Carrot, Beetroot, and Polenta Fish Cakes

I had a really exciting end of the week last week and in the holiday spirit I decided I was going to treat myself to something.  What could this 'something' be? you ask...well, a juicer, OF COURSE! I have been wanting a juicer for a while now but with limited space and the consideration of lugging it around every time I move, I just felt it wasn't the right time. But this weekend the time had arrived.  I went to Argos and got myself a spiffy (and rather, cheap) juicer, then bought carrots, beetroot, and some ginger.  I again stuck to the something familiar to make sure that the juicer (for its cost) was going to be able to stand the...erm...juicing.  After dinner the experimentation began.  I had NO idea that the amount of juice that actually gets excreted out of veggies is like 1/100th of the actual size of the vegetable. So in went the 1kg!! of carrots (uncooked, peeled, and quartered), 4 cooked beetroots, and a thumb-sized, peeled, piece of ginger, and out came about 24oz of a concoction that tasted different every single glass I poured.  Some of the problems we encountered were: 1) the funnel the veggies get pushed through is quite narrowso we weren't able to rapidly throw in chunks of bulky carrots; 2) the juice catcher was quite small and by the time I had pushed through 4-5 carrots, it was almost full and this was before I had even put in the beetroot and ginger; 3) the core of the ginger was quite tough and jammed the juicer, so I had to dissemble it, clean out the filter, and then chop the ginger into small bits; 4) I tried to cut corners by buying pre-cooked beetroot but it is essential to buy raw beetroot, otherwise the juicer can't do it's job; it pushes out a drop of juice and the rest is fiber.

Some of my housemates preferred the juice without the strong taste of the ginger, but I much prefer it with the zing.  Apart from the drinkable stuff, the juicer also chucked out what I like to call the 'veggie fibre'. I'm not sure if this is the "official" name for it but it is the part of the veggies that you chew.  In the end, I had a big collection of veggie fibre that, to the brilliant suggestion of my housemate, I managed to re-juice to extract as much liquid as possible. And as I don't like to waste, especially when it comes to food, I held onto the fibre knowing that I would make good use of it later. In fact, later on that evening I made brownies that called for way too much sugar and the fibre was really sweet from the carrots and beetroot so I halved the sugar and added the fibre.  It worked and apart from the odd chunks of carrot or ginger that weren't processed thoroughly, we couldn't tell that we were eating a dessert with VEGGIES in it.

Now, you may be asking yourself, was the whole point of this blog to document how I juiced and re-used? Well, not really.  What I really wanted to write about was re-using or replacing ingredients with others, as long as you know their potential.  For quite some time I used to be a vegetarian and for a short period I used to be a vegan. All vegans and vegetarians know the challenges of creating yummy foods with alternative ingredients. By "alternative" I really mean using non-meat/animal products in place of where a recipe calls for such.  For example, my friend Leah and I used to make brownies a lot as teenagers and would replace the butter and eggs with apple sauce making them entirely vegan and DELICIOUS! So with this background knowledge and experience I decided I was going to do the same with the veggie fibre. The only problem was: what could I use it for?

The solution: Fish Cakes!

I know this isn't a vegan or vegetarian recipe but take out the fish and add soy protein and you've got yourselves a non-meat-eating-friendly fo-fish cake!

I also used the left overs of polenta from the Monday's brunch.

Ingredients:

250g (8oz) Organic, Authentic Italian Polenta

5 Spring Onions (depends, really on how oniony you want your fish cakes), coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper

100g Organic Salmon

Veggie fibre

Bread Crumbs

Veggie Oil

For the polenta:

In a medium, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, add:

2 cups water

2 cups veggie stock

BRING TO BOIL

Then, add 2 cups of Polenta and stir with a large whisker

Reduce heat and let the polenta pop and bubble

Continue stirring intermittently making sure that the polenta doesn't stick to side or bottom of the pan

When the polenta has finally cooked (and you know by tasting it--it shouldn't be grainy or too mushy)

Turn the heat off, and add 25g (1tbsp) of butter. Mix and let cool

As I mentioned above the polenta made hours before so by the time I used it for this recipe it was very cold, and it should be this way for the fish cakes

For the Salmon:

Grill the fillets for about 2 min on each side, on a low-medium heat

Remove from heat

Break them up into chunks with a wooden spoon

Let cool

If the salmon are still a raw-pink colour in the middle, no worries...remember sushi is raw!

In a large bowl, mix together with a wide-toothed fork:

Cold polenta

Veggie fibre (I have no clue how much I used in the end, but I just added as much as I wanted)

Spring onions

Salt & Pepper

Salmon

I had some left over crispy breadcrumbs from before so I added those for a bit of crunch

Make your fish patties and pat both sides with a bit of fresh breadcrumbs

In a medium pan, heat 2 tbsp veggie oil (don't let it smoke, but make sure it's hot)

Place your fish cakes in the pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side

I ate mine with a mixed green-leaf salad dressed with unfiltered extra virgin olive oil and a couple of squeezes of lemon.

Mistakes: I forgot garlic, which I think would added a nice kick and I probably needed to add more salt than I did (this may be a reoccurring theme).

Success: The fish cakes came out really yummy, and I didn't expect them to.  Usually fish cakes call for potatoes and flour, but I thought that the polenta and fiber would be just as good for making the patties. However, if you expect the fish cakes to have a more starchy consistancy, these won't as the polenta and fiber are quite mushy, if you like, add more salmon (or whatever fish you prefer) for a more tougher chew.

Next time: I think I'll add a bit of English mustard or wasabi in the mix. I have a feeling it will give it a really nice, un-expected kick