Vegetarian "Kofte"

About 4 cups zucchini (from 3 medium zucchini), coarsely grated

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ cup packed parsley leaves

1/4 cup cilantro (you can leave this out if you hate cilantro)

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

¾ cup plain bread crumbs

1 egg

Grate zucchini coarsely and sprinkle with 1 tsp. of salt, mix thoroughly. Let sit for 10 minutes, then roll up in a kitchen towel and wring out well. While it's sitting, coarsely mash the beans (don't puree!) and then mix with other ingredients and zucchini. Form into patties about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick and refrigerate at least 15 minutes or until firm (can be done in the am and let sit). Fry in olive oil until very brown and crispy on both sides. Serve with tomato-garlic sauce.

Italian Variation - we were having focaccia bread so I left out the middle eastern spices (the parsely, cilantro, cumin, and coriander) and used italian spices instead - 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and rosemary, and 1-2 tsp dried basil, and about 1/4 cup of finely grated parmesan and romano, and served with the dipping sauce for the focaccia bread. They were very tasty.

Tomato-garlic sauce - 1 can whole italian tomatoes, 1 T olive oil, 2-3 cloves garlic, minced, 1/2 tsp dried basil (optional, for italian variation). Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and much of the juice has evaporated so that the sauce is thicker and chunky. You may use diced italian tomatoes for this instead.

Cost:

5 cloves garlic: About $.20

Fresh parsley and cilantro: About $3

2 cups home-cooked garbanzo beans: about $.40

Other spices: About $.25

Bread crumbs, homemade (just take a slice of bread, let it get stale, and grate it): $.10

1 egg: $.10

1 can Italian tomatoes: $.75

butter/olive oil: $.25

Total Cost: About $5