Cauliflower Tahini Fritters with Lentil, Quinoa and Kale Tabbouleh
Oh gosh, these are deeelicious….
deeelicious cauliflower fritters
Sometimes I stumble upon a recipe that knocks my socks off – and this is one of those!
I am a huge fan of the good old cauliflower and love that it is having a resurgence where it is being used for more than just a transport medium for cheese sauce!
a mighty fine organic cauliflower
If you have been following my blog for a while, you will have seen, and hopefully tried, some of my favourite cauliflower dishes, including…
cauliflower, red lentil and coconut soup
quinoa and roasted cauliflower salad
cauliflower falafels; and
So lets add to this delicious list, these fabulous cauliflower and tahini fritters…
They are basically ‘slabs’, or ‘steaks’ as they are called in some restaurants (that’s slices to you and me), of cauliflower which are dipped in this odd sounding batter of egg white, tahini, chickpea flour and lemon juice, then fried…
tahini etc batter…dip, then fry…
place on paper towel after they are cooked
As you may have already guessed (and seen in the photo above), not much of the cauliflower stayed in ‘slabs’ but rather fell apart. Trust me, it doesn’t matter as despite those bits not looking quite so good, they sure make up for that in taste!!
this was the only whole steak (or slab) I got from this cauliflower
So here is a great dish, which is so quick to make, you could include it during the week. Say, for Meat Free Monday tomorrow night perhaps?
Regardless, do give these a go. You are sure to love them just as much as we did!!
- ½ cup French green (puy) lentils
- ½ cup quinoa, rinsed, drained
- Batter:
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons chickpea (besan) flour
- ½ cup tahini
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- lots of freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small cauliflower, thickly sliced
- Extra virgin olive oil, for shallow-frying
- Dressing:
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Tabbouleh:
- 250 gram punnet of kumara, cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1½ cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 1 cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2-3 kale leaves, finely chopped
- Pine nuts, toasted, to serve, optional
- pomegranate seeds, garnish, optional
- Rinse lentils and place in a saucepan. Cover generously with water and bring to the boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, or until cooked.
- Rinse quinoa and add to the same saucepan after about 8 minutes.
- When the lentils and quinoa are cooked, remove from heat and drain. Set aside
- Meanwhile, place egg whites in a bowl and whisk.
- Gradually whisk in flour, tahini, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
- When hot, add enough oil to generously cover the base of the pan.
- Working in batches, dip cauliflower into batter, drain excess.
- Shallow-fry for about 2 minutes each side or until golden.
- Drain on a tray lined with paper towel.
- Meanwhile, add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt to a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well.
- In a large bowl, combine lentils and quinoa, pour dressing over and stir to combine.
- Then add tomatoes, parsley, mint, coriander and kale. Mix well
- Serve fritters with tabbouleh and sprinkle with pinenuts and pomegranate seeds, if using
You will then just need to cook the quinoa for 12 mins (approx)
This recipe originally came from taste.com.au
I made a few tweaks to it, but this is their photo…
