I have a lot of cookbooks, not more than I should, but enough that each box made Brian curse my not-so-little collection as we moved into our fourth floor walk-up last summer. Some of the books are well-loved, splattered with a sauce from page 84, a gooey drip of batter from page 128, and a fragrant spice mixture comes tumbling out of the spine each time I turn to page 223. Others are pretty to look at, with vibrant meals displayed on each page, and blurry, saturated images of food artfully presented, with the serving utensil displayed just so. I love my cookbooks, but the fact of the matter is I rarely use them as they are supposed to be used.

A good cookbook can be used as much for inspiration as it can for hard and fast recipes. I read cookbooks much like I read a stellar novel, from cover to cover. I glance at each page, my eyes focusing in on the endless lists of ingredients. I may try to imagine the final product, because as we all know a cookbook is often like used car salesman selling you a final product that is not always like what he says. Sometimes, even I am in need of some inspiration in the kitchen. I walk into the kitchen and it is like a science laboratory, science never really being one of my strong suits in school–I am lost. I have no idea what to cook for dinner, and worse yet, nothing even sounds good to go out for. It is times like these when I crack open a book that is good for inspiration if nothing else (but it is great for other things too)– The Kitchen Diaries, by Nigel Slater. And he never fails. This week, he offered me zucchini cakes with dill and feta.

Why isn’t Nigel Slater a bigger deal in this country? Maybe he needs to wear cleavage baring tops like Nigella Lawson, or bash everything up in a mortar and pestle throwing British-isms around like rice at a wedding like Jamie Oliver, but whatever the reason may be I adore him. And I love this book. I purchased it in the U.K. awhile back, so all of my measurements are metric. (Although now this book is available in the U.S., so run, run to the bookstore!) Whenever I bake from this cookbook (and measurements are key), I depend on my trusty kitchen scale. But when I cook (or fry, as this recipe would have me do), I grow too lazy for exact measurements, and just wing it. Which is exactly what I did for this recipe.

The book is arranged much like a daily calendar, and on July 15, these pancakes are what Mr. Slater had to eat. And on June 26, Adrienne, feeling quite inspired, had virtually the same little cakes. I grated and salted a few zucchini and left them to drain for a half hour in a colander. In a saute pan, I softened a few sliced scallions and one clove of sliced garlic. Then I stirred in the drained zucchini, and cooked until the zuke was just beginning to color. I added few tablespoons of flour, and continued cooking , just to get the raw taste out of the flour. Then I removed the whole mess from heat, and placed it in a mixing bowl. I crumbled in some salty feta cheese, and a handful of fresh sliced dill. I tasted the mixture, seasoning with salt and pepper. After mixing in an egg or two, I had a loose, not watery batter.

Then I heated a few tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow pan, spooned in the batter, a few tablespoons at a time and cooked until golden brown on both sides. About 5 minutes. Flip gently. Elaborating upon the original recipe, I added a yogurt sauce for dipping. Simply take a small container of plain yogurt, grate in half a clove of garlic, another handful of fresh dill, salt and pepper, and mix until blended.

Perfect. Light. Utterly Delicious. And the ideal way for me to use one of my cookbooks.