Cauliflower Fritters

by Liz Child

These curried cauliflower fritters are simple to make but taste absolutely incredible! We love them with a lime, coriander and yoghurt dip for lunch, or they make a spectacular side to a homemade curry. The batter is made with chickpea flour, so nutritious and with a gorgeous savoury crunch, it’s the perfect way to elevate the humble cauliflower. Give these a try and let us know how you get on.

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 1 mug chickpea flour
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 3/4 mug water
  • 1/2 a cauliflower, finely chopped
  • vegetable oil for frying
  • 1/2 pot natural yoghurt
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lime, zested and halved
  • a large handful of fresh coriander
  • flakey salt to serve

Method

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, curry powder, salt and pepper with the water. You should be left with a smooth, fairly thick batter. You can add more water if it needs.
  2. Chop up the cauliflower (include any leaves) and stir through the batter to evenly coat the pieces.
  3. Heat up a couple of cm of vegetable oil in a deep frying pan to shallow fry the fritters in. While it is heating, get a plate ready with a piece of kitchen paper to drain the fritters on after frying. You can also make the dip now too. Zest the lime into the yoghurt and squeeze in half the juice. Cut the other half of the lime into wedges to squeeze over the fritters later. Chop up the coriander and stir through the yoghurt with a little salt and pepper.
  4. Now the oil should be hot and you can fry the fritters in batches. Use a serving spoon to dollop the batter into the hot oil. After a few minutes, when golden brown, carefully turn the fritters and fry the other side. Careful not to splash hot oil on yourself us you turn the fritters. Use a spatular and a spoon to turn and lower the fritters without splashing.
  5. Remove the fritters when they are cooked and place on the kitchen paper to drain. Then keep frying in small batches until all the mixture is used up.
  6. Serve sprinkled with flakey sea salt and lime wedges. Dunk in the yoghurt and enjoy!

Chickpea Omelette

by Liz Child

A simple mixture of chickpea flour, water and seasoning makes a really delicious batter that can be used to make egg free omelettes. Have you tried it yet? Delicious and so nutritious! Chickpea flour is high in protein, fibre and lots of vitamins and minerals. Stuff it with sautéed veggies and fresh herbs and you’ll be in brunch-heaven. Really you can make this recipe by eye and stuff it with whatever veg you like, but as a guide, here’s what I did to make two.

Liz x

Ingredients (makes 2)

  • 70g chickpea flour
  • 100ml water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • a handful of chopped dill
  • 1 chopped scallion
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 a courgette, sliced into ribbons with a peeler
  • 2 large handfuls of spinach
  • 1 tomato, sliced
  • 2 tsp butter for cooking the omelette

Method

  1. Start by whisking the chickpea flour with the water into a smooth batter. Season with a pinch of salt, a grind of pepper and a handful of chopped herbs and half the chopped scallion. Stir in 1 tbsp of good olive oil to enrich the batter. Set to one side while you prepare the filling.
  2. In a non-stick pancake pan, sauté the mushrooms with the other tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the garlic powder to the pan once the mushrooms start to sweat. Add the courgette strips and spinach and stir fry for a couple of minutes until the spinach has wilted. Move the filling off the pan into a bowl and put the pan back over a medium heat.
  3. Now melt a tsp of butter in the pan and pour in half the batter. Swirl and cook the omelette slowly until it is set. Then put half the filling on half the omelette and arrange half the tomato slices on top. Fold the omelette and serve with a sprinkle of scallions.
  4. Repeat with the other half of the batter and fillings and enjoy!

Broccoli & Sesame Fritters

by Liz Child

Our bumper crop of beautiful broccoli is so tasty. Of course we mostly eat it steamed as a side dish, but there are countless ways to eat broccoli. What are your favourite recipes? Here’s our currant obsession, fritters studded with lots of nutty sesame seeds, savoury seaweed and scallions. Delicious dunked in sweet chilli sauce. Give them a try and let us know what you think. You can add all the specialist ingredients (chickpea flour, seaweed flakes, sesame seeds, sweet chilli sauce…) to your next order. Our range of groceries is always growing. We always source organic, and plastic free and local where possible.

Liz x

Ingredients (makes 14 small fritters)

  • 1 mug of chickpea flour
  • 1 mug of warm water
  • 1 tsp each: garlic granules, ground ginger, chilli flakes, salt
  • 1/2 a broccoli, finely chopped
  • 1 scallion, chopped
  • 6 tbsp sesame seeds
  • a handful of dried seaweed flakes
  • neutral oil for frying
  • sweet chilli dipping sauce to serve

Method

  1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, water, garlic, ginger, chilli and salt.
  2. Now finely chop the broccoli and scallion and add to the bowl along with the sesame seeds and seaweed flakes. Stir well to evenly distribute the ingredients through the batter.
  3. Heat a heavy bottomed pan with a generous slick of oil to medium-high, then fry the fritters. Space out spoons of the batter in the pan, fry until golden and crispy, then carefully flip and fry the other side. Keep your eye on the temperature of the oil, make sure it’s not so hot that the fritters burn on the outside and are raw in the middle, but not so cold so they soak up a lot of oil and stay soggy.
  4. Drain the fritters and keep frying in batches until the mixture is all used up. Serve with a sweet chilli dipping sauce and enjoy!

Spanish Tortilla with Bravas Sauce

by Liz Child

This thick, potato omelette is the perfect example of humble ingredients elevated to something special. Potatoes and onions, a chickpea flour batter in place of the traditional egg mixture, good olive oil and seasoning – that’s all you need. Serve with a smokey tomato sauce or some aioli and a simple salad and you have the perfect summer lunch or supper. Or use this recipe as part of a tapas spread – serve little plates of olives, smoked almonds, paella, tortilla, patatas bravas, grilled peppers and a big jug of sangria. All we need now is some sunshine and good company.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

For the tortilla:

  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 white onion, peeled and sliced
  • 4-6 potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into 4mm thick rounds
  • a small mug of chickpea flour
  • a small mug of water
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the smokey bravas sauce:

  • 1 white onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes

To serve:

  • salad
  • parsley

Method

  1. Turn your oven to 200C and find a deep, oven and hob safe frying pan. If you don’t have one you can bake the tortilla in a lined oven dish instead.
  2. Start with the chickpea flour batter – the longer it has to rest and rehydrate, the better. Whisk together the chickpea flour and water with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and a tbsp of olive oil. Set to one side while you prepare the potatoes and onions.
  3. Cover the sliced potatoes with water and boil until just tender.
  4. Meanwhile, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil into the frying pan, turn to a medium-high heat and add the sliced onions. Sauce until the onions are soft and golden (around 8 minutes).
  5. Drain the potatoes and add them to the onions. Turn the heat down to medium-low and carefully stir the potatoes and onions together to evening spread the ingredients.
  6. Then pour the chickpea flour batter over the potatoes and onions and allow the base of the tortilla to cook on the hob for 5 minutes on low. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and move the pan to the oven to cook until set (around 10-15 minutes).
  7. Meanwhile make the bravas sauce by frying the onion and garlic in the olive oil until golden, add the smoked paprika and tin of tomatoes (swirl the juices out of the tin and into the pot with a splash of water) then season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer until rich and thick.
  8. Remove the pan from the oven and let the tortilla settle for 5 minutes. Then carefully loosen and turn out onto a plate or chopping board. I like to loosen it with a palette knife, place a board or plate upside down on the top of the pan, then use oven gloves and swiftly turn the plate and pan upside down. Then carefully lift the pan off the plate and the tortilla should neatly pop out onto the plate. Resting it really makes a difference here.
  9. Slice into wedges and serve with the bravas sauce – sprinkle with parsley. Salads and aioli go perfectly alongside too. Enjoy!

Carrot & Coriander Fritters

by Liz Child

Chickpea flour (aka gram flour) is such a useful store-cupboard ingredient. Have you tried it yet? In Indian cuisine it is used to make savoury pancakes called dosas and to the make the batter for deep fried onion bhajis. At home we love to use it to make nutritious, delicious, protein-rich fritters all year round. Fritters are a great lunch option with a simple salad and a dip, or you can use them as sandwich fillers or burger alternatives. You can really make them your own with different vegetables and herbs/spices. Here’s one of our favourites, carrot and coriander.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 espresso mug of chickpea flour (around 8 tbsp)
  • 1 espresso mug of water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 grated carrots
  • a handful of fresh coriander
  • around 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
  • natural yogurt, lime wedges and salad leaves to serve

Method

  1. Start with the batter. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, seasoning and water into a smooth batter.
  2. Grate the carrots and add them to the batter along with the coriander leaves. Stir well to coat the veggies in the batter.
  3. Heat a frying pan to medium with the vegetable oil. Make sure your pan is not too hot, chickpea flour batter can taste a little bitter if it is not cooked through so you want to cook it slowly so it’s not burned on the outside and raw in the middle.
  4. Dollop the batter into the pan in four even scoops. Fry the fritters for 5 minutes or so on each side or until they are golden brown on the outside and firmed up and hot inside.
  5. Then serve with salad, natural yoghurt and a good squeeze of lime.

Fluffy Broccoli ‘Omelette’

by Liz Child

Another recipe inspired by Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules, is this delicious, veg-forward breakfast. I LOVE having lots of vegetables for breakfast. Sautéed mushrooms, kale, and tomatoes on toast is probably my favourite. So when I re-visited ‘Summer Kitchens’, one of Olia’s brilliant books, and saw this puffed broccoli omelette I knew I had to make a plant based twist.

We have just added chickpea flour to our grocery section. It’s one of my favourite pantry ingredients, so useful for making fritters, socca bread, bhajis, vegan tortillas or quiches and egg free omelettes. To make it puffy, I just used bread soda activated with some apple cider vinegar. The results were delicious and I’ll be recreating this veggie breakfast over and over again using different seasonal vegetables. Of course it would be wonderful with our purple sprouting broccoli and I’m going to use leeks next time for sure! Don’t forget to tag us in your re-creations, we love to see the spin you put on our recipes.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1/2 mug of gram flour
  • 1/2 mug of water
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • sliced broccoli to cover frying pan
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Start with the batter. The longer the chickpea flour has to re-hydrate, the better texture – you could even make the batter the night before and leave it covered overnight at room temperature to lightly ferment. Whisk together the flour, water, vinegar, salt and pepper. Wait to add the baking soda just before frying.
  2. In a frying pan which has a lid, fry the broccoli with the olive oil, salt and pepper until just starting to take on some colour. Then spread the broccoli evenly over the base of the pan and turn the heat down to medium.
  3. Add the baking soda to the chickpea flour batter and whisk it in – the batter should immediately start to fluff up. Quickly pour it over the broccoli and put the lid on the frying pan. This will ensure a crispy bottom and a fluffy, steamed top to your omelette.
  4. After 3-5 minutes or so, the batter should be cooked through. You can test it by touching the top of the omelette, your finger should come off dry without batter.
  5. Slice it into wedges and serve warm. It’s delicious with some juicy sliced tomatoes alongside too.