Patty cakes

Today was one of those days that flew by and it was home time before I realised. I can't believe that tomorrow is Friday either! You have to love short weeks.

Dinner

This evening I picked out lentils from the Mystery Box. I was initially thinking of a slow cooked lentil dish, however the evening started to disappear so I opted for a quick dish instead.

  

A little research later, and I came across a multitude of recipes for lentil burgers. I also had some chickpeas in the cupboard, so I decided on Lentil and Chickpea patties .

I cheated this evening and used a tin of  lentils that we had in the cupboard. I normally prefer the taste and texture of traditionally cooked lentils, however the lure of convenience won this evening. I am always a little wary of canned products (due to their usually high sodium content), so I made sure to give the lentils and the chickpeas a good rinse before using them.

These patties were ridiculously easy to make.

I softened the red onion, garlic, cumin, chilli flakes  and tumeric in a frypan, then processed the mix with the lentils, a tin of chickpeas, pepitas and a couple of  eggs.

   

Once the mix was nice and smooth, I stirred through a cup of 0ats that I had processed into fine flour.  Some fresh herbs (such as parsley or coriander would have been a nice addition to the mix however we didn't have any!).

This made about 6 large patties, although it could easily have made 8 to 10 smaller / flatter ones.

I pan fried the patties for about 4 minutes on each side, allowing them to brown and heat through.

  

Served with steamed vegies, and a good dollop of natural yoghurt mixed with some lemon juice.

 

Lentil and chickpea patties

Ingredients

• 1 can lentils, drained and rinsed well
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oats, ground into flour

Method

1. Sauté onion, garlic and spices in a frying pan until fragrant and soft.
2. Process onion mix, lentils, chickpeas and eggs until smooth.
3. Stir through oat flour, and form into 6 to 10 patties.
4. Pan fry in a little cooking oil spray, for approx 4 minutes each side.

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Overall a tasty and healthy dish, although next time I would definitely add some fresh herbs to the mix to give the patties a little more flavour. I think these patties would also work well if cooked on a bbq, and served as a burger or with a fresh salad.

What about you? What do you think of fresh or dried v canned legumes and beans?

Happy baking :)