Giving Vegetables a Bath in Hot Oil

WHEN it comes to getting children to eat their vegetables, there are many possible strategies.

There is the age-old ruse of hiding them in plain sight by baking the spinach purée into the banana bread. Or you can try basic reasoning, using the perfectly logical argument that beets are red, and so is Elmo, and that therefore children who love Elmo naturally love beets.

Failing these, you can always fall back on the tried and true method of frying the vegetables until golden and crisp.

Employing this strategy, I’ve lured my daughter into eating mounds of okra, eggplant and mushrooms — without even the smallest bribe of dessert.

It also works with finicky adults who practically swoon when confronted with anything remotely reminiscent of a homemade potato chip.

So when I contemplated the menu for a recent dinner that included my daughter and a longtime friend not known for having a broad, accepting palate, I knew frying was inevitable.

I’ve found that dicing or shredding vegetables into very small pieces helps them fry quickly and evenly, exposing the maximum surface area for maximum crunch. So I shredded the zucchinis, adding some carrot for color, scallion for bite and grated lemon zest for a citrus zip.

I tossed the shredded vegetables into what has become my go-to fritter batter, a light mix of flour, egg and milk with a touch of coriander and pepper. Then I let it rest for half an hour. This helps the vegetables relax and soften before they meet the oil.

I have also learned a trick for frying small pieces of food: use a small quantity of oil. For vegetable fritters, an inch of oil heated in a large skillet is plenty as long as you turn the fritters frequently as they cook. It’s thriftier, too, since you end up using a cup rather than a quart of oil. I like using cheap olive oil, but peanut oil works just as well.

I fried the fritters as my friend and daughter played nearby, and served them warm with a tangy yogurt-mint sauce for dipping. The vegetable fritters disappeared, no bribery, deception or syllogisms needed.