Cauliflower And Chickpea Fritters

Golden brown cauliflower fritters with a punchy hit of red chili flakes are what's for lunch today. Herbs add freshness. Chickpeas bump up the protein.

They're wonderful eaten straight out of the frying pan, sprinkled with lemon juice and sea salt. Meyer lemons are particularly good here. Dip them into honey-drizzled Greek yogurt. The crispy and slightly spicy fritters paired with creamy, honeyed yogurt deliver hot and sweet flavors. 

Cauliflower And Chickpea Fritters Recipe

Makes 8 Fritters

Ingredients

• 2 cups of diced cooked and cooled cauliflower
• 3 scallions, roughly chopped
• A handful of basil or dill
• 1-2 lemons. I like meyer lemons.
• A 16-ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon of sweet or smoked paprika (optional)
• A pinch of red chili flakes or cayenne pepper (or to your taste)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1/3-1/2 cup of self rising flour
• Olive oil for cooking
• Salt to taste

To Serve: sea salt, lemon wedges and Greek yogurt drizzled with honey

Instructions

Place the rinsed and drained chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor along with the scallions and herbs. Whiz to a chunky consistency. Don't process the chickpeas all the way down as if you're making hummus. They should still have some structure. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in the cooked and cooled cauliflower, paprika, red chili flakes and salt. Taste for seasoning. Add the eggs, milk and self rising flour. Mix everything together. Start with 1/3 cup of self rising flour and add more if the mixture seems too wet. 

Heat a large nonstick frying pan on medium high with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. I used my nonstick Scanpan for this recipe. Drop batter by 1/3 cup fulls into the hot pan. Cook until golden brown on each side. Squeeze some lemon juice and sea salt over the fritters.  Serve with Greek yogurt drizzled with honey.

Bon Appetit!