Chef Paul Higgins closes ‘Meet Me in the Garden’ series with zucchini fritter demo

It’s no secret that gardeners like to cook. Community and backyard gardeners generally have access to fresh, delicious produce in their backyard and, perhaps more importantly, they love to find ways to use their fresh produce, herbs, and local fruits in the kitchen. It’s also no secret that we all like to eat!

Chef Paul Higgins was the guest presenter at the final Meet Me in the Garden learning series this past week at the Faith Lutheran Church.

Chef Higgins holds a degree in Culinary Arts/ Science and Hospitality Business Administration. He is a Certified Executive Chef, and former member of the American Culinary Federation, and the National Research Chefs Association. As a resident of Knox County, Higgins works with the OSU Extension in food safety education and fresh food handling. He is on the Local Food Council Advisory Committee and the Task Force for Older Adults.

The featured recipe shared at the food demonstration was Zucchini Fritters. Higgins designed and prepared the savory zucchini ‘cakes’, as they are sometimes called, with scallions, parmesan cheese and almond flour. He shared a technique using salt to extract excess water from the young zucchinis along with ideas for modifying the recipe using different types of oils and seasoning.

Catie Hayes, SNAP-Ed program assistant, organized and led a series of Community Garden Cooking Nights at the Faith Lutheran Church during August and September utilizing simple, delicious and inexpensive recipes from CelebrateYourPlate.org and MyPlate.Org. Catie shared health and nutrition information about Zucchini as a low-carb food that is rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, folate, and manganese.

The Meet Me in the Garden learning series covered a wide Range of gardening topics each month throughout the 2025 growing season and was sponsored by the Knox County Local Food Council. People interested in gardening are invited to visit the KC Local Food Council’s website for information on how to participate in the growing local foods activities and events at https://knoxlocalfood.weebly.com/ or, on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knoxlocalfood