My husband and I are on this vegan kick lately. How did we come up with this idea you might ask? Well, since we are planning a long weekend in Rome later this month, we thought we would indulge even more on our mini holiday, if we dedicated ourselves to being healthy for one full month prior to eating pounds of pasta and immense amounts of cheese.
Never would I have thought that I might actually enjoy “being” vegan. I must say, it takes some time getting used to, but once you got over the hump its smooth sailing from then on out. However, I think there should be a disclaimer for all of you who usually rely on takeout and use your kitchen more for décor, the vegan lifestyle may not be for you. Take my husband for example, he barely can cook an egg. If he did this on his own, he would probably eat spaghetti with tomato sauce all day long. I on the other hand loved the challenge. I was not going to allow the month go by where we suffer on bland food.
I am not someone who toots their own horn, but if I can get my McDonalds’s, Big Mac eating husband to actually prefer a healthy black bean burger instead, every extra effort was worth it.
One of the meals that I made for dinner were these Zucchini fritters. They are so easy and simple to make and are full of flavour. They are perfect to have as a side to a salad or you can even make smaller versions of them and have them as a small snack at a dinner party.
I needed a sauce to go to the zucchini fritters, and I love spicy, so I made this quick vegan jalapeño cream. The spicy jalapeño, with the creamy mayo and burst of zest from the lemon blended in so nicely and gave it that extra kick I was looking for.
Vegan Zucchini Fritters
2 large zucchini, grated
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
280g canned corn
3 small white onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 red chili, diced
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying (i.e. sunflower oil)
Grate your zucchini and place into a large bowl. You do not need to strain the excess water, as this liquid will be used to make the batter.
Add corn, onions, garlic, chili, cayenne pepper, cumin, dried thyme, salt and pepper and mix. Once mixed add in your flour. Mix until you have a batter like consistency. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. If your batter is too runny, just add more flour and let it rest again.
In a large frying pan add your oil and allow it to get hot. Take a spoonful of your mixture to the oil and even out your batter (almost like making pancakes). Once browned, flip and brown on the other side. Each side, depending on the size of your fritters should take about 5 minutes. If the browning is too quick and your fritters are still raw, turn down the heat a bit.
Once browned on both sides, remove from the pan. If they are too oily for your liking, you can place them on kitchen roll paper to remove any excess oil prior to plating.
Continue the same process until your batter is completely used up, and enjoy these tasty little treats.
Spicy Jalapeño Cream
½ cup glassed jalapeño
1 lemon, juice
½ cup vegan mayo (or any mayo you prefer, you can even use aioli if you want some garlic in your sauce)
Salt and pepper to taste
In a small mixer, add all of your ingredients and blend until you reach your desired consistency. If the sauce is too thin, add either more mayo for a creamier texture, or more jalapeño for more texture.