Sourdough Surprises: Lemon Parmesan Squash Oven Fries

I have a confession to make:

I have never deep fried anything.

This has nothing to do with eating healthy – it's not the deep frying that adds calories, it's the batter. Anyone who knows me well knows my love of chicken wings, and I was about to give in to the local food truck that was serving deep fried Cadbury eggs (fortunately or unfortunately, they ran out before I got there). It's the fryer itself. I'm careful in the kitchen, but that does not prevent me from getting grease splatters every time I cook bacon, and then there's the spaghetti squash knife incident that has left me with no feeling in the side of my pinky finger. So a pot full of hot oil is a danger zone. But Sourdough Surprises picked fry batter this month...what was I going to do?

Then one day I was putting chicken wings on a broiler pan, ready to bake...and it hit me: almost everything that is fried can still be done in the oven. And it just so happens to be zucchini/yellow squash season, which is also one of my favorite vegetables. The zucchini selection at the market was a tad picked over, but there was a pretty straight yellow squash that clocked in at a full pound, ready for the taking.

I completely winged this recipe:

Sourdough Lemon Parmesan Yellow Squash Oven Fries

Serves 3-4

Batter:

1/2 cup ripe sourdough starter

2 tblsp mayonnaise

2 tblsp grated Parmesan

2 tblsp flour

2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

2 tsp salt

1. Cut 1 lb zucchini or summer squash into fry shapes and set aside. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Whisk all batter ingredients together. Dredge squash through batter. Place on cookie sheet
3. Bake at 350 until desired level of doneness, about 20-25 minutes (Mine were roasting with chicken and took about 24 minutes)

I can't say these turned out exactly as I hoped (oven squash fries are normally breaded, not battered). But the taste was amazing...the sourdough and Parmesan complemented the gentle squash flavor perfectly. Even my father, the one who prefers familiar food, loved them. I could have eaten the entire batch myself (although, going back to the batter being what adds calories, a mere third of this recipe still clocks in at 132 calories using light mayo).

It was still all the mess of frying (without the danger of hot oil splatters!), and quite a bit of trouble. But the taste was tempting...I just might have to make these again.

Check out our other awesome fried (and oven fried!) delights:

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