Baked Zucchini Stix

Baked Zucchini Stix:

Ingredients

1. Olive oil Cooking Spray

2. 4 medium zucchini (200g each), ends trimmed

3. 3 large egg whites (9 tbsp)

4. Freshly ground black pepper

5. 1 cup chickpea crumbs (click on link) OR panko crumbs or coconut crumbs or ground flax

6. 2 tablespoons grated pecorino Romano cheese

7. 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

8. pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°F (218ºC). Spray 2 large baking sheets with oil.

Cut each zucchini into 16 sticks about 4 inches long and about 1⁄2-inch thick for a total of 64 sticks. Put them on paper towels to blot excess moisture.

In a small bowl, season the egg whites with the salt and black pepper to taste; beat well.

In a medium-sized shallow bowl, combine the chickpea crumbs, cheese and garlic powder. Dip the zucchini sticks into the egg whites, and then into the bread crumbs, turning to coat well.

Place the breaded zucchini sticks in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets and spray the tops with more oil.

Bake until golden brown and tender in the center, 23 to 25 minutes.

Note: For best results, bread the zucchini in two batches so the crumbs don’t clump up. Divide the bread crumbs in half. Bread the first two zucchinis, then dump the crumbs and use the remaining crumbs to finish breading the last two.