Lentil Bites

Delicious Lentil Bites that are easy for your little one to pick up and explore by themselves. They make a great healthy snack or for a larger meal serve with sweet potato fries, and a soft boiled egg. This recipe uses an already prepared lentil pouch but you could use a plain one if you prefer. 

Makes 12 fritters, or 30 mini bites.

 Ingredients 

• 1 x Merchant Gourmet Tomatoey French Puy & Green Lentil Pouches (250g)
• 50g plain flour
• 1/2 courgette (finely grated)
• 1 carrot (peeled and finely grated)
• 1/2 medium white onion (finely grated)
• 1/2 a small egg
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander 
• Coconut Oil 

Method

• Firstly finely grate your onion, carrot and courgette. Give the grated courgette a squeeze in to the sink to take out some of the moisture. 
• Place all three in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Now your mixture is made, you can make these a few different ways...
• You can fry them on the hob like fritters. Use a teaspoon of coconut oil and spoon a tablespoon of the mixture per fritter, flattening with the back of the spoon. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.
• If you're using a muffin tray, I use an 18 hole mini silicone muffin tray to make these as they come out the perfect size for little ones. Grease the holes with coconut oil, then spoon a teaspoon of the mixture into each hole. Flatten with a spoon so the mixture is compact. This will help them to keep their shape. Cook on 170C for 20 mins. Let cool slightly before you remove otherwise they might fall apart!
• If you don't have a muffin tray, you can spread the mixture out on to baking parchment, about 1cm in thickness to make sheet fritters. Cook at 170C for 25 mins, and cut into triangles.
• Whichever way you make them, they should be slightly crispy on the outside but still gooey in the middle.  

These also freeze well, just pop them in a zip lock bag.