GirlsGuideTo | Lazy Girl Recipe: Baked Zucchini Fries

I am a major planner. I love to make lists of anything and everything. One time, I was getting ready to go to a conference for work and about a week before I wrote out a list of what I was going to wear at the conference (both day and night) by day. Yes. I had a list for Sunday, a list for Monday, and list for Tuesday…and then another list for the days I was going to visit my friend immediately after. Some may say OCD. I like to call it preparation.

So it should be no surprise that I like to plan out my meals for the week before I go to the grocery store. I only have time to go once a week, so I have to make it count right? But if there’s one thing I have a hard time with when I’m doing meal-planning, it’s side dishes. I mean, yeah, I can throw together a mean salad to bring to a party, but I’m talking side dishes for dinner every night. Like, here is this chicken I’ve just grilled…now what? Oh goody, some steamed asparagus or broccoli…again.

Blech. So boring. So I started looking for some healthy veggie-based side dishes that fit along with the lazy-girl theme: easy to make, quick, and requires few ingredients. Enter: Baked Zucchini Fries.

I am totally hooked on these bad boys. They’re like those amazing fried zucchini strips or fried pickles you’d get at a restaurant…just not fried (and therefore, way healthier). Serve ‘em up with some pizza sauce and you have an (almost) instant side dish!

Baked Zucchini Fries

Ingredients
3 large zucchini, sliced longways, halved and cut into sticks

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried garlic powder

Olive oil spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray olive oil spray on large baking sheet. Set aside.

Slice zucchini into long planks. Cut planks in half then slice long into sticks.

In large shallow bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, set aside. In large shallow dish, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano and garlic powder.

Working with 3-4 zucchini sticks at a time, start breading process by dunking and completely covering zucchini with egg mixture. Take zucchini sticks out of egg mixture, allowing an extra egg to drip off, and place into breadcrumb mixture. Gently coat the zucchini stick completely with breadcrumb mixture. Place breaded zucchini stick onto baking sheet.

Continue this process until all zucchini sticks are breaded and on baking sheet. Spray each zucchini stick with olive oil spray and place into 425 degree oven. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Using a spatula, flip each zucchini stick and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

{Source: Aggie’s Kitchen}