Guest Blogger: Fridge Drawer Croquettes: Eggplant Parmigiana meets Zucchini Fritters

So creative! Enjoy...

Fridge Drawer Croquettes: Eggplant Parmigiana meets Zucchini Fritters While I was pondering how to make lunch using half an eggplant, the kids were emptying out the produce drawers of my refrigerator in preparation for today's farm pick-up. Turned out we had a squash hiding in there, and a lot more carrots than I knew about. Still had a bit of that tasty summer onion, too. We chopped those veggies all up and fixed some croquettes, loosely following a recipe at All Recipes for eggplant croquettes.

I served them with leftovers of last night's balsamic caprese salad. I ate more than I should have, and even the one year old cleared his plate. I'm not sure these are technically croquettes, since I think the breadcrumbs go on the outside for those. I also don't usually use store-bought bread crumbs, but I happened to have some and they sure were tasty!

I'd like to try an Asian flair version with some water chestnuts and mushrooms, and maybe some with corn for sweetness.

Vegetable Croquettes

4 cups finely diced vegetables (I used 1/2 eggplant, 1 large squash, and 2 small carrots)

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup dry seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)

salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano to taste

oil for frying

Microwave (or steam) the diced vegetables for two minutes, then stir and cook another one to two minutes. Drain off liquid. Add the onion, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning. It will be messy!

Heat a very thin layer of oil in a nonstick pan. I imagine you'd need more oil in a regular pan, but I got away with not even covering the bottom of the pan.

Drop tablespoons of mixture gently into the pan, and immediately reshape into pancakes using the spoon or (carefully!) your fingers. Cook until golden to medium brown, then flip and repeat.