Integrative Nutrition Recipes

A delicious way to get your greens

These crispy broccoli cakes are a great way to sneak more vegetables into your diet – perfect for children or grown ups who aren’t keen on their greens! Just throw everything in a food processor, fry, then bake. Enjoy these with a salad for lunch, as a starter at dinner, or as a perfect party snack.

How to make broccoli more exciting

Broccoli is a go-to green for many of us. It’s packed full of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber, and its neutral flavor makes it a great accompaniment for meat and fish alike. But sometimes it can be a little boring, especially if you find yourself steaming or boiling it every time. Some good ways to make it a little more interesting including roasting it with chili flakes and garlic, stir-frying it with beef, ginger, and miso, or simply serving with some melted butter.

These broccoli and spinach fritters are another tasty alternative. Naturally gluten-free and vegetarian, these plant-based bites have a wealth of nutrients hidden inside. Almond flour and egg help the fritters hold their shape, with garlic and lemon providing a little more subtle flavor. As always, you can adapt the flavoring to suit with a little grated cheese or some red chillies to spice it up.

To add a little moisture and extra flavor, we’ve paired these with a sweet, earthy carrot dip to balance the bitterness of the broccoli, but salsa, guacamole, or a simple natural yogurt with lemon zest would also work well.

Broccoli cakes and sweet carrot dip (serves 2)

Broccoli cakes:

1 large broccoli, chopped into florets

2 handfuls of spinach

Half a white onion, chopped

1 cup of ground almonds

2 garlic cloves

Juice of half a lemon

2 medium eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp of coconut oil

Sweet carrot dip:

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 handful of cilantro

Half a white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves

1 small piece of ginger

1 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp coconut cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking trays with foil or baking paper.
2. Place the broccoli florets in a food processor. Give it a quick blast, then add the spinach, onion, ground almonds, garlic, and lemon juice, and blast for 15 seconds.
3. Whisk one of the eggs and add to the mixture, then blend again. If the mixture seems too wet, add some more ground almonds. If it’s too dry, whisk the other egg and add slowly. You are aiming for a batter that can hold its shape without crumbling apart or being too runny.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Melt the coconut oil in a frying pan. Spoon a tablespoon of the mixture into the frying pan. Fry for a couple of minutes either side, remove and place on the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining mixture. You should have around 10 broccoli cakes (fewer if you make them larger, or more if you make them smaller).
6. Spread the cakes out on the baking trays and put in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn.
7. While the cakes are baking, make the carrot dip. Rinse and dry the food processor. Place all the dip ingredients in the food processor and blast for 30 seconds, or until you have a smooth consistency. Season to taste. Pour the dip into a small bowl so it’s ready to serve and garnish with some cilantro.
8. When the cakes are baked, serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

• If you want to spice up the broccoli cakes, add a teaspoonful of chili powder. Ground cumin or grated parmesan also work well.
• Be careful not to burn the fritters in the frying pan. It will get very hot and you may need to add extra coconut oil. Usually the second batch is better than the first so make one cake to practice!
• Double or triple the quantities and freeze the unused fritters so they’re ready when you need them.
• For the carrot dip, you can again switch up the flavors with basil instead of cilantro, or by adding some finely chopped red chilli pepper.

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