My cauliflower sat in the fridge for almost one week – untouched. Every time I opened the fridge I kept saying to myself, “today is the day I will make something yummy out of it!” I hate to hear my husband say “why did you buy it and let it rot in the fridge?!” I have a tendency to buy too many vegetables and don’t always have the time cook them all, but I love seeing my fridge full.

Weird, I know!

Anyway, it was indeed the day! Inspiration came out of nowhere and I was busy chopping and pulsing the cauliflower away not knowing exactly what I was going to make. After much looking around in the fridge and the cupboards, the idea of cauliflower patties came to my mind. I quickly looked up some recipes online but didn’t really fancy any of them. I decided to create my own version of healthy cauliflower patties with lots of goodies such as superfood quinoa and chia seed. The initial idea was to make for my toddler son to take to nursery as afternoon snacks, but I ended up eating most of them. They were kind of addictive, it was like once I started I couldn’t stop myself! Well, my son had a bite and said “no thanks mama,” that made me feeling less guilty.

The next morning I just threw them into a toaster and they came out nice and crunchy on the outside again. Just to point out, he has become a very fussy eater lately and not willing to try new food. There is a saying in german “what the farmer doesn’t know, he doesn’t eat” this is exactly my son at the moment. We are hoping that this phase will pass soon like many other terrible syndromes!

I highly recommend other mamas out there this recipe for their kids even for littler toddlers who have started to eat real food. They would make great snacks for kindergartens or schools or for you, too!

Baked Quinoa Chia Cauliflower Cheese Patties

Served approximately 16 pieces

Ingredients

• ½ cup organic quinoa
• ¼ cup organic chia seeds
• 1 ½ cups organic cauliflower florets / 1/2 medium size cauliflower
• 4 organic medium eggs
• ¼ cup chives (didn’t have scallions / spring onions, otherwise I would have used them instead)
• ¾ cup rolled oats
• 1- 2 tsp himalayian salt (optional)
• 1 cup grated cheese of your choice (or feta cheese) (I used ½ cup parmesan and ½ cup greyer)
• zest of one lemon

Method

1. Wash and boil quinoa as per the packaging instructions.
2. Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles couscous.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the 4 eggs together well, then add the cauliflower.
4. Add chives, oats and pulse a few times to roughly chop. Then add this to the egg bowl along with the cooked quinoa.
5. Add chia seeds, salt, cheese, lemon zest and mix well.
6. Let the mixture rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees celcius with fan. Line the baking tray with a non-stick baking sheet.
8. Use a table spoon to scoop the cauliflower set onto the sheet and mould to a round shape. I flattened them to approx. 1-2cm thick.
9. Bake for 20-30 minutes and serve warm.