Friday, July 16, 2010

Are veggies healthy if you deep fry them?

I'm so desperate to get Leah to try new foods (or old foods that she claims not to like) that I will take anything at this point. So tonight I decided to deep fry some zucchini, which my husband and I both love. I figured I would get Leah to help me make it and maybe she would try it. I'm not really sure of the nutritional value of deep fried zucchini. I'm sure the grease cancels out all of the good stuff in the zucchini, but as I said before... I'm starting to feel desperate.

Good news. She ate it with some marinara (I'll count that as a veggie since I had to discount the zucchini).

Bad news. I couldn't get it out of the fryer and cooled off fast enough. Then, it was too hot and she was afraid to burn herself and lost interest.

So it was short lived, but at least she tried it. I can't say as much for the rest of her dinner. Oh well. We'll just have to try again tomorrow.


Fried Zucchini Recipe (for those of you who want to pretend you are eating veggies)

2 large zucchini
2 eggs
1 Tbsp milk
2/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan
1/8 tsp salt

We have a deep fryer so I set it to about 350F. You could also do this in a pan with some oil. I personally just have no patience for that and usually end up getting burnt with oil splatters. (Please don't let me deter you from trying it though.)

I cut the zucchini into coins, but I know other people cut it into strips. Again, personal preference.

Slightly beat 1 egg white and 1 egg with the milk. Put the mix in a Ziploc bag (gallon size worked well). Put the zucchini in and make sure they get covered.

In another bag, mix the bread crumbs, cheese and salt. Scoop out the zucchini pieces and place in the bread crumb mix and toss. This probably works better if done in batches. If it is done all at once (like we did), toward the end the zucchini doesn't have much of a bread crumb coating on it and comes out really, REALLY greasy. (I let Leah do all the coating of the zucchini.)

Put it in the fryer or pan in a single layer. We fried for about 5 minutes per batch or until golden. Then drained/cooled on a paper towel and served with marinara. You could probably make this recipe a little more healthy by baking... but truthfully... I enjoy the grease!

Any suggestions on how to get Leah to eat absolutely anything or any recipes for us to try are always appreciated!

4 comments:

  1. http://www.ehow.com/how_2301953_keep-vegetables-healthy-frying.html

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  2. Thanks Jenelle. I didn't know about the different oil choices, but I did know it probably was better to pan fry or bake them!

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  3. You can also bake them :) http://www.ehow.com/how_4581825_baked-zucchini-fries.html

    You can actually do the same thing with green beans.

    Or you can just give in and sneak her that apple juice that has veggies in it? :) My sister would probably be better to consult here ;)

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  4. ooohh green beans! We already give her the veggie juice with no complaints, but adults don't drink their veggies (well most don't). I'd like her just to try it.

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