Posted in Recipes on 28.09.2018
Kid Friendly Veggie Nuggets
prep: 20 mins / cook: 60 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 1 hour 20 mins / quantity: 25 - 30 nuggets Print recipe?
There’s loads of healthy veggies crammed into these kid friendly veggie nuggets as well as protein rich chickpeas!
They’re also super easy to prepare and while I’ve called them veggie nuggets they’re actually vegan (and gluten free!) and can be made in advance for a great quick snack or lunch box treat!
If you know me you’ll know I don’t have children. So how can I call these veggie nuggets kid friendly?
Because what I do have is a very fussy eating 45 year old whose attitude to food in the past has been very much like a child. I’m not being mean here and Phil would be the first to agree. He’s changed a LOT over the years in his approach to food. When we first met even the idea of vegetables and fruit filled him with horror. He was very much a meat and carbs man. It’s taken a LOT of gentle persuasion, some clever disguising and even a bit of bravery in his part to become the salad loving vegetarian he is today.
However I’m still a little bit wary and always even more surprised with some of the things I cook that he actually enjoys. My latest recipe development has been a vegan double chocolate scone creation. Now those I already know in advance he’ll not only eat but will literally gorge on. Veggie nuggets not so much!
So when this 45 year old fussy eater comes home and tells you how he told his boss (hi again Fay!) about how much he loved the veggie nuggets he had the night before you know you’ve got a winning recipe ?
They’re also super simple to make and can be made well in advance with just a quick warm in the oven or even dished up cold in a salad or lunch box!
Like these falafel burgers I tried just baking them but they didn’t crisp up the same way and that crispy outside ‘jacket’ is what really makes these stand out. When you make the mixture it’s going to seem quite wet. Don’t fear! Just spoon it into your frying pan where it will crisp up perfectly and enable you to turn it over easily while staying soft and deliciously moist inside!
They’re also lovely dipped in a slightly spicy, sweet tomato relish or a homemade marinara sauce chock full of even more veggies ?
If you make these Kid Friendly Veggie Nuggets or any of the recipes from The Cook & Him we’d LOVE to see! Just snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #thecookandhim and tagging @thecookandhim in the photo itself (as this guarantees we’ll see your picture! ❤)
And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for even more recipe inspiration and chat, competitions, behind the scenes and so much more!
If you make this recipe or any of the recipes from The Cook & Him we’d LOVE to see! Just snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #thecookandhim and tagging @thecookandhim in the photo itself (as this guarantees we’ll see your picture!
)
And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram , Facebook or Twitter for even more recipe inspiration and chat, competitions, behind the scenes and so much more!
Kid Friendly Veggie Nuggets
prep: 20 mins / cook: 60 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 1 hour 20 mins / quantity: 25 - 30 nuggets
Ingredients
- 1 large (350g) sweet potato – peeled and diced into medium chunks
- 1/2 cup (100g) quinoa
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable stock (or water and a veg stock cube)
- 1/2 cup (3-4 whole) spring onions – finely sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- drizzle of olive oil
- 3 handfuls (approx 80g) spinach
- 400g can (240g drained weight) chickpeas
- 1 tsp mustard (I used dijon but wholegrain would work too!)
- 4 tblsp yellow pea flour (see note)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 tblsp nutritional yeast (optional, but it does add a nice mild cheesy flavour!)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Put the diced sweet potato into a medium saucepan, add a pinch of salt, cover with boiling water and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Drain well once cooked
- In a small pan put the quinoa, veg stock, spring onions and garlic and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has been absorbed. Add the spinach and stir it through - the heat will wilt it and reduce its volume
- Put the quinoa mixture, cooked potatoes, drained chickpeas, mustard, pea flour, rosemary, nutritional yeast and a good pinch each of salt and pepper into a food processor (see note)
- At this stage you can chill the mixture to cook later - just put into a sealed container and keep in the fridge for up to a couple of days
- Preheat your oven to 180 Fan / 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6 and line a large baking tray with parchment or a silicon mat
- Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan over a low/medium heat
- The nugget mix is quite wet - don't worry. Just drop tablespoons of the mixture into the warm frying pan and lightly flatten. I cooked around 7-8 nuggets in the pan at a time
- Cook for a couple of minutes until the base is firm and crispy enough to flip with a palette knife or fish slice
- Cook for another minute or two on the other side then lift onto the baking tray. Repeat until you've used up all the mix
- Here you can either store the nuggets on the tray in the fridge until you're ready to use or pop in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until firm and delicious!
Notes
- The yellow pea flour can be subbed for any gluten free flour or just plain flour or wholemeal flour if you don't need these to be gluten free. The pea flour does have a lovely mild taste though!
- If, like us, you only have a small food processor you might need to blend the nuggets in a couple of batches - I mix everything together in a large bowl then process it in 2-3 batches, otherwise it just sits in the processor bowl not moving!!
Some products I used in today's post...
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Hello there! I’m Sam, former Michelin star pastry chef and now your go-to vegan foodie on a mission to make plant-based eating a deliciously easy adventure! From cozy comfort foods to vibrant salads and decadent desserts, there’s something for everyone in my kitchen.
Whether you’re cooking for one or for a houseful I believe food doesn’t have to be complicated to be full of FLAVOUR and I want to show you how. I’ve been a rigorous meal planner for over a decade whilst embracing seasonal ingredients (because that’s where the real flavour is!)
I’m also a dedicated dog mum to Nooch and Baxter and enjoy cooking them homemade treats (many of which are posted here) when I’m not screaming at the tennis or devouring fantasy fiction.
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hi tried to print recipe for veggie nuggets ,could only get 1 page of instructions not the ingredients
Hi Marion, huge apologies … all fixed now! Still ironing out glitches since the website move 😉