Sweet Potato Zucchini Fritters

I have a lot of cookbooks. Are you surprised? Whenever I go to a yard sale or a used bookstore (or even a new bookstore), I look through the cookbook section to see what there is to be seen. There are so many choices, it's hard to know which ones are kitchy and which ones are legit. On a given night, you could easily find me curled up on my couch with my cat, a glass of wine, and my cookbooks spread out before me. I like to look through them to see what I haven't made yet and what might strike my fancy.

When I first got Joy the Baker's first cookbook, I went through and put a sticky tab on the recipes I wanted to try--until I realized I was tabbing every page, then I gave up. As I looked through it recently, I realized that my tastes have changed over the last few years. While every cupcake and cookie recipe has been tabbed, I had overlooked her recipe for zucchini fritters. What once sounded too green and healthy, now sounded delicious.

So I gave them a whirl. Also in this age of rediscovery was the caramel sauce I created a few weeks ago (burnt fingers not included). Instead of using potato though, I switched it for sweet potato. It takes some time to shred these vegetables and I think my ratio was more favoring the sweet potato but that's okay. You can also try these straight-up zucchini cakes if you don't have starches on hand.

The vegetables are grated and drained of liquid, as much as possible. You can either place the vegetables in a colander to drain for a few minutes or squeeze them through a paper towel. Combine the vegetables in a small bowl and set aside.

We're also doing some chopping here. Chop about half of a white onion and a clove of garlic. In a medium skillet, heat some olive oil and add the onions and garlic. Saute until the onions are translucent. Remove from heat and add the garlic-onions to the vegetables.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, flour and baking powder. Add the remaining ingredients (vegetables and garlic-onions) and stir to combine. Using the same skillet as before, heat some oil and drop the batter by the spoonful into the pan. Flatten with a spatula or fork.

Fry each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Just like with pancakes, you're starting with a higher heat and can then reduce the flame as the oil is heated so you can cook through to the middle without burning the outside.

I served these up with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt but you can also use sour cream, potentially guacamole.

Recipe

• Olive oil for frying
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups zucchini, grated
• 2 cups peeled sweet potato, grated
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Plain Greek yogurt for serving

1.  Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to a medium skillet. Heat and then add garlic and onion. Saute until the onion is translucent. 
2. When grating the zucchini, allow to drain of water either through a strainer or using paper towels. Combine the grated potato and zucchini into a small bowl.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. 
4. Add the cooked onions, garlic to the egg-flour mixture. Stir in the vegetables. 
5. Once combined, add oil to the pan (the same one used for the onions) and drop spoonfuls of batter to fry. You can flatten the cakes by pressing down with a spatula.
6. Cook until golden brown and flip.
7. Serve with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.