out of it. We squeezed about a half cup out of ours.

Stir the rest of the ingredients, except the oil, into the zucchini. If you want to fry the fritters in a skillet, heat some of the oil in a pan, then dip several spoonfuls of fritter batter into the pan. Don't crowd them while cooking them on each side until crisp.

If you want to bake the fritters, you will need less oil and you can cook them all at once. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and brush a baking sheet with oil. Spoon the batter onto the pan, then brush the tops of each fritter patty with oil. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the bottom side is browned and crispy, then flip over and brown the other side until done.

These are really tasty topped with a bit of sour cream, but just as good on their own.

Serves 4-6.