Cauliflower Quinoa and Spinach Cakes

I found this recipe on a scrap of paper and I have no idea where it came from. It's fairly straightforward and once the quinoa has been cooked, and the cauliflower, oats and spinach blended, all the ingredients can be combined in a bowl. I made 10 individual cakes and 2 are quite filling. They are best cooked in a frying pan or pancake pan, instead of grilling or baking, with a little oil or cooking spray.

Cauliflower Quinoa and Spinach Cakes
Makes 10 (2 cakes per serving)
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:
- 180g / 6.5oz quinoa
- 200g / 7oz cauliflower
- 80g / 3oz oats
- 130g / 4.5oz spinach
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 225g / 8oz cottage cheese, low fat
- ground black pepper

Method:
Cook the quinoa. 2:1 water:quinoa ratio.
Separately blend the cauliflower, oats and spinach in a food processor. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Stir in the cooked, but cooled, quinoa. Add the garlic.

Mix in the beaten eggs, cottage cheese and ground black pepper.

Chill the mixture for 30 minutes in the fridge. Then form 10 balls/patties.

In a frying pan or pancake pan, sprayed with cooking oil or a little olive oil, cook the cakes for 4-5 minutes on either side.

ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

What to do with all these mushrooms?

Mushroom Recipes

I usually like to eat particular foods – avocados, mushrooms, kale, chocolate, tofu – or sometimes buy too much of one thing and wonder what I’m going to do with the excess. Mushrooms seem to be a common overstock. However, with only 6 calories per mushroom, it's easy to throw a few in some miso soup, mix them with tofu or eggs, or add them to any stir fry, curry or stew.

I thought it would be useful to create a list of foods and recipes that include a particular food so that it becomes easy to cook dishes based on the available ingredients stored in the pantry and fridge.

Recipes by Food

The list isn’t extensive but I will continue to add foods and recipes.

Mushroom Lentil Bhaji

This is the first time I've used garam masala. It's an Indian spice meaning 'hot' (garam) and 'a mixture of spices' (masala). Garam refers to the intensity of the spices rather than the capsaicin content - i.e. not the blow your head off kind of hotness!

I had difficulty finding garam masala in the supermarket but I have since learnt it can be made at home by combining other spices such as: cumin, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Here's an Easy Garam Masala Recipe.

If I have a pack of mushrooms, I usually make Mushroom and Tofu Stew. This recipe is similar in that it uses mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic honey, flour and some green vegetables. The only different ingredients are the tofu and herbs/spices (thyme and cayenne pepper) featured in the stew compared with the lentils, ginger, garam masala, turmeric and chili featured in this dish. Although I'm sure tofu would be tasty in this bhaji too!

Mushroom Lentil Bhaji
Makes 4
Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Ingredients:

- 130g / 4.5oz lentils

- 400g / 14oz / 1 can diced tomatoes (no added salt)

- 15ml / 1tbsp olive oil

- 170g / 6oz onion, chopped

- 2 clove garlic, crushed

- 5g / 1tbsp ginger

- 225g / 8oz mushrooms, chopped

- 1tsp garam masala

- 1tsp turmeric

- 85g / 3oz peas

- 10g / 1tbsp flour

- 30ml / 2tbsp cold water

- 20g / 1tbsp honey

- 1/2tsp chili powder

Method:

Cook the lentils in approx. 3 cups (720ml) water in a saucepan with a lid for 30 minutes, until soft.

Meanwhile, blend canned tomatoes using a handheld blender or food processor so you have a smooth texture instead of liquid and tomato chunks.

In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion, garlic, ginger and mushrooms for approx. 5 minutes.

Add the garam masala and turmeric and mix well.

Add cooked lentils, blended tomatoes and peas. Bring to boil for 5 minutes.

Mix the flour with water and stir into the pan to thicken the dish.

Stir in the honey and add the chili powder.

ENJOY!

Click HERE for a printable recipe card.

Nutritional Information:

Black-Eyed Peas Hummus

Another 'hummus' dip but instead of using chickpeas or black beans, this recipes uses a can of black-eye peas and lime juice. I also had some fresh cilantro which I added instead of spices.

All three kinds of hummus dip featured in this blog are quite similar in their nutritional content - about 100 calories per ~65g / ~2oz serving. They don't have any cholesterol and contain less than 1g sugar, if any at all! 13g carbohydrates and 4-6g protein, with black-eyed peas offering a little more protein than chickpeas or black beans. The chickpea hummus has a little more fat, due to the 2tbsp olive oil. 1tbsp oil can be replaced with a tablespoon of bean juice or water to keep fat at 3g per serving.

I prefer to use canned beans with no added salt but sometimes I can't get all varieties of beans with low sodium. The black bean hummus only has 7mg sodium per serving whereas the other two dips have ~170mg per serving. No added salt makes a big difference in nutritional health and very little difference in flavour.

Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
Makes 5 (67g per serving)

Ingredients:
- 440g / 15.5oz / 1 can black-eyed peas
- 15ml / 1tbsp black-eyed peas juice
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 15ml / 1tbsp olive oil
- 45ml / 3tbsp lime juice
- 5g / 1/4cup cilantro, fresh and chopped

Method:
Drain the can of black beans, retaining 1 tablespoon of juice.
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend together.

Spoon into a container for storage.
Serve with chopped vegetables. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information:

113 ingredients = 60 Recipes

Since starting this Chocolate Spinach blog, I have kept an ingredients list and also an A-Z recipe index to keep track of the dishes I've made and also the foods I've used.

Turns out with 113 ingredients, it's possible to make 60 different recipes! Take a look at previous posts if you don't believe me!

Whilst it's hard to pick a favourite dish (perhaps the chocolate pudding/pie), I have tried to pick a few popular and delicious snacks, main meals and treats and have started to create a list of printable recipe cards.

I fully accept that it can get quite messy in the kitchen and it's not always practical to follow a new recipe from a laptop or iPad. Therefore a simple PDF version of a recipe may help when getting creative in the kitchen.

Below is a list of printable recipe cards which I have started to create. I'll slowly add to the list as I get chance and place links on the Printable Recipe Card page as well as including them in recipe blog posts.

Almond Pie Crust
Almond Cocoa Balls
Banana Oat Pancakes
Black Bean Hummus
Cauliflower and Courgette Bake
Cauliflower Quinoa and Spinach Cakes
Chili Rubbed Chicken
Chocolate Pudding
Indian Spiced Lentil and Vegetable Soup
Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake)
Pumpkin, Kale, Ginger, Tofu Curry
Turkey Chili