baking · Cookbooks · cooking · Dinner

Baked Zucchini Fries and Homemade Ketchup

I have a habit when reading cookbooks to find something I hadn’t thought of trying before…and this was a fun recipe. Baked zucchini fries with a crispy & spicy coating and nearly no oil added. I came across this in the recently released Taste of Home: Cooking School Cookbook: 400 + Simple to Spectacular Recipes on page 54. I doubled the recipe because hey, I like zucchini and we had 3 to serve for lunch. They went perfectly with our sandwiches and I am sure would go with veggie burgers just as nicely. Be sure to serve with a homemade ketchup (see below) or marinara sauce on the side for dipping. I also used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and cut the salt in half.

I’ll be honest – the book is put together nicely, brimming with recipes but overall I couldn’t use most of them. Taste of Home tends to run to “middle of America” style of food. 5 years ago I’d have been in love with the book. Now? Not very much. The book is heavy on meat recipes and while it has a vegetarian section the recipes are heavy on cheese and eggs. Still, it has nice fruit and vegetable recipes if one chooses wisely – and avoids the ones calling for processed ingredients.

Walker enjoyed the baked fries, he had two large servings – quite a bit for a 2-year-old! I will be trying the Parsnip Fries recipe soon…..

Baked Zucchini Fries (Doubled)

Ingredients:

  • 4 small zucchini
  • 2 egg whites
  • ½ cup white whole wheat flour
  • 6 Tbsp cornmeal
  • 1 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° and spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Wash and dry the zucchini, trim the ends and cut into 3″ long by ½” wide pieces.

Add the egg whites to a pie pan or plate, whisk gently. Add the dry ingredients to a second pie pan or plate.

Dip the zucchini in the egg white, then dredge in the flour mix. Place on the prepared sheet, spritz with cooking spray and bake for 18 to 25 minutes, flipping over gently halfway through, spritzing again after flipping.

Serves 3 to 4.

~Sarah

 

I have tried ketchup recipes and ideas quite a bit recently. I like how this turned out, it is thick with texture. And it takes almost no cooking time, most ketchup takes an hour or two to cook down. And last but not least…it is a small batch. No need to use up a quart or more of it!

Homemade Ketchup

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounce can tomato paste, preferably organic
  • 2 3.5 ounce packs stage 2 baby carrots, preferably organic (we used Gerber, it comes in a 2 pack or use 2 4-ounce jars)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 Tbsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced (2 cloves)
  • ½ tsp onion powder (not onion salt)
  • ½ tsp dry mustard
  • ¼ tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into a medium saucepan, stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn down to medium-low, loosely cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool a bit and pack into a sterile 1 pint canning jar, store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1½ cups.

FTC Disclaimer: We received a copy for potential review.

3 thoughts on “Baked Zucchini Fries and Homemade Ketchup

  1. I have a feeling my daughter will thank you for this recipe. I’ve ten trying to get her on the zucchini train – tough fight, but I’m still in it, so we’ll give this one a go.

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