Veggie Fritters with Basil Cream

I found making these fritters with adobo seasoning gives them a little more flavor, rather than just using plain salt. These are very easy to make, but you want to be sure to grate or very finely chop the vegetables so that they will cook relatively quickly. You also may find you want a "little more" flour (either whole wheat or all purpose), but I would add it just a tablespoon at a time. You can always make one fritter and fry it to see how the texture is, before proceeding with the rest of the fritters. Myself, I don't like the fritters if they have too much flour; just a coating of flour mixture on the vegetables is sufficient for me. Of course, you may like the fritters to be more like vegetable pancakes. Rather than just using sour cream with the fritters, the basil cream adds a nice touch with its mild basil taste.   

Ingredients (approx. 8 fritters):

1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup grated yellow squash
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup kale, thinly sliced
1/3 cup grated or finely chopped red onion (or white onion)
2 teaspoons marjoram (or oregano)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons adobo seasoning* (for those controlling salt intake, this is about 1 teaspoon of salt)
oil for frying

To a bowl, add the vegetables, the marjoram and the adobo seasoning; mix everything together. In a cup or small bowl, mix together the whole wheat flour and the all purpose flour. Add the flour to the vegetables, then add the beaten eggs and the oil. Mix well. Over medium heat, heat enough olive oil to just about thinly cover the bottom of a frying pan. Take enough of the vegetable dough to make about a golf ball size round, then flatten the ball into a patty. Add some patties to the hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve with a dollop of basil cream** on each fritter.

* "Adobo" seasoning is available in many supermarkets or Latino markets in commercial brands, or you can make you own. Here's the recipe:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/adobo-seasoning.html  

** For the easy recipe for "basil cream," here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/06/basil-cream.html

WORD HISTORY:
Crust-This word is related to "crystal," a word borrowed long ago from Latin (reinforced by French?), which Latin had borrowed from Greek. "Crust" goes back to Indo European "krus/kreus," which had the notion, "to form a crust, to begin to solidify, harden or freeze." This gave Latin "crusta" which meant, "crust, tree bark, scab, shell." English borrowed the word circa 1300 from Latin, reinforced by French "crouste" (the form taken by Latin-based French from Latin), or perhaps the other way around; it's difficult to say. German has "Kruste," borrowed way back in the 800s from Latin, which perhaps gives some support to English having borrowed the word directly from Latin.