The key to this is to remove the water, so although you may have a county-fair- winner-sized zucchini, these contain too much water, so just stick with a solid, medium-sized zucchini.   Feel free to double this delicious recipe!   They are best served fresh and hot, but they could be made ahead of time and re-heating in a 400F oven, on a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack.  

1. Julienne or grate zucchini.  
2. Place in a bowl and lightly salt. 
3. Set aside for a few minutes to draw water out of the zucchini.
4. Mix together yogurt, lime zest, juice and a pinch of salt.   Refrigerate until needed 
5. Squeeze out any water, and then gently toss with chickpea flour, baking powder, garam masala, pepper & water (start with 1 tbsp., adding more if necessary) until mixture holds together.
6. In a preheated frying pan, add about 1⁄4 cup of olive oil.  
7. Drop zucchini mixture into the pan by the heaping tablespoon. 
8. Fry 3 minutes on one side, turn over, and cook a further 2 minutes on the other side, rotating your pan as you need to to evenly distribute the heat.
9. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate or cooling rack, lightly salt and eat immediately with Lime Yogurt. 

Rhubarb Fool

Makes 4-5 cups or about 6 servings 

No my friends, Jody is no fool, not when you can purchase rhubarb this large!  Buying rhubarb a little later in the Spring at your local farmer's market or roadside stand is not a bad idea--the rhubarb is large, tangy and inexpensive.   

We like to buy it, chop it up and either use it right away in a pie or crumble, but we always save 3 or 4 chopped cups in a zip-top bag for the freezer.   No joke, it might sit there for 5 or 6 months, but we you need a quick and easy dessert in the winter, this can be done in a snap and is a welcome fruity burst of Spring.  

So what is a Rhubarb Fool?  A fool is a dessert whose name comes from the French word fouler, which means “to crush”. Crushed fruit and whipped cream are folded together and chilled, producing a light and mousse-like dish.  It can't be simpler.   We like to serve it with triangles of baked puff pastry, either homemade  (which also stores nicely in the freezer) or store bought.  You can also just serve it out of a dessert cup or martini or coupe glass with a couple of cookies or biscotti on the side.  

Recipe: 

4 cups chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen) 
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (more or less to taste) 
1 cup 35% cream
1/4 cup white or powdered sugar 
1 tsp. vanilla 
Baked triangles of puff pastry (optional) 

1. Place rhubarb and brown sugar in a sauce pot with 1/2 cup of water. 
2. Bring just up to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-20 minutes or until fruit is tender and saucy. 
3. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature or chill completely in a bowl. 
4. Meanwhile, whip the cream in a chilled bowl with either a whisk or your electric mixer, sprinkling in the white sugar as you go.  Whip until just past soft peaks.   Stir in vanilla. 
5. When rhubarb is cooled fold about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream into the rhubarb first to lighten the texture.   Then fold in remaining whipped cream.  
6. Serve chilled as discusses above.  

Buttermilk Chive Dressing
Makes about 2 cups

Always in our fridge, this quick, easy & versatile dressing is light & creamy dressing, but without any preservatives, thickeners, gums, or things you don't necessary need or want when dressing fresh, local produce.   

Be sure to source out high-fat, good quality buttermilk.   Harmony Organic brand is our go-to, but if you can't find a higher fat buttermilk, here's a couple of options:  replace 1/2 cup of the buttermilk with sour cream, OR increase the amount of mayonnaise to 4 tablespoons.   

Fresh garden chives were an easy grab for this, but dill, parsley or even a bit of spring onion would work well.   The key is fresh lemon juice and a really good amount of sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.   

This dressing is ideal on buttery lettuces or spinach, but add in some blue cheese or cheddar cheese and dress that broccoli-bacon salad, or a wedge salad with steak!   

1 clove of garlic, cut in half for easy blending
Juice of 1 lemon 
1 tsp. good quality sea salt
5-6 turns of freshly ground black pepper 
1 tsp. Dijon mustard 
2 tbsp. mayonnaise 
a good handful of snipped chives 
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk 

1. Place garlic, lemon, salt, pepper, Dijon, mayonnaise and chives in your blender.   Blend until smooth, 30-45 seconds.  Add just a little of the buttermilk if you need to accomplish this. 
2. Just stir in buttermilk (or blend for 2 seconds).  
3. Pour into a jar and enjoy! 
4. Will keep for a week or more in the refrigerator.