Friday, November 13, 2009

Cauliflower Fritters


I saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine. It was a 5-ingredient recipe and I just thought it was too interesting to pass up. Plus with only a few ingredients, I figured it would be really easy to put together. I really like recipes that use vegetables in different ways than the standard ways they are prepared.

I steamed my cauliflower and tried to mash it with my potato masher, but it was more difficult than I thought.
I ended up transferring the cauliflower to my food processor and it was cauliflower puree within seconds.
I read some of the reviews from people who had tried this recipe on the website and one reviewer mentioned that they subbed seasoned breadcrumbs for 1/2 of the flour called for. I decided to try that, just so the fritters would have a little bit more flavor.

I also reduced the amount of oil the recipe called for to cook the fritters in and coated my pan with cooking spray.
These little fritters were ready within minutes. I plated everyone's salad greens and squeezed a little lemon juice over our greens and then topped it with the fritters.

My kids really liked these. They ended up picking them up and eating them with their fingers, but I was just happy that they liked them.
I thought they tasted really great with the salad and lemon juice. Simple and fresh tasting.

I am interested in using cauliflower puree in other recipes. One of my blogging friends said she has made this recipe for Mac and Cheese, which uses cauliflower puree and it was good enough for a repeat appearance. Looks like that will be appearing on the menu in the near future.

Do you have a fave recipe that uses cauliflower puree?

Cauliflower Fritters adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine
  • 1 large head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 pounds), trimmed and chopped
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs
  • 2 Tbls grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • One 10-ounce bag salad greens
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

  1. Steam the cauliflower until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, mash and let cool for 10 minutes. (I pureed the cauliflower in my food processor because I couldn't mash it very well).

  2. Stir in the flour, breadcrumbs, cheese, and egg; season with salt and pepper and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Roll 1/4 cupfuls into balls, then flatten into patties, to make a total of 12 to 14. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry the patties until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with the salad greens tossed in olive oil and the lemon juice. (I just drizzled my greens with lemon juice)


15 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! I'm glad to hear that your kids liked it-that gives me more courage to try it in our home too.

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  2. Simple and delicious, you can't beat that. I might even get my kids to try it!

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  3. These sound interesting and a good way for the kids to eat cauliflower and my husband too.
    Joyce

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  4. I seem to recall the South Beach diet had a cauliflower mash that was supposed to make you think you were eating mashed potatoes. (It didn't) But I ended up doing it in my processor too.
    I do love cauliflower so think I will take it one step farther and make your recipe.

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  5. Cauliflower fritters sure are good. I'm so glad you decided to go with the bread crumbs. I can't imagine using much more flour. I actually don't use flour. But then I don't call my version fritters. I just give the steamed pieces a bath in an egg wash, bread them and roast them in the oven. Yum!

    Yours look so good, Mary Ann I wish I could have just one right now:) Let's see cauliflower puree. I wonder how it would be in a soup? I never get as far as pureeing cauliflower. My favorite way to cook it is to just roast it in the oven drizzled with some olive oil, minus the bread crumbs with lots of teeny slivers of garlic.

    Now, I want cauliflower...Thanks for making me hungry Mary Ann once again:)

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  6. These look delicious and like a pretty healthy snack too!

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  7. We had them last week and they were a big hit (minus the salad) for my boys! Yummy!

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  8. What a cool way to eat cauliflower. I think I'm going to have to try this!
    I like the idea of eating pureed cauliflower, too. The cauliflower man & cheese is really good, I think you'll like it. I usually make it with whole wheat penne.

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  9. I really want to try these. Mark Bittman has a whole section in HTCEV on using vegetable purees. I tend to either just steam or roast vegetables, but that can get boring.

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  10. I'm finding all sorts of fun recipes on your site today! I've never had cauliflower either. I saw a cauliflower recipe that was a healthier version of mashed potatoes I wanted to try, but this looks like an awesome introduction too!

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  11. These sound interesting. I just got some cauliflower and haven't decided what to make it it yet!

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  13. Hi Ann, I loved your recipe but I haven't enough cauliflower (about 500 gr)I made some changes for this reason. The result is yummy. Thank you :)

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment on my blog! I appreciate you checking out my creations and leaving your thoughts. I will try to get back to you, through comments here or by visiting your blog. Thanks again!
Mary Ann