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!

Kale Crisps

by Liz Child

Kale crisps are easy to make and surprisingly delicious. If you’re looking for a healthy, savoury snack, you’ve come to the right place. Kale crisps remind me of crispy seaweed so as well as snacking on them whilst watching a film, I also crumble them over rice or noodle bowls. I’ve seasoned this batch with toasted sesame oil and chilli flakes to enhance that Asian, seaweedy flavour, but you can flavour your crisps exactly how you like them. Some other family favourites: nutritional yeast and garlic/onion powder (cheese & onion), smoked paprika and maple syrup (smokey bacon), or just plain old salt and pepper! Share your favourite flavour combos in the comments.

Kale is a real Irish superfood, full of fibre and vitamins, most notably vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and vitamin B-6. Kale crisps are a fun way to get all that goodness in.

*All the ingredients pictured below can be added to your organic veg order and delivered to your door. We deliver to every address in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Liz x

Ingredients

  • approx 14 curly kale leaves (any type of kale works)
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (or any oil you like)
  • chilli flakes to taste (or other flavours you like, see above for ideas)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Method

  1. Turn the oven on to 150C (130C fan) and find your largest baking trays. Line the trays with baking parchment – we sell a 100% compostable one.
  2. Rinse the kale and dry it thoroughly. I place the rinsed leaves onto a clean tea towel then use a second tea towel to blot the leaves dry.
  3. Tear the kale leaves from their stems and place in a large mixing bowl. Do not throw the stems away, they are delicious finely sliced and sautéed. Use in stir fries or add to risottos or stews…
  4. Add the oil, salt, chilli flakes and sesame seeds to the bowl and mix and massage the seasoning into the leaves. Break up any large pieces as you go.
  5. Spread the leaves out onto the lined baking trays, it’s best if they are in an even layer and not overlapping.
  6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until completely dried out and crispy. You will need to stir them half way through.
  7. Allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They are prone to loose their crispness so eat the same day or you can try adding a few grains of rice to the bottom of the container to act like silica gel packs in bought kale crisp packets. Just be careful not to eat them accidentally.