We usually eat Mexican style food – chilli, tortillas, salad, guacamole – the same way every time. It gets a bit boring so I tried something new last week. These patties aren’t really that far from the path, and they were delicious with pico de gallo, roasted red pepper salad and a big blob of sour cream.

Great flavour, terrific texture with their crisp exterior and chunky interior, and they hold together beautifully in the frying pan.

Makes about 20 small patties

Ingredients

1 x 340g (12 oz) can corn kernels
1 x 435g (15 oz) can kidney beans
1 medium zucchini
2 spring onions (scallions)
3 large eggs
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
about 1 cup dry breadcrumbs
canola oil for frying

Directions

Rinse and drain the corn and kidney beans in separate strainers.

Grate the zucchini on a box grater and spread over a couple of sheets of paper towel, top with more paper towel and put a heavy cutting board on top. You can weigh it down with cans or pots to hasten the draining process.

Finely mince the spring onions.

Lightly beat the eggs in a mixing bowl.

Roughly mash the kidney beans with the back of a fork or a potato masher and add to the eggs (or just mash them straight into the eggs, to avoid having another bowl to wash), and add the corn, zucchini and spring onions.

Add cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Stir in enough breadcrumbs so the mixture becomes quite stiff.

Use damp hands to shape the mixture into patties.

Heat about two tablespoons of canola oil in a skillet and cook the patties until well browned on both sides, 4 – 5 minutes per side.

If you need to cook in batches, as we did, put the cooked ones on a paper towel lined baking sheet in a low oven to drain and keep warm.