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I really think the biggest part about learning to cook is to truly use everything you have in your refrigerator before it goes to waste. The second necessary ingredient is some creativity.  I guess it is kind of like Chopped (The Food Channel) but a little bit simpler.  In this case, I started with just one ingredient.  I was having my parents over for dinner and I wanted to make this pretty healthy.  I have seen many pics of people who have made these in to fries and that is what I did.  Simple bread and oven bake to create these Healthy Crispy Breaded Zucchini & Squash fries.  They turn out really crisp and not oily.
Ingredients (adapted from Tyler Florence):
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (16-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
Pinch sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Directions (my daughter put this together so I am giving you Tyler’s exact recipe):
Coat a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of the oil and warm over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until soft. Add the crushed tomatoes and sugar; season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat up slightly to medium and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the basil and the remaining olive oil.
Ingredients (adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie):
- 1/2 each zucchini and yellow squash, sliced into fry shapes
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup milk of choice
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Preheat oven to 420F. Lightly grease a cooling rack, place it on a baking tray, and set aside. Set up an assembly line: flour and spices in one bowl, milk and egg in another, and Panko breadcrumbs in a third.
Dip each zucchini stick in the flour, then the milk, then the breadcrumbs. Place on the cooling rack.
Bake 18-19 minutes, or until desired crispness is reached. Enjoy!
I am wondering if the ingredients list for the fries themselves is missing an ingredient or two. The instructions call for putting the “flour and spices” in a bowl, but the only spice I see on te list is salt. I substituted an air fryer for the oven and the fries came out nice and crispy but rather bland. They are much better with the dipping sauce.
Thx for finding the recipe. I made this so long ago that I am not positive but your question is a good one. Funnily, I have been making these again recently and I had not made them in a long time. You can certainly add spices of choice to the flour dredge to add some more flavor. I focus on the dipping sauce for the real punch. So this last weekend I made them and served them with a red pepper sauce and a chipotles in adobo aioli. I actually tried homemade mayo as the binder instead of eggs and that worked really well. I hope this helps.
I absolutely ADORE zucchini this way! Yours looks so delicious!
Thx Brandi. It is surprisingly crunchy prepared this way. Hope you are feeling better!
Those look and sound incredible! Zucchini fries, yummy!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow