Hapanese Cuisine

I’ll be honest—I’m still trying to figure out this whole “eating healthy” thing. Some parts are tricky to figure out, but I’m enjoying the challenge of finding more nutritious ingredients to replace those in dishes that I already like.

That’s how it is with these Oven-Baked Zucchini Fries. Zucchini is an extremely versatile ingredient, and it’s loaded with Vitamin C, minerals, and carotenoids (linked with healthy skin and bone strength!). Plus, as people have been finding out, it’s a great replacement for starches like pasta and potatoes. I still love my pasta like nobody’s business, but it’s fun to have some variety.

For this recipe, I decided to make this gluten-free by dredging the zucchini in almond flour. (Regular wheat flour will work great with this, too!) If you want a dipping sauce to go with these, try making a marinara sauce or an aioli to keep with the Italian inspiration from the Parmesan!

If you want to include more veggies into your life, this is a tasty way to start!

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Oven-Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries

10 oz zucchini, cut into strips

1/2 cup almond flour

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

2/3 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 TBSP olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400F, line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment liberally with nonstick spray. Put the almond flour in a bowl with a lid. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg and milk together until smooth, then combine the Parmesan and black pepper in a third bowl.

Toss the zucchini strips in the flour, cover with the lid, and shake to evenly coat. Dip the strips in the egg wash, and coat with the Parmesan. Lay the strips in a single layer on the baking sheet, brush with the olive oil, and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the pan, and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Serves up to 4.