Zucchini chickpea flour fritters

My backyard is exploding with zucchini--it's the perfect time to stop eating meat! This fritter recipe is basically a pan-fried pile of shredded zucchini with the minimum amount of flour to hold it together. I took a cue from Indian cuisine and employed chickpea flour. Chickpea flour is quite literally ground up dried chickpeas. It's awesome because it is high in protein and fiber, lower in carbs than wheat flour, gluten-free, and cheap! It also has a neat property in which it binds like eggs, so this recipe can be vegan! I've written about my love for this flour before, in my three-ingredient chickpea flour flatbread recipe. It has a slightly nutty flavor that pairs perfectly with zucchini.

This recipe is very flexible and can be spiced up in all different ways. I had a bunch of garden herbs to harvest, so I threw those in. Your choice of dried herbs is fine. It would play well with curry powder. There are an infinite number of toppings: squeeze of lemon, yogurt, goat cheese, chutney, smoked salmon. If you can't be bothered to flip individual zucchini fritters, you could also just spread the batter in the bottom of a pan, bake it, and call it a galette! Sounds fancy, right?

Zucchini chickpea flour fritters
2 T olive oil

1 1/2 pounds zucchini (about 2 medium-large zucchini), grated
3/4 t table salt
1 cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 T minced garlic
3 T fresh herbs (I used basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and lavender) or 2 t dried herbs (herbes de provence or Italian seasoning recommended) or 1 T curry powder
pepper or lemon pepper
1 1/2 t lemon juice (optional)

Salt the grated zucchini and allow to drain in a strainer for at least 10 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients. When zucchini is ready, press excess water through strainer with a spoon. Stir it in with the rest of the ingredients. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet (cast iron is great here) on medium heat. Use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to scoop batter into mounds in pan. Squish the mounds to 1/2 inch thick with the back of a spatula. Cook on med heat until browned on each side and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Makes about 8 pancakes. 

Alternatively, to make one large galette, preheat oven to 450 and spread batter into single thin layer in a large oven-safe skillet. Bake 20-30 minutes, until browned and cooked through.