Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too.
Every time I see a rainbow I start to hum the rainbow song, which I learnt as a child to myself. Of course the sing is not that accurate, and the colours of a rainbow actually are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
These colourful fritters, with the wide variety of vegetables in them, reminded me of the rainbow song, and made me wonder if emphasis should be put on eating a rainbow instead of singing it? As well as our 5 (now 7) a day we should also be eating a wide range of fruit and vegetables and a good place to start is be eating lots of different colours.
I used what I call “Fridge Bottomy” vegetables in these, sweeping everything out of the salad drawer at the end of the week, in preparation for a shop the next day. Half a spring onion, a quarter of a red pepper, a rapidly softening courgette and a slightly wilted carrot and hunk of butternut squash were supplemented with sweetcorn from the freezer and the last two eggs in the box. I find it very satisfying to use as many things as I can up in one meal and these fritters did that very well.
The recipe is very adaptable, and quantities are approximate. I find that a mixture of chopping and grating works well and leads to an interesting mix of textures. As a rule of thumb grate the hard vegetables and finely dice the softer ones. These are especially good served with sweet chilli sauce.
- 2 eggs
- 75 g mixed grated vegetables – such as carrot parsnip, squash or pumpkin
- 75 g diced vegetables – such as courgette peppers, broccoli, spring onions
- 50 g sweetcorn kernals
- 30 g cornflour
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- Pepper & Salt and herbs to season
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Break the eggs into a bowl and lightly whisk with a fork, add all the other ingredients and mix.
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The egg should coat the vegetables, but there should still be some runny egg in the bowl. Add more cornflour if needed.
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Season with pepper, salt, dried or finely chopped fresh herbs and some chilli flake.
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Heat the oil in a good non stick pan and fry the mixture a dessert spoonful at a time – flatten and shape each fritter with a spatula as you put it in the pan. Fry for a few minutes and then flip and cook until golden. Depending on the size of the pan you should be able to cook 3 or 4 at a time.
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Serve immediately with a green salad.
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Some more ideas for frugal food when the fridge is almost bare
- Nazima’s One Pot Persian Chicken Casserole
- Elizabeth’s Three Bean Vegetable Soup
- Camilla’s Pork Fried Rice
- Sally’s “Clear out the fridge” vegetable soup
- Jeanne’s Confetti Rice Salad
And as these use up all the little bits left in the fridge I am sending to #CreditCrunchMunch which I run with Camilla, hosted this month by Sarah.
Sarah James
What a great way to use up leftover veggies & they look delicious. You’ve got me humming a tune now :-)
Helen
Thanks Sarah. it is very satisfying to get the veggies used up!
Sally - My Custard Pie
My sister says ‘eat something green and something red everyday’ This has certainly got it covered. Bright, colourful and summery post.
Helen
that is a good mantra to live by Sally! Eat a rainbow!
Jeanne @ Cooksister
Isn’t it amazing how satisfying it is to use up stuff in the fridge?? Your fridge sounds like mine at the end of the week! All my bits usually go into a frittata but I am loving the idea of fritters! Thanks for the link :)
Helen
I love using stuff up. I hum “Another One Bites the Dust” every single time I use something up!
Camilla @FabFood4All
A really great way to get your kids eating more veg Helen will definitely be trying this:-)
Helen
And excellent for fridge emptying!
Franglais kitchen, Nazima
ooh these look delicious. I like that you use cornflour – must make them really light. thanks for linking to my fridge clearout recipe too!
Helen
The cornflour was almost accidental. Another thing I am trying to use up!
Stuart Vettese
I can sing a rainbow too! These look tasty and healthy. I’ve heard about eating different colours of veg being good for you too,
Helen
I believe that some the molecules that make vegetables coloured are also the same things that are good for you, and I suppose lots of colours also equals a variety.
Sarah, Maison Cupcake
They do look colourful, I remember that song in my primary school days too.
Helen
I am sure that we all sang it!
JuggleMum, Nadine Hill (@Businessmum)
I love to use up fridge stuff, I feel proud that I’ve eliminated waste! Great recipe #ExtraVeg
Helen
I cannot abide food waste. Even worse as we live in a flat we do not have a garden and a compost bin.
rebecca nisbet
great way to get a variety of goodness in a child, my daughter likes veg, but more green veg, the other half is limited to what veg he eats so this mighrt get more of a variety down him aswell!!