Zucchini Nuggets

Kids can be very challenging, especially when they want junk-food. I was babysitting the other night and I did the dumbest thing: I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner. What a novice move...the minute I did it, I knew I had committed a cardinal sin....because of course the kids shouted the M-word...McDonald's.

I refuse to feed kids fast-food. It's a moral thing. I just can't do it. It's my health rule of thumb.

So when kids want junk, I like to try and offer quick and yummy alternatives. I like to serve zucchini nuggets (with a side of my sweet potato fries) because kids can eat them with their hands and they are just greasy enough to seem like a treat.

Food Challenge #8

Zucchini Nuggets

Ingredients

3 small zucchini, grated $2
2 cups coarse bread crumbs $2
2 Tbsp flour
2 eggs $1
1/2 cup cheese (cheddar, jack, whatever you like) $2
canola oil for frying

Total Cost: $7

In a large bowl, combine zucchini, crumbs, flour, eggs, and cheese. You want the mixture to have a meatball-like quality to it.

Heat up a small amount of canola oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Gather up scoops of the zucchini mixture, slightly smaller than a golf ball. Mush the ball in your hands a few times until the mixture is really holding together, and then flatten into a nugget shape. After all the nuggets are formed, cook them in batches.

I cooked them "low and slow" - about 4 to 5 minutes per side, over medium-low heat - to let them get nice and golden. This made about 20 nuggets.