Vegetable Croquettes (Passover)

I was once in a pub in the west of England and ordered a dish called Bubble & Squeak. It’s simple, unfancy food, tasty and nourishing, consisting of mashed potatoes and cabbage fried to a crispy brown and topped with an egg.

It was magical.

So I made it many times at home, and, me being me, and this recipe being the kind that allows for endless variation, I added this and that to the potatoes, depending on what leftover vegetables I had. I used Brussels sprouts instead of cabbage (as do many restaurants in England); I’ve added corn, peas, carrots, spinach, broccoli and such. Once or twice I included cheese (feta, Parmesan) but I prefer the all-vegetable version best.

I don’t call it Bubble & Squeak (so named for the sounds it supposedly makes while being cooked), so I’ll just say: Vegetable Croquettes. We’ve eaten them as a side dish with meat but most of the time they are dinner, topped with a fried egg.

This is my Passover version. At other times of the year you can add beans/peas and coat the patties with bread crumbs.

Vegetable Croquettes

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, approximately

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

•  1 cup chopped cooked cabbage

•  2 chopped, cooked carrots

• 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed

• 3 cups mashed potatoes

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup matzo meal, approximately

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Spoon the onions into a bowl. Add the cabbage, carrots, spinach, mashed potatoes and some salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and shape the mixture into 1/2-inch patties. Place the matzo meal on a plate. Press both sides of each patty into the crumbs. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Heat 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil in the sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the patties a few at a time (leave plenty of space between each) for 3-4 minutes per side or until crispy and golden brown, adding more vegetable oil to the pan as needed.

Makes 8-10

Chicken Soup Burgers

My daughters are not big meat eaters, so when they were young kids and still living at home,  I never made stuff like roast beef or beef stew or meatloaf. They just didn't want any of it.

They didn't even eat hamburgers.

We were basically a chicken and turkey family (including chicken and turkey burgers).

Also, I would make burgers out of all the vegetables I used for chicken soup, which I cooked more often than almost everything.

That was a kid favorite. They still talk about those burgers.

Recently I made some chicken soup because, well, it's been rainy and gloomy in my part of the world and soup is like magic to help get you in a good mood. I used the leftover vegetables for burgers, just for the two of us. Fabulous not-quite-meatless dinner. Of course you can make this a vegetarian meal with regular cooked vegetables not from soup!

 

CHICKEN SOUP BURGERS

• 8 cooked carrots, cut up

• 6 stalks cooked celery, cut up

• 2 cooked parsnips, cut up

• 1 large cooked onion, cut up

• some sprigs of cooked dill

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup matzo meal

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• vegetable oil

Place the cooked vegetables and dill in a food processor and pulse to combine them and chop them into very fine pieces. Spoon the contents into a bowl. Add the egg, matzo meal and some salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly to combine the ingredients evenly. Shape portions of the mixture into patties about 1/2-inch thick. Heat about 1/4-inch vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough to make a crumb sizzle, add the patties, a few at a time, leaving space between them in the pan. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the patties for about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels. 

Makes about 12