long, lazy summer days call for simple, produce-centric meals.

i love spending weekends gobbling up as many colors as i can. heirloom tomatoes topped with flaky sea salt. watermelon with handfuls of fresh mint. cucumbers with avocado and dill.

what are your favorite farmers market finds? summer squash is one of mine.

every june, zucchini and its friends burst onto the farm stand and backyard garden scene in abundance. i love cooking them with eggs, putting them in dumpling filling, and baking them into quick breads. i have delicious memories of my grandma cooking them up with noodles for a breakfast noodle soup.

lately, i’ve renewed my love for zucchini in the form of fritters.

crispy and light on the outside, full of oniony and garlicy goodness on the inside. i like to serve them hot, sometimes with a dollop of cold yogurt. for extra fancy summertime vibes, i garnish with some freshly picked herbs.

best of all, they’re super simple and super fast. this verison is also completely vegan thanks to sourdough discard.

notes

the final batter is fairly thick. to reduce the wateriness of the zucchini, i include two additional steps.

first, adding salt in the beginning will draw water out of the zucchini.
second, squeezing the water out will prevent the batter from becoming too runny. if your final batter still seems too watery or loose, just stir in a bit more flour.

as always, please adjust the recipe to suit your starter’s hydration. as a reminder, i have a stiff starter at 80% hydration.

although you could bake these fritters, i strongly recommend frying them. in my experiments, they tasted way better, and the crispiness can’t be beat.

but you probably already knew i was gonna say that 😉

sourdough discard zucchini fritters

makes 6 small fritters

formula

200 g zucchini, grated (1 md to lg zucchini)
1/2 tsp salt
75 g onion, finely diced (1/4 of a large onion)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
65 g sourdough discard
1/4 tsp black pepper, to taste
neutral oil for frying or nonstick spray for baking

method

add shredded zucchini and salt to a medium sized bowl. cover and let sit for 10 min.
using a cheese cloth or with your hands over the sink or another bowl, squeeze out as much water from the zucchini as you can. a lot of water comes out! before squeezing my zucchini weighed ~200 g, and after squeezing it weighed ~125 g.
add the chopped onion, garlic powder, and black pepper to the bowl. mix thoroughly.
lastly, the add sourdough starter discard. combine until batter is thick and ingredients gel together.

to fry

using a cast iron skillet or another heavy bottom pan, heat a layer of neutral oil until hot. to test when oil is ready, drip a small droplet of water into the oil. if oil sizzles, the oil is hot enough to start frying.
drop 1/4 cup sized mounds into the sizzling oil, and flatten with a spatula to pancake thickness.
fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. flip with spatula, and repeat on the other side.
remove from oil, and set aside on a paper towel.

to serve

serve with a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt, along with fresh herbs like mint or dill!