I would be lying if I tried to tell y’all that my favorite way to eat broccoli was steamed with a spray of fresh lemon. In fact, if I’m keeping it real I will admit that I have always had an incredibly strong aversion to broccoli, so much so that it made me nauseous during both of my pregnancies. As a kid, I’d hide it under the nook in our kitchen so I could get out of clearing it from my plate during dinner.
Despite my love-hate relationship with broccoli I continued to try to find delicious ways to eat it given its basically the whole grail of healthy veggies. My girlfriends and I used to go to this pizzeria in high school called “Uno’s” where they made this amazing “spinoccoli” pizza. My friend Sara used to order it all the time, I remember thinking she was crazy eating broccoli when not forced, and then she very adamantly insisted I try some and at that moment I realized broccoli when mixed with spinach and feta cheese is actually quite fucking amazing.
I’m definitely a texture person and the way the broccoli was chopped and mixed with the salty feta did me in, thats when I began my love affair with broccoli and all the ways to cook it to make it taste delicious. Here’s the best part of learning to love a vegetable a certain way, it helps open up your palate and develop your acquired taste for eating these veggies raw or with less accompaniments.
Naturally, my children are much like me and getting them to eat broccoli is like pulling teeth, but I don’t blame them! Instead I make them these spinoccoli fritters and while they don’t beg for them like an apple fritter or potato pancake they will eat them more readily than roasted broccoli. I also love making these for myself to have a quick salty snack at the ready so I keep my hands out of the chip bag (my weakness). These are also amazing warmed up and topped with a poached egg or smeared with cream cheese and topped with a little everything but the bagel seasoning for breakfast or brunch.
If you can’t get to a Trader Joes to get the umami seasoning don’t worry these will still be delicious but that seasoning makes everything green taste just that much better, I always have a jar in my pantry. Did you know that umami is essentially the “fifth” taste we are able to distinguish aside from sweet, salty, sour and bitter? It’s described as giving off a meaty or “brothy” taste to foods and is wonderful to add to veggie dishes to help give more depth of flavor.
I hope you enjoy these fritters as much as we do, let me know if you make them by posting in the comments!
Crispy Pan Fried Spinoccoli Fritters
Equipment
- cast iron pan
- food processor or mini chop
Materials
- 1 head broccoli washed and rough chopped
- 5 oz spinach
- 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 3 oz feta cheese crumbled
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tsp umami seasoning from trader joes
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2-4 tbsp olive oil or oil of choice
Instructions
- Wash your veggies thoroughly and then add the chopped broccoli to the bowl of your food processor and pulse 5-6 turns til you get medium chunks
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to your cast iron pan and cook the broccoli chunks about 3 mins to soften.
- Wipe out the bowl of your food processor and add your spinach and pulse to chop it til you get the consistency of chopped herbs.
- In a large mixing bowl add your beaten egg, chopped spinach, cooked broccoli, garbanzo bean flour, crumbled feta, umami seasoning and salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
- Heat the remaining olive oil in your cast iron pan til hot then using a ice cream scoop drop the spinach and broccoli mixture into the hot oil and use the back of your spatula to press the mixture into a patty, cook for 2 mins per side until the edges are golden and crispy and the insides are cooked through.
- Drain on paper towels when finished and serve warm with applesauce if desired.
