Easy and delicious zucchini mint fritter

[UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to AnnaZed, lucky winner of the goat cheese basket!]

Sometimes, parenting feels like being an optimistic, wild, very patient gardener (as all gardeners must be), just walking across a fertile field and throwing seeds out there, trusting something good will grow. Or something useful. We don’t know what will grow first, or when, or how.

And so last night, Pablo was being particularly charming by saying ‘merci’ to us every time we handed him something, and absolutely sensing this little inner satisfaction any parent probably feels when they hear their kid say “thank you” spontaneously. As if it were proof of good parenting. Wish it were that simple!

Feeding off our validation, he happily went on, “Merci, maman. Merci, papa. Merci, mamette.” Then he paused and looked down at his plate (which happened to contain a warm plum chards goat cheese salad he really likes). And he said, “Merci, miam miam.” Thank you, yummy food.

It took me a couple of seconds past the cuteness factor to realize what Pablo had just expressed: he was grateful, for the food, for dinner.

Gratitude, that’s definitely one of those wild seeds to throw in the wind with no clue in what form it might grow in our children. I certainly wasn’t expecting it then. Made me feel so warm within.

One of the things I’ve been trying to do since the very beginning with Pablo, is create good food associations. Food equals pleasure, family connection, laughter, friends, interesting smells, discovery… And beyond that, hopefully, food is generosity, love, harmony with the body, with the world.

And gratitude and appreciation of a wonderful, ordinary moment of the day.

I heard the sprouts of that food association when Pablo said it. Now it’s just keep nurturing it and watch it grow more.

Speaking of gratitude, I am most grateful to Vermont Creamery for giving me an opportunity to come up with some recipes, using their wonderful goat cheeses, as part of their Kid & Kid Campaign, like the cherry gazpacho with herbed goat cheese I shared last week.

If you know this blog, you probably know that I don’t do kids’ foods. Pablo eats what we eat (or we eat what he eats!). Past 12-15 months, nothing’s off limits as far as I’m concerned. So these fritters are as close to a kid’s food as I’m ever going to get, and our whole family enjoyed them thoroughly.

I posted another fritter recipe last year and was so surprised at the response it got! People really like fritters! These zucchini mint goat cheese fritters are not only good, they’re good for you (thank you, coconut oil!), and they’re easy… But I shall rest my case now, because I bet I had you at “fritters” 😉

And with one treat comes another: presenting now my first giveaway! So, for a chance to win a Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery gift basket, with three different kinds of goat cheese and some vanilla crème fraîche, use the Rafflecopter tool below to enter in a variety of ways. The giveaway ends next Friday night.

And scroll below for the fritter recipe!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

31 thoughts on “Easy and delicious zucchini mint fritter

  1. Oh my goodness, he is precious! And I'll be buying zucchini at the market Sunday!

    Thank you for this blog, it is truly heartening and inspiring. 🙂

    1. Then I hope you win this prize, and give other goat cheeses a try, they are so delicious! 🙂

  2. Merci pour les recettes! We love goat cheese in our home! I have a 3 year old that eats everything we give her. She didn't care for goat cheese at first, but I didn't stop giving to her and used it in different ways and she now eats it with no problem!

  3. I love goat cheese! Being lactose-intolerant, goat cheese is one of my favorites. I mixed it in with quinoa and herbs this week. Goat Brie baked with berries is also delicious!

  4. I make an open faced toasted sandwich with ham, goat's cheese and radishes 9sounds horrible but is great!); I had one today!

    {in the contest I am Margot Core on the Rafflecopter}

  5. I confess: I love to be in the kitchen & have access to tremendous food (we are pesticide-free produce farmers & sell at a farmers market in Florida every Saturday). The lady who sold next to us yesterday sells raw milk & cheese. And yet…I have never tried goat cheese!! But, I will be buying some this week.

    I enjoy your blog very much. I follow a couple other food blogs but I love your European twist which exposes us to much more variety than some of my American bloggers. Thanks!

    1. Thank you for the kind words, Heather, I'm glad you-re enjoying the blog! Let me know what you think of the goat cheese when you give it a taste! 🙂

    2. I got to try goat cheese — the best kind — straight from the farmer. One of our vendor friends are farmers. We went out to their farm. She milks the goats & then makes fresh cheese. She made feta for us & it was hands down the best I've had. Makes me want to get a goat (save for the 6am/6pm milkings!)

  6. Goat cheese on a toasted piece of bread with chopped (fresh from the vine) tomatoes drizzled with a little olive oil, salt and pepper …..my perfect summer meal!
    Love goat cheese, love goat milk too.

  7. Wow, I love goat cheese but my favorite way would have to be goat cheese and sun-dried tomato stuffed pork tenderloin. So good!

  8. I LURVE goat cheese (who doesn't?) and as usual, your recipe sounds sublime!

    I have a little question – what does the coconut milk do? Is it for taste or does it change the texture, too? Can't wait to try it!

    1. Thank you kindly! The coconut milk makes the batter less runny and the fritter holds together a bit better. You could try with all coconut milk too. The flavor change is very subtle, though I really like the coconut milk/goat cheese mixture, works wonders for vegetable custards as well.

  9. Thank you everyone for all these wonderful suggestions! I want to try them all! 🙂

  10. On a crusty baguette or a bruschetta rubbed with garlic, topped with roasted red peppers, fresh basil, and crumbled goat cheese.

  11. Fritters are just fun, it's no surprise they're popular and these look delicious

  12. I have only tried an aged goatsmilk cheddar style before (awesome!!!) and need to try more varieties- i love that vermont creamery has such a high quality product
    Ttrockwood(at)yahoo(dot)com
    Ttrockwood

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