I was a pretty picky eater as a kid.  Verses Anthony, who would eat pretty much anything… But I grew up a chicken-nuggets and plain-cheeseburgers kind of kid.  My parents still seem to be in shock anytime I send them a picture of the newest piece of raw fish I’m trying nowadays.  However even as a picky kid I always liked broccoli.  That was the one veggie I’d happily enjoy, although usually I liked it covered in melted cheddar or drowning in cheese soup.  But my pallet has grown up, and so has my appreciation for using veggies in new and fun ways.

So I present my favorite grown-up broccoli recipe, Broccoli Fritters!

This is another one that I can’t take credit for.  Shout out goes to Smitten Kitchen for the inspiration.  These little crispy fritters are absolutely delicious as the main dish or the tasty side dish.  We’ve made these multiple times and have paired them with various different things… My personal favorite, as recommended in the blog post, is with a runny egg plopped on top.  And you can’t miss out on the garlicky lemon yogurt, it just brings it all together so well!  Below is our experience in pictures following the recipe:

Broccoli Parmesan Fritters: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/06/broccoli-parmesan-fritters/

Garlicky Lemon Yogurt (included in Zucchini Fritter recipe): http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/08/zucchini-fritters/

First you lightly cook the broccoli.  Smitten Kitchen recommends the quick steam, which is what I’ve been doing as well.

While the broccoli was cooling down I whipped up the Garlicky Lemon Yogurt.  You want to do it a little ahead of time so it can sit and absorb all the flavors.  The recipe says you can do yogurt or sour cream… I’ve tried sour cream, and yogurt is definitely better, especially if you have greek yogurt on hand.

Once the broccoli has cooled a bit you want to mash it down.  This time around I ran it through the food processor.  Although the recipe says your pieces of broccoli should be a bit larger,  I thought the fritters formed better with the pulverized version.

Next combine the rest of the ingredients and gently mix with broccoli to make the batter.

And now on to the main event!  Get your oil nice and hot and get ready to fry!  You want to keep an eye on these guys because they will cook quickly (and sometimes get stuck to the bottom of the pan if you don’t show them some love).  What I like to do is fry the first one up and give it a try to be sure the recipe and seasonings are on point.  And because by that point I just can’t wait to get my hands on one!

A disclaimer, anytime you’re frying you want to be careful.  The oil tends to spit and can cause damage.

Once you’ve fried your first batch, I’d recommend putting them on a rack to let the oil drip.  While you’re turning them out you can put the freshly fried ones in the oven on a low temperature to stay warm and stay out of hand’s reach.

Once you’ve fried up all your batter it’s finally time to kick-back and enjoy!  As mentioned our favorite way is with a fried egg, but pair with anything that sounds tasty!  For this one we did a claim bake we bought at the store.  Sriracha and a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan is also always recommended!