Life is full of surprises, and if anyone would have told me I would try to make vegan snacks, I would most likely have given them a funny look! But it is actually a lot of fun to experiment in the kitchen. With vegan experiments, the big question is what you should you use instead of eggs or other things that bind, such as gelatin?
These are things that I am getting to know more about because I’m always experimenting behind the scenes. Often it just doesn’t work out the way I want and I just need to try again, until I get it right! And nothing ends up in the trash, everything gets eaten or repurposed in some way so that it can still be eaten!
But this time (drum roll por favor) my broccoli rice cakes turned out really well in one go! Well, all at once? At first they stayed quite wet but after adding some chickpea flour they stayed together very neatly! So you see, in the kitchen you have to be quite creative sometimes!
And then I thought, why not share the recipe with you on this beautiful Sunday? I developed this recipe for a collaboration of a group of foodies on Instagram and I have to admit that these cakes are very tasty and I will definitely make them a few more times!
And even Luis, who doesn’t like broccoli at all, really liked these cakes and ate a whole batch on his own! Well, that can only be positive, right? This recipe is also made from ingredients that I had all at home, so it really falls under my #pantryclearingchallenge! Grab a broccoli and follow me into the kitchen!
Ingredients
for about 12 cakes
- 1 head (400 gr) of broccoli
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 200 gr white rice
- 1 tablespoon (1.5 is also allowed) ras el hanout
- 1.5 teaspoon of salt
- 1.5 teaspoon of pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon of smoked paprika
- 4 tablespoons of linseed
- 4 tablespoons of chickpea flour
- sesame oil
Preparation
First, cook the rice according to the directions on the package. Grind the onion and garlic together in a food processor. Cut the broccoli into florets and add the florets (and the stems too!) to the onion and garlic and grind everything until very fine, but just shy of being puree. Transfer this mix to a large bowl and then add salt, pepper and the herbs and stir well.
Let the rice drain for a while. Grind the linseed into a fine powder in a grinder or mortar and mix this through the broccoli batter, followed by the chickpea flour. Taste it all and adjust the flavor yourself with more herbs, salt or pepper.
When it’s cooled down, mix the rice through the broccoli batter with a fork. Do it carefully, but make sure everything is really well mixed. Then put a frying pan on the stove and heat sesame oil in it over medium heat. Prepare a plate of parchment paper for the shapes you will be making. Now take a little dough with your hands and make an oval or round hamburger shape. It should be about 1 to 1.5 finger thick. Repeat this until all of your dough is gone. When ready, carefully place your ‘burgers’ in the pan.
Let the slices bake until you can easily turn them over. Make sure the slices are well done on each side, so they’ll be easy to eat with your hands! Serve them with a spicy mayonnaise, or with kimchi!
Voilà, a vegan snack that you can easily transform into a real burger!
The result
I really recommend these snacks as small bite to serve with drinks or just to make for yourself and eat while enjoying a series! And if I’m very honest: you can easily make this recipe for many more people, but make sure you do it in batches! That way, you know for sure that the proportions are correct!
You cannot omit the chickpea flour, but you can replace it with flour of your own choice. You can use regular flour, but I wouldn’t use self-raising flour. I have no idea what would happen if you did, haha! Don’t make the cakes too thick or too big or you might break them, which happened with my first batch!
Well that’s it for today, a delicious and healthy snack that is for everyone, even people who don’t like broccoli! Have a nice Sunday and see you soon friends!
