Lemon & Dill Fish Cakes

When my son turned one, he discovered a new found sense of independence. One that simply wouldn’t stand for being spoon fed by his mama. Oh no.

Instead, he wanted to be in-charge of holding finger foods for himself, nibbling away at his own pace. Needless to say, this brought with it the challenge of having to evolve my cooking repertoire: from mushy food blends, to anything easy-to-hold and seemingly fun to eat.

When thinking about dishes that kids love to eat with their hands, I decided to apply a healthy twist to a trusted family favourite: fish fingers.

I love this recipe because; they are high in protein, you can pack in the veggies and they freeze really well too! You have the option to either pan fry these or to crumb and bake them in the oven – both equally delicious!

What you’ll need:

• 1 large fillet hake (around 500g), skin removed (double-check for bones!)
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs dill
• 1 tsp mustard power
• 1/2 lemon, juice and rind
• 1/4 cup full-fat milk
• If you opt for pan frying:
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
• If you opt to crumb and oven bake:
  • 1.5 cups almond flour
  • 2 eggs

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180°C (if you are planning on baking the fish cakes)
• Steam sweet potatoes and set aside.
• Steam broccoli and set aside.
• Combine all the ingredients to make the cakes (excluding the ingredients for baking or pan-frying) in a big mixing bowl.
• Using a handblender or food processor, blend the ingredients until a thick semi-smooth mixture forms.
• Then, with clean hands, take a handful at a time of the mixture and roll it into a mini cake (the shape of a patty)
• If you pan fry:
  • Fry each cake for 3-4 minutes a side, until golden brown (the flatter the cakes, the quicker they will cook).
• If you oven-bake:
  • Whisk the eggs in one medium sized bowl and place the almond flour in another.
  • Coat each cake in the egg wash by rolling it in the egg mixture.
  • Then coat each cake in the almond flour in the second bowl.
  • Place the fish cake onto a greased oven-proof dish (allowing for enough spacing between each fish cake).
  • Repeat the process until all of the mixture has been used.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes/until golden brown.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon and pesto-mayonnaise for dipping.

If you are freezing simply place the cakes into a freezer bag (after allowing them to cool) and thaw in the refrigerator the evening before you want to use them.

* If your child has any allergies to any of the ingredients mentioned, the recipe will need to be adapted.

* Never leave your child unsupervised while eating.