The sprout fest (NO, not the Brussels variety!)

With so many sprouts from our kitchen garden, I sprouted an idea and got creative. I had originally planned to make some lentil patties but with so many sprouts looking me in the eye from the kitchen bench, I thought adding them to the patty mix might be interesting. This then led me to have an epiphany about a sprout salad. Really, I was sprouting ideas left, right and centre!

Lentil and mixed sprout patties


I cooked these on the BBQ but they are just as yummy cooked in a fry pan. I do find these are a little dry, but I have always found that any home made lentil patties are. Nothing a dollop of sauce or mayo can't fix. My boys love them with my pear sauce but personally, I can't go past the good ol' sweet chilli. If you can tolerate cheese, add a cup of your favourite to the mix, grate it first of course.

1 1/2 cups of mixed sprouts (if you're not growing your own, any Failsafe sprouts will do, mixed or not)
400g tin of lentils, drained and rinsed well
4 or 5 spring onions cut in half length ways and sliced finely
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of besan flour (also known as gram or chickpea flour)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk (I use Zymil lactose free but you can use soy, rice or regular moo juice)
salt to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp Failsafe oil
Oil for frying

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Heat oil in a fry pan over high heat. Place tablespoonfuls into the pan and cook until golden then flip and cook some more. Yes, they're really that simple!

Pear and sprout salad

I was getting sick of the usual salads I've been making all summer so I was straining my brain for some inspiration, which seems to be a regular thing for me. Once again, the sprouts were staring me in the face, mocking me and saying, "Go on, we dare you". So I did, I turned them into a salad. So I can now see that this will become a favourite and I'll make it until I am sick of it I'm sure, but it WAS yum.

My well established black lentil sprouts

1 heaped cup of well established sprouts
1 firm pear, peeled and cut into straws
1/2 celery stalk sliced very finely

Bung it all in a bowl and mix well. Throw over enough "basic dressing" to make it glisten.