Nuggets with twist

Who doesn't like a nugget, whether it be from McDonalds or the frozen section at the supermarket. Many of them are made from mashed up chicken or vegetables, coated with breadcrumbs or batter and deep fried. Some are nicer than others, but most are handy to have in the freezer for when you are in need of a quick lunch, especially for the young ones. 

Every so often I like to experiment with nuggets and I have made a fair few that were successful. These lentil and parsnip ones are the latest attempt and I must say that I liked them a lot. To tell you the truth, if I hadn't known what was in them, I probably wouldn't have been able to guess.

To make a small batch, you need:

3/4 cup red lentils, soaked in water for 3 hours

1 large parsnip, turned into rice

1/2 onion, finely copped (I used a red onion)

1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 piece of ginger, finely chopped

1 cup cheese, grated

whatever seasoning you fancy (I used basil)

salt & pepper

1. Drain the lentils and prepare the other vegetables. Blitz the parsnip in a food processor, until it resembles rice. 

2. Grate the cheese and add it to the food processor alongside the lentils, onion, garlic and ginger and blitz again until it all looks like rice.

3. Brush greaseproof paper with a little oil. Shape the mixture as you please and carefully place the nuggets on the oven tray with greaseproof paper.

I recommend keeping them quite small and approximately 1 cm thick.

4. Bake the nuggets at 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until they are starting to turn golden.

5. Carefully flip them over and bake again until they feel solid, 10-15 minutes.

6. Serve as you please.

I opted for a wholemeal tortilla wrap with too much salad and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.

It was slightly tricky to eat, due to being over stuffed. Very tasty though and filling.

The following day I had the nuggets for lunch again, this time with jewelled parsnip rice and sweet chilli sauce. The rice is easy to make. Blitz and cook the parsnip rice in your preferred way. I used the microwave. Add finely chopped jewels. I used cucumber, red onion and pepper. Finish off with a handful of fresh herbs, such as mint and parsley. Ta-da!