The game of hide-and-seek is certainly not anything new. As a child, our regular games of hide- and-seek were closely related to black-ops style missions that demanded that the hiders call upon all of their stealth and ingenuity in order to outsmart the usually older and bigger seekers.
We would play endless games, making sure to place “base” in some wide open area completely devoid of a bush or tree to hide behind.It’s a small miracle that no one sustained injuries while squeezing ourselves into impossible spaces.
Our favorite was to play in the dark, where we would all come to play in some version of black sweatsuit in order to blend in seamlessly with the shadows. Our parents usually stopped us from actually painting our faces black, but didn’t seem to mind the occasional ski-mask. We were ruthless, we were cunning and it was a blast.
If my children were to play the super-serious style hide-and-seek of the ‘80s they would be “it” for the rest of their lives. Stealth isn’t in their vocabulary, much less their skill-set. Games of hide and seek at our house usually end with one child giggling uncontrollably while the other tries to reverse the decision to make the front door “base”.
There is whining because someone didn’t wear the right shoes to run in, or complaining because someone has found the other for the last three times in a row. There is a lot of screaming across the yard that the seeker has found the hider even though no tags have been made. I have done my best to explain the nuances of how this game works, all to no avail.
With my children’s’ non-existent skills in mind, these broccoli bites were born. They fool no one. There is quite obviously broccoli in there and possibly some sort of other green vegetable, but there is enough cheese in them to convince the bravest of the brood to give them a try.
I am really in love with these little nibbles. They are great by themselves or could even be used as little canapes topped with a little chicken salad. Give them a try, just try not to giggle loudly all the way to the kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ cup shredded zucchini
- 10 oz. frozen chopped broccoli thawed
- ½ - ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ? cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and zucchini to the skillet and saute until the onion has begun to soften. Add the broccoli to the skillet and cook until the water has evaporated and the mixture is fairly dry. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Once cool, stir in the remaining ingredients. Squeeze a small handful of the mixture together to check if it will hold together. If the mixture is too wet, add more breadcrumbs. Spoon a small amount of the mixture into wet hands and shape into a patty that is about the size of a silver dollar and ½ inch thick. Place each patty onto a greased baking sheet. Bake the patties for 10 minutes i the preheated oven, then flip each patty and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve warm.
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