Pre-Test Munchies

Today is the last day before I take my surgery shelf exam, yahoo! I officially finished my time on surgery on Tuesday afternoon, after completely my last 28 hour shift. Your body gets very angry at you when you force it to keep working for that long. I got to work at 7 am on Monday and was doing pretty well until around 6 am Tuesday running on no sleep. We stayed pretty busy through out the night, but as things started to slow down, that's when my body started to realize "what are you doing to me?!" Those last few hours of work I spent in a lecture, signout, and rounds were brutal. I felt like a walking zombie in a strange delirious state. I am definitely not going to miss that rotation! 

I've been trying to kick some bad eating habits out of my life. I've resisted the temptation for cafeteria french fries at 11 pm and opted for a nice hummus cup instead. One of my favorite foods is fried zucchini. I had some zucchini in the fridge and decided to try and healthy baked version. I had all of the ingredients laying around and it was a nice snack while I'm studying about fluid resuscitation, pneumothorax, and small bowel obstruction for my surgery shelf. Enjoy this easy healthy treat!

Parm Zucchini fries

adapted from Canella Vita

• 2 large zucchini
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp salt, divided
• ground black pepper, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups panko (other bread crumbs would be fine too)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. spice blend (I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute)

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut zucchini into thick French-fry-size sticks.
Now make the assembly line. Arrange 3 shallow, wide bowls or pie plates in a row. In the first bowl, mix flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In the second bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. In the third bowl, combine panko, Parmesan, spices, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

First dip zucchini in flour, shaking off excess. Transfer to egg mixture and toss until coated, then coat zucchini in bread crumb mixture. 

Arrange fries, in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes and then rotate the pans. Continue to bake until panko coating is golden and crisp, 7 to 12 minutes more.