Sweet Irish parsnips are plentiful in October. They are a wonderful root vegetable with a distinctive flavour that fills the house when its cooking.
My mother would always serve them mashed with carrots with our Sunday dinner. I don’t remember having them any other way as a child! Now I like to roast, steam or slow cook them to intensify the flavour. Here we’ve swapped the common potato for parsnip in a really tasty rosti. Made even more flavoursome with the punchy apple aioli on the side, you wont regret trying this one.
Lou 🙂
Ingredients: Makes 12 small rosti and a pot of aioli
For the rosti
450g parsnips, peeled and coarsely grated 1 medium white onion, peeled and coarsely grated 1 egg 6 tbsp plain flour pinch salt and pepper
For the apple aioli 2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely grated 1 tbsp cider vinegar 180ml mild olive oil. salt and pepper
Method:
Step 1: Grate the parsnips and onion and put them in a bowl, squeeze out any excess liquid, and season with salt and pepper. Crack in the egg and spoon in the flour. Mix well with your hands.
Step 2: Make the aioli. Cook the apple in a small pot with a splash of water until soft for 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Then add to a small blender along with the grated garlic, cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Blend again and very slowly pour the oil in to emulsify the sauce. Taste it and adjust if needed.
Step 3: Cook the roti. Warm a non stick frying pan on a medium heat, add some oil to coat the pan. Spoon on 3-4 parsnip mounds and gently push down to flatten. cook for a few minutes on either side until golden. Repeat. Fry in a small bit of butter and then serve alongside the delicious aioli.
We love these fritters! In fact I made them twice at the Farm Walk and I was asked for the full recipe so here it is. This is especially for Kenneths mother Maureen, who I promised I would share this, so she can make them at home herself.
This September we are making a conscious decision to eat more Irish produce, the carrots and courgettes are from the farm. While the other ingredients are from further afield we are happy knowing that these came from Irish soil. And I tell my kids that when we eat these fritters. Oh and my daughter had these in her lunchbox for school and loved them.
Step 1: Using a machine or box grater, grate the courgette, carrot, sweet potato and red onion, mix well.
Step 2: In a separate bowl add the chickpea flour, curry powder, chilli flakes, salt and pepper, mix well.
Step 3: Pour the seasoned chickpea flour all over the grated veggies and using you hands mix really well, this will take a few minutes. Really give it a good squeeze and work it almost like a dough. The liquid from the veg will help to form a batter with the flour.
Step 4: Warm a frying pan on a medium heat, add tablespoon of oil. Shape the mix into small patties fry for a couple of minutes, flip and fry again until cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat.
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
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.
Chop up the cauliflower (include any leaves) and stir through the batter to evenly coat the pieces.
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.
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.
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.
Serve sprinkled with flakey sea salt and lime wedges. Dunk in the yoghurt and enjoy!
Beetroots grow very happily in Irish soil. They are earthy and sweet and juicy and full of flavour. You can boil, steam or roast them to eat as a wholesome side veg, to make into a puree or beautiful pink hummus. I love to grate them to use raw in a salad or they go perfectly in these tasty fritters accompanied by the grated carrot.
You can whip these fritters up in about 20 minutes. I recommend using the fine side of your box grater, they cook quicker that way. Eat them solo or add some crunchy chickpeas, local leaves and a tahini dressing to make it a meal.
By seasoning with salt and pepper you get the real taste of the vegetables. When you use quality ingredients the natural flavours shine through.
Open the can of chickpea and drain really well. Tip: You can reserve the aqua faba (chickpea juice) to make a sweet dessert like pavlova.
Pour the chickpeas onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Using kitchen paper dry the chickpeas really well.
Make up the spice mix by adding the paprika, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper to a small bowl. Mix with a spoon. Then sprinkle over the chickpeas. You can add more salt later if needed.
Drizzle with oil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Check and shake the tray every 10 minutes.
The chickpeas will be crunchy when you’ve roasted them. They are best eaten on the day they are roasted but if using the next day pop in the oven again for 10 minutes so they are warm and crunchy. Keep them in an air tight jar in your cupboard.
For the fritters:
Begin by peeling and grating the beetroot and carrot, use the fine side of the box grater. Tip: Hold the raw beetroot with kitchen paper so your hands don’t turn pink. Add to a mixing bowl.
Finely chop the scallions and add this to the bowl. Crack in the egg, add salt and pepper, sprinkle in the flour. Fold all the ingredients together.
Warm a non stick frying pan on a medium heat, lightly oil. Add a spoon of the beetroot mix and flatten with the back of the spoon, cook 3 fritters at a time. Fry for a couple of minutes and flip and cook for a few minutes more. Remove with a spatula onto a plate lined with kitchen paper. Repeat with the rest of the mix.
For the tahini dressing:
Simply add the yoghurt, tahini, lemon zest and juice, maple syrup or honey, salt and pepper to a bowl and mix well with a spoon.
To serve:
Add some washed green leaves to a serving bowl, add 2-3 fritters per portion. Scatter on the chickpeas, dollop over the tahini dressing, peel some cucumber ribbons and bundle on tip and add a swirl of olive oil.
Fritters are a fab summer lunch with salads and a great way to use up a glut of vegetables. Courgettes are having their ‘glut moment’ on the farm right now, so here’s a delicious courgette fritter recipe for you to try if you get a lot of courgettes in your box and you’re stuck for ideas.
I usually make a gram flour (chickpea flour) batter of just gram flour, water and seasoning, and then stir in shredded/finely chopped veg to make fritters, but I didn’t have any gram flour so here’s a wheat and corn flour variety which works well too! Fritters are fairly forgiving, just use whatever flour you have in. Courgettes are quite watery vegetables, so I like to grate and salt them, then after the salt has drawn the liquid out, mix in enough flour to make a fairly thick batter. No need to add any other liquid or you’ll end up with soggy rather than crisp fritters!
Liz x
Ingredients (makes 6-8 fritters)
1 large or 2 small courgettes
a large pinch of salt (about 1/2 a tsp or to taste)
black pepper to taste
a big handful of chopped dill or fennel fronds (or any herbs you like – mint or parsley work well)
a block of feta, crumbled (or make my tofu feta recipe here)
4 tbsp plain flour (or more/less – see method)
4 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch (or more/less – see method)
olive oil for frying
lemon wedges, salad & tzatziki to serve
Method
Start by grating your courgettes into a large mixing bowl. Use the course side of the grater.
Sprinkle over the pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Then taste and decide if you’d like to add more. The courgettes should just taste pleasantly seasoned.
Give the salt time to draw the liquid out of the courgettes and use this time to prepare some salads and make a tzatziki (simply mix grated cucumber through thick yoghurt, season with salt, pepper and a little crushed garlic, stir well and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and fresh dill or mint).
Once the courgettes are wet, this only takes 10 minutes or less, you can start adding the flour. I like to use an even mix of cornflour and plain flour. The corn flour makes the fritters a little crispier.
Add one heaped tbsp of each flour to the wet courgettes then stir the mixture. Keep adding more of both flours and stirring until you have a thick fritter batter. If your courgette is very watery you’ll need more flour, if it’s drier you’ll need less.
Then stir through the herbs and crumbled feta and warm up a frying pan to medium with a generous slick of olive oil in the bottom of the pan.
Fry spoons of the mixture in small batches in the pan. Turn over after 3-5 minutes, once golden brown and crispy underneath and fry the other side for a further 3-5 minutes.
Keep the heat at medium, don’t be tempted to turn it to high or you may get fritters which are burned on the outside and raw and doughy in the middle.
Serve with salads and tzatziki for a lovely lunch. The fritters are delicious eaten hot with a squeeze of lemon. Or pop the fritters into a burger bun or sandwich as a summery veggie burger or sandwich filler alternative.
“Cooking from scratch is the single most important thing we can do…to improve our health and general wellbeing.” – “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”
Michael Pollan
At Green Earth Organics, we are on a mission to help you Eat More Veg and Cook From Scratch. These two phrases are the cornerstones of good health, not just for us but for our planet too! Cutting down on processed food, ready meals and animal products and preparing and eating lots more whole, organic, fruit, veg, beans, nuts and grains is not only great for our health, it means less packaging, less harmful emissions from factories and animal farms and a lot less unhealthy, unnecessary ingredients.
With our modern, busy lifestyles, it can seem like too much effort to shop for groceries, fruit and veg and get into the kitchen and cook from scratch after a long day at work. It is easy to just take something out of the freezer and microwave it or pop it in the oven. But you owe it to yourselves to cook from scratch. You are worthy of home cooked, healthy food and it will positively impact the rest of your life. It doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious and satisfying.
So as well as making it easy for you to get the good stuff straight to your door with our weekly veg box subscriptions, we are starting a new weekly series called ‘4 Ways With…’ This series will showcase a seasonal vegetable or other ingredient and demonstrate four simple ways to prepare or cook it. We want to inspire you and give you the confidence to get into the kitchen and whip up a simple but satisfying meal. Follow us on Instagram or subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the videos each week. Please feel free to comment and share your favourite seasonal recipes with us and the rest of our community. We love to see what you make from our weekly boxes. Liz x
4 Ways With Cauliflower
First up is the humble, but every versatile, cauliflower. Cauliflower has had one of the biggest ‘glow ups’ of all vegetables over the last 10 years. Once simply boiled and relegated to the side of the plate, cauliflower is now the captain of the vegetable patch! Roast it covered in Middle Eastern spices, blitz it into a rice or cous cous alternative, turn it into steaks, batter and deep fry it and transform it into a fried chicken substitute, even use it as a gluten free pizza base! If you’ve got a need for a vegetable to pretend to be something it’s not, cauliflower is your man. And it is delicious. Cauliflower is a bit of a blank canvas and is very good as a vehicle for delicious herbs and spices. It is absolutely fantastic in a curry or to top my baked biryani. Here are just 4 of the many ways I use cauliflower regularly. Vegan Cauliflower Cheese, Winter Tabbouleh, Spicy Roast Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad and Curried Cauliflower Fritters. What is your favourite cauliflower recipe? Let us know below or over on our healthy eating facebook group. Liz x
The recipes shown in the video above are just quick ideas and inspiration for dishes you can create with a cauliflower from your veg box. Below are the same recipes with amounts adjusted for a whole cauliflower in each recipe.
Vegan Cauliflower Cheese (serves 4-6 as a side for a roast)
150g plain flour (gluten free plain flour works too)
Preheat your oven to 200C. Find a large baking dish which will accommodate a whole cauliflower.
Rinse and quarter the cauliflower and break it into florets. Put them in the roasting dish. Add the sliced leaves and cores too.
Drizzle over the olive oil and season the cauliflower with salt and pepper. Mix well to spread the seasoning evenly. Then pop the dish in the oven to roast the cauliflower for 20 minutes.
While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare your vegan béchamel.
Simply whisk together the flour, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, mustard and oat milk. Add a big pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
Give it another which and pour the uncooked béchamel over the now roasted cauliflower. Return the dish to the oven to cook for a further 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
OPTIONAL EXTRAS: you could add a crunchy topping to your cauliflower cheese before you return it to the oven. I like to roughly blend extra proportions of pumpkin seeds and nutritional yeast. You could also use breadcrumbs.
Winter Tabbouleh (serves 6)
1 cauliflower
8 large kale leaves (or use lots of fresh parsley or a mix of the two)
option extras like chopped walnuts, z’atar or dukka
Grate a rinsed cauliflower into a large bowl. You should end up with a rice/bulgar wheat like grain substitute.
Rinse the kale, remove the tough stems and very finely chop the leaves. Add to the bowl of cauliflower.
Finely dice the red onion (or slice the spring onion) and add it to the bowl.
Slice the sun-dried tomatoes and add to the bowl then make the simple dressing.
Mix the juice of the mon with a small crushed clove of garlic, and 4 or so tbsp of oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and mix the dressing through the tabbouleh.
Serve as part of a salad bowl with some hummus, roasted vegetables and bread or with a tagine-type stew. It’s very good with something crunchy and nutty/seedy on top too. Simply toasted, chopped walnuts or make a dukka (a mix of toasted nuts, sesame seeds, cumin and coriander seeds) or z’atar (a mix of toasted sesame seeds, dried thyme and ground sumac).
about 6 tbsp of ready made chilli sauce like harissa or sriracha or a mix of your own favourite spices (eg 1 tsp chilli flakes, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1 tbsp smoked paprika and 2 tbsp maple syrup)
Pre-heat the oven to 200C and prepare a large roasting dish.
Rinse and chop the cauliflower (leaves, core and all), peel and slice the onions into thick wedges and drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Put them all into the roasting dish and drizzle over the olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper and add the chilli sauce or your own mix of spices.
Mix well and roast in the oven until the cauliflower is lightly charred and cooked through – around half an hour or so.
Serve warm with salad leaves and a cooling hummus or yoghurt and tahini dip or allow it to cool and keep in the fridge for 4 days for quick salad lunches.
1 tsp each of cumin seeds, brown mustard seeds, chilli flakes, turmeric, salt…some freshly ground black pepper and about 15 fresh curry leaves if you have them
vegetable oil for frying
Start with the gram flour batter. Mix the gram flour and spices with a mug of water.
Chop the cauliflower (leaves, core and florets) into small, pea sized pieces and mix it into the gram flour batter. There should be enough gram flour batter to coat all the pieces. If your cauliflower is very large and the mixture seems dry just make a bit more of the batter.
Heat a frying pan to a medium heat with a generous slick of vegetable oil. Fry spoonfuls of the batter in batches and flip them over once golden brown underneath. Ensure the heat is not too high as if it is the fritters will burn on the outside and be raw in the middle. A medium heat allows the fritters to cook slowly all the way through.
Serve warm as a side to a curry or salad or as a sandwich or wrap filling. I like mine in a wrap with some spinach or lettuce leaves, yoghurt and mango chutney.
Leftover mixture will keep well in the fridge in an airtight box for three days.
A page from my illustrated cookbook, available to buy from Green Earth Organics shop here.
Dal and fritters are staples in our house. The dal is especially useful to have in your repertoire for those days when you are low on fresh veg just before your next veg box arrives. And of course bulking out a dal with whatever seasonal veg you have is always a good idea. I like to make it with a tin of coconut some days, usually in winter when the weather calls for something rich and creamy, and with a tin of tomato on other days when I want it lighter and tangy (as in the recipe illustration from my book above).
My fritters are not dissimilar to onion bhajis. Here with curry spices in the gram flour batter they go particularly well with the dal and you can add whatever shredded veg you have around – cauliflower, squash, carrot etc. Fritters also make great sandwich fillers or burger patty alternatives and of course they don’t have to be curry flavoured, add whatever herbs and spices you like to make them your own. I love courgette fritters with fresh herbs in the summer, squash chilli and sage in autumn, celeriac, preserved lemon and parsley…the possibilities are endless.
As always, let us know in the comments or over on our community Facebook group if you make this recipe. We love to see our recipes leave the screen. Don’t forget to share this blog with your friends and family.
1 tsp each: brown mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, fenugreek, salt and chilli flakes or chopped green finger chilli to taste
Dice the onion or leek and soften it in a large pan on a medium high heat with the oil.
Add the cumin and mustard seeds and stir to toast them until fragrant. Then add the ground turmeric, ginger and fenugreek and stir to briefly toast for just a few seconds.
Add the mug of red lentils and the diced swede and stir to coat them in the spices. Then add the tin of coconut milk and two tins of water to the pan.
Season with salt and pepper and add the curry leaves (if you have them – buy online or at specialist Asian shops) and chilli flakes or chopped green finger chilli to infuse while the lentils and swede cook.
Bring the pot up to boil then turn down the heat and simmer, stirring often, until the lentils and swede are cooked through.
Meanwhile get the fritter mix ready. Whisk the gram flour, spices and water together into a smooth batter. Then grate the parsnips and add them to the batter. Stir well to coat all the grated parsnip with the batter.
Heat a frying pan with a generous slick of vegetable oil. Turn the heat to medium-high and fry whatever sized dollops of the fritter mix in the pan. Cook on both sides until golden brown on the outside and cooked through. It’s better to cook them slowly if they are large so that they don’t end up burnt on the outside and raw in the middle. Raw gram flour batter can be a little bitter.
Stir chopped and rinsed kale through the dal about 10 minutes before serving. Serve the dal and fritters in bowls with Indian chutneys and optional rice, popadoms etc.
