For the longest time I had always wanted to make little vegetable cakes/ fritters, but had strayed away from it because most recipes that I had looked at had contained eggs, which I was avoiding at the time. But within the past 6 to 7 months, I have tried reintroducing eggs back into my diet and have decided that I feel okay having them every once in a while in recipes, not all alone. In particular, I do better with egg whites, so I try to just use the whites when possible. Thus my inspiration for this recipe came from a nostalgic desire to recreate some type of veggie cake/fritter and the ingredients in my fridge.
If you follow my blog or have explored my recipe archives, you may have noticed I have a few favored ingredients: zucchini, kale, bacon, cilantro, and garlic. Well this recipe just happens to have all of those things combined into one delicious cake.
If you follow my blog or have explored my recipe archives, you may have noticed I have a few favored ingredients: zucchini, kale, bacon, cilantro, and garlic. Well this recipe just happens to have all of those things combined into one delicious cake.
Working with the mixture and forming the cakes, I will admit, is a little finicky. Some possible variations on the recipe that I have thought of would be "ricing" the zucchini noodles in a food processor after you've spiralized them to make them not as long and hence a little easier to work with. My other suggestion would be using 2 whole eggs instead of just egg whites if you can tolerate them okay. My final idea would be adding a little bit (1 tablespoon?) of some type of thickener in there like tapioca starch or arrowroot powder to help hold it together better. However, those variations are not necessary, you just have to be patient when flipping the cakes and make sure that they've been cooked together enough before you flip them over. Otherwise you won't end up with zucchini cakes and will end up with something in between a zucchini stir fry and scrambled eggs.
After some patty caking and flipping, voila, you have yielded the final product (see below). I would eat these along side meat or a salad. They would also be great as an appetizer or mid afternoon snack. You could even eat them for breakfast with some roasted potatoes. As you can see, they are a very versatile dish!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2
The Ingredients:
*** to "dry" the zucchini, this simply means to try and remove as much liquid from the zucchini as possible, since they tend to be a very aqueous vegetable. I take a metal sieve with tiny holes, place the zucchini noodles inside and cover it with a paper towel and then hold it over a sink while I press down in order to squeeze any excess water out.
The Creation:
1. Begin by cooking the 2 strips of bacon in a skillet on medium heat. Cook until crispy. This should take between 7-10 minutes depending on how hot your stove is. Periodically flip the bacon to ensure even cooking. Once bacon is done, set aside and save the bacon grease (leave in the pan, to be used in step 3).
2. Meanwhile, mix the egg whites, garlic, salt, cilantro, umeboshi paste, and ground sunflower seeds together.
4. Next crunch or cut the bacon strips into little bits. Afterwards add the bacon, kale, and spiralized zucchini to the egg mixture. Stir so that the egg mix is evenly spread throughout the zucchini.
3. Now it's time to utilize the leftover bacon grease from step one. Place the pan back on the stove over medium heat and prepare a small flat zucchini cake about the size of your palm (view photos above for guidance). Place two cakes in the pan at once and allow to cook on one side for 2 minutes. Next, flip both the cakes and let the other side cook for 2 minutes. Cakes are done when they form a single unit and do not fall apart when flipped. Continue to do this until you have used all of the mixture. If all of the bacon grease dries up and you still have remaining mixture, try adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan to finish the job. Should make about 6 cakes. Consider serving with dijon mustard or an almond sauce.
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2
The Ingredients:
- 2 strips of bacon
- 2 egg whites
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon of cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon umeboshi paste
- 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds, grinded (I used a coffee grinder)
- 2 stalks of dinosaur kale, finely chopped
- 1 zucchini, spiralized, and dried***
- extra olive oil (optional)
*** to "dry" the zucchini, this simply means to try and remove as much liquid from the zucchini as possible, since they tend to be a very aqueous vegetable. I take a metal sieve with tiny holes, place the zucchini noodles inside and cover it with a paper towel and then hold it over a sink while I press down in order to squeeze any excess water out.
The Creation:
1. Begin by cooking the 2 strips of bacon in a skillet on medium heat. Cook until crispy. This should take between 7-10 minutes depending on how hot your stove is. Periodically flip the bacon to ensure even cooking. Once bacon is done, set aside and save the bacon grease (leave in the pan, to be used in step 3).
2. Meanwhile, mix the egg whites, garlic, salt, cilantro, umeboshi paste, and ground sunflower seeds together.
4. Next crunch or cut the bacon strips into little bits. Afterwards add the bacon, kale, and spiralized zucchini to the egg mixture. Stir so that the egg mix is evenly spread throughout the zucchini.
3. Now it's time to utilize the leftover bacon grease from step one. Place the pan back on the stove over medium heat and prepare a small flat zucchini cake about the size of your palm (view photos above for guidance). Place two cakes in the pan at once and allow to cook on one side for 2 minutes. Next, flip both the cakes and let the other side cook for 2 minutes. Cakes are done when they form a single unit and do not fall apart when flipped. Continue to do this until you have used all of the mixture. If all of the bacon grease dries up and you still have remaining mixture, try adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan to finish the job. Should make about 6 cakes. Consider serving with dijon mustard or an almond sauce.