Zucchini puffs

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Last week Weston, my nine-year-old, went to a cooking class. The class, purchased at a fundraising event, was taught by one of the administrators at my kids' school in her home. She and the two boys made some kid-friendly favorites: macaroni and cheese, an interesting dessert involving strawberries and Jell-O, and these dead-simple zucchini puffs.

Neither Weston nor his father is a huge zucchini fan. Okay, that's an understatement: Under normal circumstances neither will touch zucchini in any form other than zucchini muffins. But somehow the combination of cheese and broiler did the trick. We made a whole tray, we broiled a whole tray, we ate a whole tray.

Four ingredients, 10 minutes, easy enough for even the smallest kids to make, delicious enough to win over even the most ardent zucchini-haters: This one's a keeper.

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Zucchini puffs

by Erika Kerekes August-8-2011

Don't cut the zucchini too thinly - you want them to retain some of their crunch. Thanks to the wonderful Leslie Geffen for this family favorite.

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized fresh zucchini, washed, ends trimmed
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan, Romano or Grana Padano cheese
• 1/2 tsp dried basil or fines herbes
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the broiler. Put the oven rack about 5 inches from the heat. In my oven that's the second notch down. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch rounds. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, grated cheese, dried herbs, and salt and pepper. Spread each zucchini round with a thin layer of the cheese mixture and place on the baking sheet.Broil the zucchini rounds 30-60 seconds, until the tops are golden brown and the cheese mixture puffs up a bit. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 11 mins Yield: 4 servings