Dear Kaki,

This is just a post to say that it’s summer and zucchini as big as your arm are everywhere and you should whip up these tots and eat them with chopsticks and dip them in ketchup.

That’s what I did.

Zucchini Tots

adapted from SkinnyTaste*

makes about 28 2-bite tots

Ingredients

• 3 cups zucchini, shredded**
• 3 eggs
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 cup shredded Colby-Jack or Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs (Panko, seasoned, whatever you have), and more to add if mixture is too wet
• 1 tablespoon herb-blend of your choosing (Italian seasoning would be great; I used the Wash Park All-Purpose Blend from Savory Spice Shop)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste

*Yes, my adaptation makes these significantly less healthy, in that I upped the amount of cheese quite a bit.  If you’re watching your cheese intake, I’d go with the original recipe.

**You could of course do it by hand with a box grater, but since we all know I’m the proud new owner of a food processor, I gotta say to use that if you’ve got one.  So much quicker and easier.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425*F.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. We need to get the excess liquid out of the zucchini.  Place one cup of the shredded zucchini on a double-layer of paper towels.  Wrap the corners of the paper towels around the zucchini to form a bundle.  Over a medium bowl gently but firmly*** squeeze the bundle to extract as much liquid as possible****.  Unwrap the now dry zucchini shreds and dump them into a large mixing bowl.  Repeat with the other two cups of zucchini.

***Gently so as not to tear the paper towels too much.  Firmly to get all the liquid out.  Or you could use cheesecloth for this step, in which case you can ignore the “gently” part of the instruction.

****Save the zucchini liquid to add to a beverage, like a nice iced green tea or a Moscow Mule.  It adds this smooth, savory quality… oh my word, so good.

3. In the large bowl that has the zucchini shreds, add the remaining ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine.

4. Scoop about a tablespoon of the mixture into your hand and squeeze your fist to compact the tot.  Shape it into a sort of oval-shape and place on the greased baking sheet*****.

*****You’re going to want to do this step pretty quickly.  Once the salt mixes with the zucchini it’ll start releasing its remaining juices, making the mixture soupier the longer it sits.  Don’t make this while making a bunch of other things that will distract you, is all I’m saying.

5. When all of the tots are formed bake them in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, flipping them over after the first 10-12 minutes.

I kept these in my fridge to heat up as a quick snack throughout the week.  They’d also be a great appetizer to a summer meal!

Enjoy, Kaki!

–Caitlin