The Back Yard Lemon Tree

I truly believe you can’t have too many fritter recipes up your sleeve. These chickpea and zucchini fritters from Donna Hay came about from google search when the only vegetables I had in the vegetable drawer was a lone zucchini and a bag of carrots. Because I am always prepared for the apocalypse I always have cans of chickpeas in my pantry but in case of catastrophe white beans would work perfectly well. Not only did I make these super good fritters with a bare cupboard I also used the bag of carrots to make these roasted miso carrots which were also completely awesome.

There is something very uber-hausfrau and satisfying about making a really delicious dinner when the cupboard is almost bare but you don’t have to wait for a scarcity event to make these fritters. They are the sort of recipe you can have on regular weeknight rotation. Quick and easy and you can have dinner on the table in no time. They also make excellent lunchbox leftovers the next day which I think is always something to consider for your midweek meal rotations.

Chickpea and zucchini fritters

• 1 x 440g (16oz) can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1 medium zucchini grated on a box grater
• 1 small red or green chilli (optional)
• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic finely minced or grated on a microplaner
• 2 large eggs
• zest of half a lemon (add to grated zucchini)
• 1 handful of fresh dill ( about 1/4 of a cup chopped) substitute coriander, parsley or basil if that’s what you have.
• 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of self raising flour or (use gluten free flour mixed with a teaspoon of baking powder )
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup of crumbled feta or grated cheddar (Optional)
• Lemon wedges to serve

1. Place drained chickpeas in food, process, take care not to over process they should still be slightly chunky. If you haven’t got a food processor mash with a potato masher.
2. Place chickpeas in a bowl with the zucchini, chilli, garlic, eggs, salt. pepper, herbs, milk and cheese (if using) in a large bowl and mix well. Add a 1/3 of a cup of flour and add extra if the mixture is too wet.
3. Heat a 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick pan. Use a ice cream scoop to drop about 1/4 cup of the mix onto the pan. Flatten fritters slightly and cook until golden on both sides. About 1-2 minutes on each side.

Serve with lemon wedges.