Zucchini Pancakes

This is exactly the perfect thing to make, I think, for yourself for lunch on a rainy Sunday, or if you're eating alone on a weeknight. It's got a lot of food groups covered: zucchini, egg, flour, a little cheese... paired with some grapes, it's a great little meal. This recipe makes enough for side-dishes or appetizers for a few people, but they're really best straight out of the pan as a meal for one. Very similar to other vegetable pancakes or rice patties, but the grated zucchini gives them a nicer, more uniform texture -- and the zucchini has so much water that you can hardly overcook them.

Zucchini Pancakes

1 large zucchini, grated (should yield a bit more than a cup)
1/4 cup flour
scant 1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
pepper & salt to taste

Using your (clean) hands, squeeze the excess water out of the grated zucchini. Mix all ingredients well in a medium sized bowl. Grease a nonstick frying pan with a butter wrapper or tiny piece of butter, as if you were greasing a baking pan. Heat the pan over medium heat a minute or so. Using two tablespoons, drop batter into the pan to form pancakes. (Mine are ideally about two inches in diameter, but use your judgment.) Cook over medium heat until the bottom has begun to turn golden, 2-3 minute. Flip and cook until the other side is golden, again about 2-3 minutes. Don't take them out if they're still too pale, because the center won't be set. Eat immediately!

Makes 8-9 2 inch pancakes.