Drew and I decided not to grow squash in our garden this year.  While we like what you can do with squash, we don't eat enough of it to justify the garden space while our garden is still small.  We didn't count on our other family members giving us a whole load of squash all at once!  What to do?!

I think I've mentioned it on here before that, while I'm thoroughly a Southern girl, I am still no good at frying things, like the iconic squash and okra.  I'm working on it, but in the meantime, I had to find something creative to do with all that squash.



This year I wasn't feeling the casserole or stuffed squash recipes, but I found a squash croquette recipe in one of last year's Cooking Light issues.  It's a sort of hybrid between squash casserole and fried squash, and maybe a bit lighter than either of the aforementioned choices.   A bit time consuming (most time is inactive) but well worth it, these fritters are simple to make and very enjoyable.  They're even good cold the next day, and yes, I do know that from experience. 

Squash Fritters
adapted from Marie Rizzio, via June 2010 Cooking Light

4 2/3 cups (1 ¼ lbs) coarsely chopped yellow squash
½ cup chopped green onions
1 cup crushed crackers (about 30 crackers)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup yellow cornmeal
Canola Oil
Sliced Green Onions for garnish (optional)
 
Steam squash and ½ cup green onions, covered, 15 minutes or until tender.  Drain well and mash mixture with a fork.  Stir in crackers, salt, sugar, and eggs.  Cover and chill for 3 hours; drain well through a fine mesh strainer.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat.  Place 4 patties in pan and cook 1 ½ minutes on each side or until golden.  Repeat with remaining patties.  Garnish with onions if desired. 

Notes
Because our schedule has been oddly busy lately, I ended up steaming these and draining them for a couple days.  Everything came out fine. 

The original recipe used saltine crackers.  I used Ritz.  I stand by my decision.