Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Carrot, Parnsip, and Scallion Fritters over Arugula Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Oooh, that title is a mouthful, huh? Well as some of you know, I have been planning out my weekly meals for the last few months. This is one of those weeks that I was really bad at it. I went to the farmers market with a general idea of what I wanted, but once I was there I just kept picking up produce without any real idea of what I was going to do with it. Last week I saw these root vegetable pancakes on Lisa Is Cooking and I knew I wanted to try something similar and soon! Yesterday at work (oh please, we all know I don't do real work at my job), I found a couple of recipes that I knew I wanted to try. Bonus points were that I already had most of the ingredients in my kitchen. I just ran out of breadcrumbs so I just used a slice or two of bread I had baked over the weekend and ground them in my food processor. I decided not to deep fry the fritters (and save a few calories) and I served them over an arugula salad. I dressed the salad with a really simple dressing of Meyer lemon juice and olive oil. FYI, come back tomorrow to see another cool thing I did with the Meyer lemons. I also spritzed a little bit of juice over the fritters once they were done. Oh wowza! These were so delicious. It took a bit of time with the shredding of vegetables, but it is really easy. I think this can definitely be a make ahead dish by making the vegetable mix the night before.

I had an unfortunate accident with my pepper mill (eh, I don't even know if I would call it a pepper mill). It broke after I made the vinaigrette (before I made the fritters) and I didn't feel like whipping out the coffee grinder to grind peppercorns so I just used some ground cayenne. I was very sparing with it and it gave the fritters a nice background heat. The onions, carrots, and scallions all complemented each other nicely and the frying was surprisingly simple. It helps to have wet hands when forming the patties. I got five patties out of this mix, but I made mine kind of big for more of a meal. You can definitely reduce these in size and have these as a party appetizer. My only problem was that the outsides didn't get quite as crunchy as I wanted, but the flavor of these was so good, I didn't mind.

Carrot, Parsnip, and Scallion Fritters over Arugula Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
(Fritters adapted from Epicurious)

3/4 cup grated carrot and parsnip (for me this was 2 carrots and 1 parsnip)
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Dash of cayenne pepper
Canola oil for frying

In a bowl combine well the carrot, parsnip, scallion, egg, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. In a large skillet heat some canola oil (about enough to cover the bottom of the pan) over medium heat. Form the carrot mixture into patties about 1/4 inch thick and carefully fry for about 5-7 minutes per side or until golden brown. Drain on towels and serve on top of arugula salad with lemon wedges for spritzing.

Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Juice from 1/2 a Meyer lemon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk all of the ingredients together. Toss with a few large handfuls of arugula. Serve topped with vegetable fritters and lemon wedges on the side.

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15 comments:

Erica said...

These look awesome! I need a grater for sure. I wish our farmers mark was still open! I think it opens back up in March.

Diana said...

These have my name written all over them! Printing out the recipe as I type this... yay! :)

Reeni said...

They look great! Especially over the salad with that yummy vinaigrette!

Anonymous said...

Yes, a lot of tasty things in that title. We're used to salmon and zucchini and corn fritters...never carrot, parsnip and scallion. :) Love the mild oniony flavor with sweet carrots though. And the color is pretty!

vanillasugarblog said...

Esi I have to confess, I originally misread the title and thought it was scallop fritters and thought oh how very creative! And I read the recipe thinking ok where is the scallops? LOL Either way, I love fritters. Now I want one! LOL! I know, silly me.

Esi said...

Erica, that's one good thing about being in So Cal...year round farmers markets!

Diana, I hope you like it. If you figure out a way to get them crispier, let me know!

Duo Dishes, a lot of the recipes I found had zucchini and corn which aren't things I eat much of (or at all), but I liked the root veggies!

Dawn, you crack me UP!

Diana said...

Esi - What about dipping them in panko crumbs before frying?

Esi said...

Ooh, Diana, I thought of that this morning (after the fact). It's a good idea.

Heather said...

ohhh. what a lovely fritter. i thought they were crabcakes at first. they look so golden and delicious!

Joie de vivre said...

Darn pepper mill! You did great though. These look fantastic and I'm glad improvising with the chili worked well for you.

veggie belly said...

Wow, that looks amazing! I love the fritter-salad combo. I'm book marking this to try :)

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Ooh Esi, these fitters sound yummy. And with the lemon?! Double yum. Your mention of root vegetable pancakes reminded me of some jalapeno pancakes I once made. Wow, I'm getting hungry. :)

Unknown said...

these look fantastic :)

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

Great fritters!

Jasmine said...

These were fantastic! I can see myself making these every week. Thanks for the superb recipe.

(Just a side note, my local Whole Foods sometimes has a similar carrot and parsnip fritter in their prepared food section. DO NOT try it. After making these, the store bought variety are just a terrible mess.)