Lemony, Parmigiano-Laced, Allium-Studded, Kale & Quinoa Fritters
When Ben & I first moved in together here in our fair city of Austin, we used to frequent this (kinda overrated) restaurant and get (pretty good, but not amazing) salads, sit on their really cute patio complete with giant oak tree and twinkle lights (because, Austin), and split some kale fritters prior to our salads. Now, again, these were always a good, not great situation, but there was something to it that made me think, as many of us recipe developer do, "I can make this 100x better”, because in that way, I’m kind of a jerk? The aforementioned fritters were pretty dense, and kinda lacking in any flavor other than kale, and the sauce you dip them it. Sigh…Worlds of missed opportunity. I set out to make a bit more of a substantial, fortified-with-flavor version, and at the risk of tooting my own horn…these are GOOD. Beep beep.
Fluffy quinoa gets combined with chopped kale leaves, a fair amount of Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon zest, garlic, scallions, and an egg to combine. That’s all!
When I started writing the vegetarian entrees chapter of my new book this was the 1st one Ben requested, and I think you’re going to be v into it. A couple tips before we get started: 1) Is the freezing step necessary? YES. Do not skip this. This is what makes the patties set up prior to frying. 2) I like a nice 350F fry, and try and keep the oil lower than that because hot tip, literally, it’s way harder to bring oil down in temp than to heat up. 3) Cook totally undisturbed for those 3 minutes. You’re going to have some break-off in terms of quinoa/kale/scallions weasling their way into your oil- I’m actually not mad at this. I scoop them out with a spider as they crisp up, drain them on paper towels, and sprinkle them over everything at the end, because extra fried, onion-y, goodness? UHYEAH. That’s it! Let’s get into it.
These might have to make their way into our weekend afternoon app plans. I highly recommend serving with lemon wedges, and mayyyybe even a little Aperol spritz situation? Literally everything makes me think of vacation these days! With that, I’m off to shoot some bucatini.
Thank you for being here!
To get more recipes like these, get your hands on a copy of The 30 Minute Pescatarian Cookbook before it’s out on 9/8. Thank you SO much to everyone who has pre-ordered so far. It truly goes SUCH a long way in getting this book out into there. Your support means the world to me!
