I've been trying to be good and use up all the veg that seems to get forgotten in the salad drawer of my fridge. I really hate food waste, so I make it my mission to use up everything and if I can come up with something that resembles a meal, then great. Fritters are a brilliant way to use up sad and left behind vegetables. These spiced parsnip fritters make a handy lunch for 4, out of just 3 parsnips, some leftover spring onions and store cupboard ingredients. Not bad for a weekday lunch right?
I'm sort of fond of fritters; the first time I had fritters was in my grandmother's house, she made the best apple fritters, I have never tasted anything better than those crispy, crunchy, sugary, deep-fried apples. Again they were one of the many great things I watched my Nan make that she seemed to magically bring together out of nothing. I learned a lot about cooking from talking to my grandmother about food, she taught me that with just the basic store cupboard ingredients you can muster up a meal for a whole family.
I was recently asked where my inspiration for this blog and my recipes come from, I found it a hard question to answer at first, while a lot of my inspiration for my cooking has been to cook mostly healthy, mostly seasonal, tasty meals for my family, the inspiration for my recipes has mostly come from what I have learned from my grandmother. Food from my childhood and good times in the kitchen with my Nan makes for happy food memories, I hope my own daughter will feel the same one day and if I'm lucky I will get to teach my own grandchildren. If you'd like to hear more of me chatting about food and blogging you can now hear the interview I did with Dr Sue Bailey for Cambridge 105's Flavour show. My very first radio interview!! It was great fun and a little nerve-wracking, anyway you can catch it here I'm around the 32-minute mark 😉
Right, back to these fritters! These spiced parsnip fritters are perfect for lunch or a light supper but they would also be great topped with a poached egg for brunch. They are nicely spiced but not too hot, great for kids and for introducing new flavours to younger kids. You could ramp up the heat and add a little chopped green chilli if you like. The raw mixture isn't very wet so when you fry them do give them at least 2-3 minutes, depending on how hot your pan is before you flip them. Make sure and press them down lightly with the back of the spoon and I shaped them a little with the spoon to make them nice and round. I've made these a few times now and they were a teeny bit crumbly around the edge but held together great. I serve them with a green salad and the garlic coriander yoghurt, I think mint raita would work well too. Whatever dip you use I hope you enjoy them as much as we did x
Spiced Parsnip Fritters with Coriander Yogurt
Ingredients
- 3 medium parsnips 450g, peeled
- 4 or 5 medium spring onions (scallions) depending how big they are. I used approx 30g of the white and light green part of the spring onions,chopped.
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large free range eggs beaten
- 2 tablespoon plain flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil more if you need it
- 150 g plain natural yoghurt
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves chopped
- A small pinch of sea salt
- Lime wedges & salad leaves to serve
Instructions
- Make the yogurt by adding the garlic, chopped coriander and sea salt to the yogurt, mix and then leave in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
- Pre heat your oven to 120 degrees C (250F)
- Grate the parsnips, you can use a box grater or a food processor with the grating blade attached. The food processor will be much quicker. Place the grated parsnip in the middle of a light tea towel (kitchen towel) gather the edges together then twist the towel until you have a ball, squeeze the parsnip to remove some of the water content. Once you have done this leave the parsnip to sit in a sieve over a bowl for 10 minutes and then repeat once more. You want to get as much water out of the parsnips as possible.
- While your waiting for the parsnips add the cumin seeds to a mortar and bruise with the pestle.
- Place the parsnip in a large mixing bowl, add the spices, salt, pepper, garlic, spring onions, flour and eggs and mix well.
- Heat the coconut oil in a skillet, I use a well seasoned cast iron skillet which is non stick, whatever you use make sure it is non-stick.
- Spoon a heaped dessert spoon of the parsnip mix onto the skillet and flatten down slightly with the back of the spoon, cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes each side. I cooked these in batches of 3.
- Place the fritters on a baking tray and keep warm until they are all cooked and you are ready to serve.
- Serve with lime wedges, green salad and the coriander yogurt.
Sasha @ Eat Love Eat
Ooh yummy! I love fritters and I bet these parsnip ones are amazing! I bet they'd make a great packed lunch too! xx
Michelle Alston
They were so good Sasha! And they would be perfect for a packed lunch 😉
Hana | Nirvana Cakery
Yum, I absolutely love parsnips, fritters are such great idea! I'm actually planning a parsnip week on my blog this week, parsnip pizza for tomorrow and hopefully cake too! I'm finding it very tricky making fritters without egg, they always stick 🙁 yet to be mastered! xxx
Michelle Alston
Me too Hana, I love them! Can't wait to see your posts for parsnip week x