Seasonal Recipe: Corn Fritters with Lime Aioli

Several of my friends asked me to share a recipe with them of some veggie cakes I had made for my son. It's an easy way to get vegetables into a tasty cake! The original recipe has quite elevated flavors and is a perfect seasonal dish to highlight corn but I have found a couple of ways to simplify the recipe:

1. Bake them in muffin tins instead of pan frying (this saves you some fat calories too!)
2. You do not have to serve them with the "extras" for them to taste good (extras include arugula, roasted tomatoes and prosciutto)
3. You can include more veggies than corn, in this recipe! I put some baby carrots in the food processor and ground them up very fine. You can also do the same thing with yellow squash and it blends with the color of the corn. I would just make sure that the veggie amounts don't exceed 2 cups, because you still want the batter to taste good.

A few things I have learned in baking them for kiddos:

1. Don't use muffin cups because they absorb the moisture from the cakes. Having them baked directly in the cups also gives them a nice crispness they need, since they're not being fried.
2. Don't eliminate the "flavor givers" from the recipe, they really give the cake its additional flavor (flavor givers: green onions, salt)
3. You can also use lowfat buttermilk if you want instead of lowfat milk

Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomatoes and Lime Aioli from Cooking Light - I'm listing this recipe in 3 steps, so you can easily make the pieces you want to! Here is the link to the original recipe: Cooking Light Link.

Corn Fritter Ingredients:

• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/3 c milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 ears of fresh corn kernels (about 1 1/2 c)
• 1/3 c finely chopped green onions
• 1/4 t salt

If you are baking in a muffin tin, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your muffin tins (either regular size or minis) by coating them well with cooking spray.

Combine flour & baking powder in a medium bowl. Add milk & egg, stir until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. 

Equally distribute batter in each tin & bake for about 12 - 15 minutes for the minis or about 15 - 20 minutes for the regular size cakes, until they look golden brown on top. Let cool and remove from tins. 

If you are going to cook them in oil: heat 1/2 t of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop batter by level tablespoons full into the pan. Cook about 2 minutes or until the tops are covered with bubbles and edges are golden. Carefully turn the fritters and cook about 2 more minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter. I like to place my completed fritters on a plate layered with paper towels to absorb the grease. 

Lime Aioli Recipe:

• 3 T mayonnaise
• 2 T fresh lime juice
• 1/2 garlic clove minced
• 1 t cold water

Combine all ingredients with a whisk.

Roasted Tomatoes:

• 4 ripe tomatoes, halved (about 1 #)
• 1 t olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil (the acidic juice from tomatoes is a bear to clean up!). Drizzle tomatoes with 1 t olive oil & sprinkle with 1/4 t pepper. Bake for 1 hour & 30 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and have lost a lot of their moisture.

To serve the FULL recipe:

You'll also need:

• 4 c loosely packed arugula
• 4 slices of prosciutto

Step 1: place 1 fritter on each of the 4 plates

Step 2: top each with 1 tomato half and 1/2 c arugula

Step 3: repeat layers, ending with fritters. 

Step 4: Top each serving with 1 prosciutto slice. 

Step 5: Drizzle with the aoili. 

Image of the original recipe: