Fried zucchini that ain't fried?
 

A friend just blessed me with a bunch of zucchini and my own is coming in in my garden. I cook zucchini lots of healthy ways, but I recall once having "fried zucchini" with Ranch dressing and my mouth still waters at the thought of it. Does anyone here make a healthier version? What's the recipe?

For lunch, I just cooked up two smallish zucchini in a little olive oil with salt/pepper/and a bit of dried herbs. At the end I added some fresh tomatoes, and a little garlic. It was delicious. If you wanted to cut some more calories, you could cook it with Pam instead, but this was a lot of food for a little over 100 calories (and I needed the "good fat")

Of course, there's no ranch dressing in my recipe!

try coating it with some kind of bread crumb and then baking it instead of frying it. There are healthy ways to acheive that "fried" taste...I'm not big on fried anything.

We've been overrun with zucchini this summer, so I've experimented with things that remind me of fried zucchini but aren't fried.

I slice zucchinis very thin using a mandoline slicer. I take a cookie sheet covered with foil, spray the foil lightly with pam (I actually use a misto sprayer filled with olive oil but either one works), lay the zucchinis on the foil, spray them again with pam, sprinkle them with mrs. dash type seasoning and lightly sprinkle them with parmesan cheese. I bake them until they start getting brown usually at 400 unless I'm cooking it with something else that needs to be lower. I like this very crispy, until they almost look burnt. I can eat these like I used to eat potato chips. :)

I also have cut my zucchinis into steak cut fries, dipped them in an eggbeater/water batter, then lightly rolled them in panko bread crumbs seasoned with garlic powder. Put them on a cookie sheet and spritz them with pam. I never time how long it takes, I just know how I want them to look. I always measure out my panko ahead of time, so I know that this is all I get, because the calories on it could add up more than the other ingredients. The panko makes it very crispy and I enjoy these with a low fat ranch dressing.

I actually saw the other night on the food channel that properly frying food doesn't actually retain that much oil. Alton Brown did a show on it and stated that a whole chicken cut up and fried correctly only retains a TABLESPOON of oil... I am not a fan of frying but I thought the show was an eye opener.. Here is a link to read all about it

http://www.bigdaddyskitchen.com/Reso...Number%204.htm

Hungry Girl has a recipe:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chew....php?isid=1276

It takes such precise control of the frying temperature to prevent food from getting oily, and such precise timing...literally, if you wait seconds too long after your food is done cooking, it'll get oily...that only a pro (or someone with a lot of skill/practice) can acheive those "1 tsp." results.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the Alton Brown article said it was a tablespoon, or 3 teaspoons (still not a terrible amount at about 120 calories). And that is going to vary tremendously not only on the temperature and skill of the person frying, but also how thick the batter. The more surface area (nooks and crannies) the more oil. Also, in frying food, it's not just the oil that contributes to the higher calorie count, but the breading itself. A thicker batter or breading can add considerably more calories from fat and carbs than a thin one (consider comparing KFC's original recipe to their extra crispy), making a piece of thickly breaded chicken often may contain more than twice the fat and calories of a similar piece of thinly coated chicken and up to 3 or more times as many caloried of the same piece of chicken broiled with the skin removed (before or after cooking).


I tend to avoid frying, not so much for the calorie savings, but to avoid the time and mess in the kitchen.

One of my favorite "oven fried" methods is to coat veggie or meat pieces in light ranch dressing. Drain, and shake in a bag of flavored bread crumbs (often I reduce the carbs by using wheat germ, crushed fiber one cereal, soy flour or almond meal in place of some or all of the bread crumbs). Then I bake at about 400 degrees.


place of some of the breadcrumbs).

Zuchinni is also good sliced, lightly brushed or sprayed with oil and grilled on the BBQ. You can season it as you would garlic bread (a little garlic salt and parmesan)

Good ideas!

This recipe for Zucchini Oven Chips from Cooking Light is really tasty. Just be careful not to slice the zucchini too thin, or the slices won't hold up well. I use a tape measure for the first couple of slices

Yes but your not going to eat a whole chicken.. so that 120 calories isn't much at all. If 4 people were eating it that is only 30 calories...

I have fried some awhile back using egg whites and some ground flax seed with a bunch of spices and it came out okay. I made it more for my hubby but I had a few slices :)

I haven't tried it - but you could probably coat with Panko Breadcrumbs and bake them?

Yep, the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon is almost inconsequential. I can just be anal sometimes about details. And I think the devil IS in the details in this regard, because you have to follow Alton's detailed instructions carefully, to get his results.

I think it is important to realize that fried chicken usually has a LOT more than 30 extra calories over baked, skin removed. Up to 300 extra calories for a large breast. A good part of those calories are the skin, and even if you're a master fryer and get those 30 calories from fat, there's still the ingredients of the batter. If you're careful, and follow Alton's steps and use a VERY light batter, you can get good results.

In my experience though, deep frying tends to result in less absorbtion of fat than pan frying, but pan frying is what most people will do at home. Also, most people will not fry chicken at home, because it's messy - they'll eat out. And when eating out, it's a lot harder to know if the frying was done "properly," or what is in the batter.

When I eat out, if I can't find much "safe" to eat on the menu, I will pick the fried chicken and take off the skin and batter (maybe with a small nibble or two).

I do agree that a person doesn't have to be "paranoid" about fried foods, or any food for that matter. Any one food, eaten rarely to occasionally does not make or break a weight loss plan. However, if a person interprets Alton's results as "I can eat as much fried foods as I want, because all fried foods are nearly equal in calorie to baked, broiled...." they could seriously derail a diet - especially if they aren't following his directions to get the specified results.

And to get Alton's results, you have to use a very thin coating (not really a true batter, because that can add a LOT of calories and absorb more fat), follow all his steps to cook the right amount of time at the right temperature and DRAIN, DRAIN, DRAIN (and blot too).

I love the wheat germ suggestion. I wonder if anything with a bread crumb consistency would work, like maybe mix in some ground flax ... I know what I'm having for dinner tonight.

Wish there was something healthy to dip them in.