Adriano cooks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Part of his routine is to pour himself a glass of wine and open a packet of crisps or something similar to munch on. He also brings me, in my study, half a glass of wine and a few of his nibbles in a bowl. For me, this a symbol of the days when I am not working and I can do my own thing. But the crisps are not exactly healthy; in fact they are super unhealthy. So, on Saturday, I decided to make our nibbles myself and this might become a part of the routine rather than bake cupcakes or something equally decadent which are not kind to the waistline.
For this first venture into nibbles land, I made these tasty little fritters with grated courgette, cheese and sundried tomatoes and fried them in a little oil to crisp them on the outside. I then combined the remains of the contents of a bottle of chilli sauce and tomato sauce together with the rest of a jar of tomato and onion chutney to make an accompanying sauce, which was a great compliment to the fritters.
These were far superior to any crisps that could be found in the supermarket and went perfectly with the wine.
You could always make them bigger and they would become a fully fledged family dinner.
- ¾ cup white rice flour
- ¼ cup tapioca flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp each: salt, black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk (lactose-free)
- 1 cup grated courgette
- 1 cup grated cheese
- ⅓ cup chopped chives
- ½ cup semi-dried tomatoes, finely sliced
- Combine flours, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Beat the eggs and milk together.
- Stir into the flour mixture to make a batter.
- Squeeze excess juice out of the grated courgette.
- Stir the courgette, cheese, chives and tomatoes into the batter.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan.
- Cook spoonfuls of the mixture over a medium heat until golden on one side.
- Turn and cook the other side.
- Place the fritters on a platter and keep warm while cooking the remaining batter.
- Serve with chilli sauce, tomato sauce or a mixture of both.
Wine and crisps actually sounds quite tempting, but I understand the need for nutrition. 😀 Your fritters look irresistible! I love the chives peaking through!
Crisps are completely empty calories and I have to be judicious in choosing my calories so I look for delicious and nutricious. Win-win.
Suzanne
I haven’t been to nibbles land for ages either and it’s high time I went and made these fritters. They look loaded with goodness.
Our nibbles and wine is a special part of the weekend, Maureen.
Suzanne
I was gawking at these delicious fritters and your lovely food styling on one of the food sites earlier today (it may have been foodgawker or tastespotting) and here it is! I love zucchini cakes and these look delightful with the addition of cheese, oh yumminess…I’m also admiring the new look of your blog… the header and artistic logo… very nice!
Thanks so much, Kelly. I worked hard on the image in the header. I am already planning what to make for nibbles this weekend. The planning is fun too.
Suzanne
Those fritters look delicious! Add a simple lemony salad and you have a perfect, simple dinner!
Exactly – salad and bread and it’s a meal.
Suzanne
For some reason I have always loved zucchini and shall definitely add your recipe to > ‘to do’ list! I guess I am lucky [commit enough food sins as is 🙁 !] never to have been attracted to any form of nibbles or ‘health bars’ or chips: just as well!! But these would make a lovely first or main course with an interesting salad and form the basis of one less day of meat proptein in the week!!
There are too many unhealthy foods on the supermarket shelves and more and more I am avoiding any ready made foods.
We try to eat vegetarian a few times a week to lighten the load for the digestive system.
Suzanne
I have a weakness for chips too! But yes, I shouldn’t eat them as often as I do. I love the look of these fritters. These would be an awesome pre-dinner snack xx
I love chips too but they are so not good for us and I am trying to change that sort of thing in our diets little by little.
Suzanne
These sound wonderful! I love fritters!
They are so versatile – you can make fritters out of so many different ingredients. Our imagination is the only limit
Suzanne
Both the fritters and the accompanying sauce are absolutely heavenly!
Thank you. They are good.
Suzanne
I love everything about these fritters! Add a nice green salad and that’s all I need.
Exactly – a salad would make it a meal.
Suzanne
Gosh, these look really great! It’s so easy to eat store bought snacks, but really with just a bit of effort you can make some that are far superior in flavor. Really nice – thanks.
That’s right. A little planning, a little work and you’re looking good.
Suzanne
I am going to make these nibbles for the children for afternoon tea. Love the recipe with the sauces.
Thanks for another great idea
Debbie
I hope they love them. I know we did!