Lentil potato cakes

Thank you for your well wishes on our rapidly approaching wedding day. It feels very surreal but I can see that the remaining time will slip by very quickly!

These lentil potato cakes aren't quite as exciting as an impending wedding, but they are nonetheless enjoyable. Some might argue that they are also more useful. If nothing else - they make a good dinner and great leftovers for workday lunches.

I have called these potato cakes instead of burgers or patties because that is what they are. Potato features in the ingredient list and in the eating experience, and they are softer than burgers as a result. This also allows them to stand alone with quite simple side dishes, and I found that salad was enough to round them out and turn them into a meal.

Given the combination of lentil and potato, these also reminded me of vegetarian shepherd's pie. Indeed, I was going to call them vegetarian shepherd's pie cakes, but that seemed too much of a mouthful. They are reminiscent of that dish, though, but with a bit of an edge from the lime and smoked paprika.

Lentil potato cakes

Adapted from my vegetarian Thai 'fishcakes'

Makes about 16

Vegan

Print recipe

Ingredients

2 medium potatoes

1 tsp chia seeds, soaked in 1/4 cup water for at least 15 minutes

1/2 small capsicum, finely chopped

1 celery stick, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp lime juice

1 - 2 tsp smoked paprika

1x 425g tin cooked lentils, drained (~1 cup)

1/4 cup plain flour or flour of choice

1/4 cup oats (or more flour)

Method

Peel and roughly chop your potatoes. Add to a large saucepan and cover with water; bring to the boil and then simmer on low heat for ~20 minutes or until tender.

Transfer the cooked potatoes to a large bowl, mash using a fork or masher, and allow to cool slightly. Set your chia seeds to soak in water if they aren't pre-prepared.

Add the soaked chia seeds, chopped capsicum, chopped celery, chopped parsley, grated ginger, lime juice, smoked paprika and lentils to the potato. Mix through and mash ingredients further if needed. Add the flour and oats and stir well to combine.

Allow the mixture to stand in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

When ready to cook, heat your oven to a low temperature (~100'C) and prepare a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Shape the lentil potato mixture into small patties and cook in the pan, for 2 - 3 minutes on each side or until browned. I cooked 3 at a time but this will depend on your pan size.

Keep your cooked potato cakes warm by transfering them from the frying pan to an oven tray and leaving them in the pre-heated oven whilst you cook the remainder of the batch.

Serve with salad.

I had trouble photographing these in our house's sub-optimal evening lighting, so the above picture of leftover cakes (taken on my phone at work) is the best I have to summarise the colours of this dish. The cakes were attractive to look at, when seen in light!, and the combination of ingredients was one I enjoyed.

I have frozen half of the batch so can't yet comment on how they survive the freezing process, but the ones I ate for lunch kept their texture well overnight.

Do you like vegetarian shepherd's pie dishes or potato cakes? It's been years since I ate the former but can see potato cakes staying as a regular part of our meal rotation.

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