I Will Be King, and You Will Be Queen - With Fruit on Top.

I LOVE THE FRUIT KING.

I really really do. If you live in the Corpus Christi area, Fruit King has two locations on Morgan and one on Ayers street. They have great produce at an equally great price, plus some of their offerings are organic. I understand that their stock is pretty variable. My friend Jennifer took me on a fruity excursion to one of the locations on Morgan. She says that they sell excess produce acquired from larger grocers, but they do sell quality product. For the very frugally minded, they also have short-dated produce in bulk quantities for less than a single unit price at the regular store. I bought an entire box of strawberries – that’s EIGHT pints, thanks – and though they weren’t all usable, I sorted them out by ‘grade’ and wound up with some frozen, some fresh to be eaten as is, and some of the smushier ones set aside for smoothies (shut up, it’s a word). I also bought three very beautiful and very big zucchini, two eggplants, five heads of garlic, a bag of five medium-size avocados, two yellow onions, a pint of cherry tomatoes, three lemons, a mango, a pineapple, two containers of blackberries and a package of whole star anise. Foreshadowing! Chinese five spice powder imminent.

Final price? Twenty bucks. I LOVE the flippin’ Fruit King.

Ahem. Okay, I had to brag a little. Moving on:

This post is inspired by produce at a steal, the random items that survived yesterday’s extensive kitchen purge, some light food literature I carted to a very boring appointment and a photo of my ultra-yum lunch that I could not keep to myself. In the spirit of Fruit King Produce, I’ll give you three for one: Herbed Carrot Fritters, Strawberry-Radish Salsa and Southern Fried Zucchini.

^ See today's delicious lunch?

The following recipe is adapted from an appetizer in The Vegan Cook’s Bible – Herbed Carrot and Turnip Fritters. As I had no turnips to hand and some enormous organic carrots provided by the lovely Jennifer (te amo!), I decided to run with it. These fritters don’t hold together very well when you remove them from the baking sheet, but they are light and clean tasting. Every fritter I’ve ever eaten has achieved its consistency with a mixture of flour, cornmeal and eggs – this recipe forgoes all that in favor of brown rice and flaxseed meal left in water until it turns gelatinous.

HERBED CARROT FRITTERS
You will need:
- 1 Tbs ground flaxseed
- 3 Tbs water
- 1 large carrot or 2 small (mine were HUUUGE!), grated
- ½ sweet yellow onion, grated
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 Tbs chopped fresh herbs (or substitute dry to taste - I used sweet basil, Thai basil, cilantro and parsley from my garden)
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground peppercorns, to taste

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Combine ground flaxseed and water in a small container and leave to sit for 10 minutes or until gelatinous. Veggies are grated, herbs are chopped, rice is cooked, right? Combine in a bowl together. Add flaxseed mixture when ready and combine thoroughly with your hands. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet, no foil needed; these become a bit crusty around the edges, but they don’t try to stick. Take approximately ¼ cup mixture into your hands and pat it into a pancake shape, then drop onto the prepared sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges brown.

WAIT, don’t eat your fritters naked! They’re a little bland for my taste. What to do? TOP THEM WITH SALSA.

Yup. Top them with salsa.

You can put pretty much anything in this salsa if you’re not a fan of radishes or lack any of the ingredients. I veered pretty wildly from the course of the original recipe for convenience, so I’ve concluded that you can really do no wrong. See the April 2012 issue of Southern Living’s Strawberry Salsa recipe for the original.

STRAWBERRY-RADISH SALSA
You will need:
- handful of strawberries, diced
- 1-2 large radishes, finely minced
- 2 tsp chopped fresh herbs of choice, but make sure there’s cilantro in there!
- several shakes of your favorite salsa – something that is not tomato based is strongly recommended - I used a habanero and orange pulp salsa – or add a finely minced fresh pepper of your choice, such as jalapeno
- ½ an avocado
- pinch of agave nectar, sugar, stevia, etc.

Combine all of the ingredients – except the avocado! Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour so the flavors can combine. When ready, dice the avocado and gently mix into the salsa. Serve immediately or your avocado will turn brown and yucky. This is really delicious mixed into a simple spinach salad in lieu of dressing. You can contract or expand this recipe to make several servings. I did not make enough of this the first time because I had no idea that it would turn out so darn tasty! *pout*

Almost done… now, a side!

And an aside. Everyone from the South probably has a favorite recipe for this simple dish. I learned to make fried squash from my mother and grandmother, but this is not my usual recipe. I have eliminated the obligatory egg from this recipe that gives fried zucchini a crunchy crust – these are not as firm and chip-like as I am accustomed to, but they are vegan, lighter, and very, very good. The flavor of the squash really shines.

SOUTHERN FRIED ZUCCHINI

You will need:
- equal parts corn meal and unbleached flour
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- dried parsley, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
-  thinly sliced zucchini
- oil, for frying

Making a little or a lot? This formula can accommodate any quantity, so use your own discretion. Normally you would salt and pepper the zucchini directly to season and help draw the liquid out of it – I don’t recommend doing that because we need a little moisture to hold the flour mixture to the zuke slices. Instead, combine the corn meal, flour and spices. Use just enough oil to coat the bottom of a non-stick or well seasoned cast-iron skillet, and place on medium-high heat. Place the zucchini slices in the skillet carefully, and let sizzle for a couple of minutes. Flip and fry on the other side until they seem well done – remove from heat and drain on paper towels before serving.

Yeah, I know. It’s fried. But I used half a tablespoon of oil and most of it is still sitting in the skillet, so it can’t be THAT bad for you… plus, it’s worth it!

P.S. If you don’t care for spice or you’re strapped for time, try serving your fritters with herbed sour cream, cilantro oil, chutney, roasted red pepper gravy, hummus, mushroom sauce, etc. Their plain, honest flavor will complement pretty much anything you can throw at them.

P.P.S. Those blackberries were gooood...