One of my goals for this year is to eat less meat and many more veggies. I do struggle with this, because I do love meat, but I am determined! Often to the frustration of the mega-meat eaters in this household!
Consequently it's quite rare that we actually have Meatless Monday. It's usually Meatless-any-night-but-Monday. Harder to predict that way [insert evil cackle].
This dish was inspired by JJ, my friend and fellow food blogger [over at
84th & 3rd]. JJ frequently posts beautiful photos of corn fritters, and every time she does I tell her I will be making them. So finally I am!
What I love about this dish is its flexibility. I've added leek [because they were languishing in the veggie crisper], but you could easily add mushrooms, capsicums, red onion or zucchini [which I had intended to add until I realised there were none in the fridge!] instead. I'm fairly sure hubby wishes I'd added some bacon as he isn't a huge fan of meatless meals. But he is getting used to them. Or he will do...
What you need:
2-3 leeks, washed and sliced
splash of olive oil
420g can of corn, drained
250g ricotta
30-40g parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg
1 tbs flour
bit of basil, shredded
pepper to taste
splash of tabasco [optional, but I add it to most things]
What you do:
Gently fry the leeks in the olive oil on a low-ish heat until softened. This only took about 2-3 minutes.
In a large-ish bowl add the corn, ricotta, cooked leeks, parmesan, egg, flour, basil, pepper and tabasco if using. I deliberately didn't add salt as I find parmesan quite salty, but you might want a bit. Mix well.
Heat a non-stick frypan [or a bit of oil in a sticky-pan] to medium hot. I use a non-stick teppanyaki plate that is part of my stove. THE best thing ever!
When hot, blob on spoonfuls of fritter. I was quite generous and this made 9 fritters [but one was quite small]. Cook until it's brown [4-5 minutes], then carefully flip over [I used two spatulas for this] to cook the other side. You might need to turn the heat down if they are thick, so they cook through without burning.
I served this with my favourite Mexican bean and corn salad as I had leftovers from the weekend [it's basically black beans, corn, tomato, red onion, red capsucim, coriander, lime juice, tabasco]. You could serve it with any salad or with steamed veg.
I'll be having a leftover fritter or two for breakfast tomorrow with an egg. And maybe a bit of bacon. YUM!
This serves 4, unless you are hungry [or a bit greedy], then it serves 3.
I'm always seeking meatless meal inspiration - please, please share your favourites.
