Colorful September Veggie Fritters

Veggie Fritters are a wonderful way to enjoy a variety of vegetables. Once you have a base recipe, you can vary them according to your personal taste and the season. The best Veggie Fritters aren’t just packed with veggies, they’re also enhanced with cheese such as parmesan (feta or halloumi) and soft herbs (such as parsley or chives). Then they are pan-fried, making them nice and crispy.

Vegetable fritters are an easy way to eat more veggies. They pack up great for lunch, either on their own or in a sandwich, and they even make a nice, light dinner when paired with a simple salad. But the best part about these fritters is that what you decide to put in them is really just determined by what you already have in your kitchen.

Boosting veggies with plenty of complementary flavors is exactly what makes fritters so delicious. Cheese loves vegetables, so tossing a little grated or crumbled cheese into the mix doesn’t hurt. Aromatics like garlic, fresh herbs, and spices also help keep things exciting. Once you know the basic formula, it’s just a matter of experimenting with different combinations.

These easy Sweetcorn Fritters are the perfect accompaniment to chicken or pork, but also good as finger food, for lunch or brunch with a lovely Yogurt Radish Dip or try them with avocado and eggs.

In general, vegetable fritters love a dipping and dolloping sauce, especially a creamy one. I like to use Greek yogurt or a 10% natural yogurt, then I like to add cottage cheese (go with low fat or the regular one) but adding Quark (German fresh cheese) to the yogurt is also very nice. Just go with what you like and what you have on hand. Got any leftover pesto, stir that into the dip, harissa is also nice if you like it spicy. Or just add freshly squeezed lemon juice, pepper and salt to the dip.

Sweetcorn Fritters with Yogurt Radish Dip

Ingredients

For the Fritters

• 4 sweetcorn cobs 
• 3 eggs (M), free-range or organic
• 200g plain (AP) flour (less or more depending on the moisture level of your veg) NOTE: for a gluten-free version, you can use an equal amount of chickpea flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50g cup grated parmesan NOTE: you can use crumbled feta or coarsely grated halloumi instead
• freshly ground black pepper, fine sea salt
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• chopped chives or parsley
• vegetable oil, for frying

For the Dip

• 100g natural yogurt (use the one you enjoy the most and/or have on hand) 
• 50g cottage cheese (full fat or reduced fat) OR use Quark (fresh cheese)
• a bit of good quality olive oil
• a few fresh radishes (washed carefully to remove dirt, topped, tailed, chopped and moisture dried off)
• freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
• grated zest of 1/2 organic lemon and some lemon juice
• cress (optional)

Preparation

1. Cook your cobs in a large pot with salted, boiling water for about 15 minutes; take out, run under cold water and dry off.
2. Use a sharp knife to cut down the length of each cob to remove the kernels.
3. Process 2/3 of the sweetcorn kernels in a food processor. Then add the 3 eggs, process some more.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, grated parmesan, pepper, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sweetcorn mixture and process again until all the ingredients come together OR use a spatula to mix everything together so that it’s evenly combined.
5. Transfer the sweetcorn mixture to a medium bowl, add the thinly sliced spring onions, chopped herbs and mix well.
6. Add the oil to a large frying pan - as you need to shallow fry these, so make sure the base of the pan is well covered. 
7. Heat the oil then test by adding a tiny bit of the batter – it should immediately start bubbling around the edges when it hits the oil. Using a small ladle OR an ice cream scoop, drop batter onto the oil – you need around 2 tbsp of mixture per fritter. You should be able to fry 4 to 5 at any one time – be careful not to overcrowd the pan.
8. Fry for a couple of minutes on one side until light brown then turn over and cook for a further minute.
9. Turn out onto kitchen paper to remove any excess oil and keep warm in a low oven. 
10. Continue until you have used all the batter.
11. Transfer the fritters to a plate and serve warm, at room temperature, or cold with a dipping sauce of your choice, if using.
12. For the dip, mix together all the ingedients and place in the fridge while preparing the fritters - I like to serve a really cold dip with warm fritters.

You can also use grated and well drained zucchini and summer squash. I like to garnish my Zucchini (Courgette) Fritters with just a bit of Greek yogurt and maybe some herbs – personally I like the flavor combination of basil and zucchini, so I often add a bit of basil to my Greek yogurt to compliment the zucchini fritters.

Let the season and your taste buds be your guide when prepearing Veggie Fritters - apart from sweetcorn or zucchini, you can also use carrots, parsnips, or even chard.