Frying zucchini

[Anonymous]

I love vegetables and don't feel need it to be fried or breaded etc. my oldest is a terrible eater (is also very thin) but will eat a vegetable if its crispy like a nugget. My question: would frying the vegetable cook out all of the nutrients?

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

I don’t know whether frying zucchini would kill more nutrients than frying any other vegetable, but it’s definitely the tastiest way to have them. In order to make them not go mushy, I cut them (usually rounds) and let them start getting hot with no condiment in the pan. When they start sticking and changing color, I add some olive oil, little by little, and continue stirring. Once they’re almost ready, I take a pinch or two of flour and throw it in: the absorbed oil/flour mixture keeps the zucchini nice and crunchy without the need for breading. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Frying won't cook out all of the nutrients. It's considered less healthy because it adds fat (and people usually add salt too), but if your child is really thin and doesn't like veggies, accepting extra fat in order to get more veggies may be a fine tradeoff for you.

Boiling veggies can leach out the nutrients because they soak out of the vegetable into the water, which is then drained off (ever notice how the cooking water takes on the color of the vegetable?). That doesn't happen with frying.

You can also try tossing the zucchini slices in an egg wash, then coating in breadcrumbs. Spread out on a baking sheet, and spray with an oil spray (PAM, spray olive oil, etc). Bake in a 350 degree oven until cooked and crispy. Sweet potato "French fries" can also be baked in an oven, less work and less mess than deep frying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It's considered less healthy because it adds fat (and people usually add salt too), but if your child is really thin and doesn't like veggies, accepting extra fat in order to get more veggies may be a fine tradeoff for you.

If your child is really thin, extra healthy fat (olive oil, e.g.), is not a tradeoff; it's a bonus.

[Anonymous]

Try these! http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/07/zucchini-tots.html

My kid is a pretty good veggie eater, but it does sometimes help to get creative. I don't like "hiding" veggies, but changing their form is perfectly acceptable.

[Anonymous]

I think zucchini has low nutritional value. I like oven-baked sweet potato fries.

[Anonymous]

Just get some different recipes for veggies. It is winter so the root veggies are in. Roasting really brings out the flavor.

[Anonymous]

I do zucc dunked in egg and dipped in parm, then baked. so good.

[Anonymous]

I roast it with olive oil and garlic. When finished I sprinkle parm. The kids will eat it this way. They will also eat it in a stir fry.

[Anonymous]

If you fry and then dry on a drying rack rather than any old pan or plate, the whole zucchini fry stays crispy whereas the part sitting on a surface will get mushy. We learned this after having too much fresh zucchini last summer!

[Anonymous]

Love trader joes zucchini fries baked until crispy! They're in the frozen section