St Patrick's Day Fish Cakes with Orange flesh beetroot hummus.

I These were concocted very quicky as we wanted to watch the local parade but also did not want any grumbly tummy's. The St Patrick's Day colour theme was completely by chance actually.
Considering there are not alot of ingredients, these salmon fish cakes pack a serious taste punch, so much so a friend took the remaining four to impress a new boyfriend and claimed all the credit.

I made the hummus the evening before and it keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for a week. Its delicious with cheese and crackers too, and can also be made with regular purple beets.

Golden beetroot hummus

2 medium sized beetroots
1 large clove garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
2tblsp rapeseed oil or olive oil
200g tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp tahini
lemon
oil
pepper
fresh parsley for garnishing

First off scrub the beets gently to remove any soil. Refrain for trimming or cutting them or the vibrant colour will be lost to the cooking water during boiling.
Bring to the boil in a large saucepan filled with water and then simmer till a sharp knife can be inserted easily and comes out easily. Resist testing for at least and hour as the more you poke holes in them the more colour will be lost. If you have an aga or range you can just put the whole saucepan covered into the bottom oven.

Meanwhile finely chop or crush the garlic and gently cook with the cumin in the oil over a very low heat. DONT BURN THE GARLIC.

When the beetroots are cooked drain and gently peel away the skin (use rubber gloves to prevent dying your hands). Place into a blender with the chickpeas,tahini, garlic, oil and cumin and a few twists of black pepper. Whizz to a smooth consistency. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice in to taste. Adding some boiling water can give a smoother less dense consistency.

Salmon Fish Cakes
1 large sweet potato
3 medium sized potatoes
2 salmon fillets
pepper
handful of flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
lemon
2-3 spring onions roughly chopped
1 small leek finely chopped
1 egg
150g plain flour
200g breadcrumbs i used some old -ish brown sourdough bread, but any will do or bought breadcrumbs

Roast the whole sweet potato in its skin in the oven. Place the salmon in an oven proof dish skin side down and put into the oven at 150 degrees celcius for approx 15 minutes depending on the oven and the thickness of the fillets.Once cooked remove and turn the oven temperature up to 200 degrees celcius so the sweet potato will roast a little quicker.
Boil the potatoes until just soft (not mushy).

Gently soften the spring onions and leeks in a little oil and butter over a low heat.

For the coating break the egg up lightly with a fork and pour onto a plate.
Put the flour onto another plate and the breadcrumbs onto a third plate.

Once all the components are cooked, scoop the sweet flesh from the sweet potatoes into a bowl, gently crush in the potatoes, i like to leave some chunks for texture.Gently break in the salmon and chopped parley. With a fork mix in the onions and leeks and season with pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Shape the fish cakes as large or small as you wish. I got 4 large and 2 smaller ones from this mix.

Next the coating. One at a time dip the cakes into the egg first, followed by the flour and then with a clean hand into the breadcrumbs. When all are coated set into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celcius. In a shallow frying pan with a little oil gently fry the cakes on both sides till golden brown, place onto a roasting dish and into the oven for 7-10 minutes again depending on the size of the cakes.

Serve with a spoonful of hummus and veggies such as broccoli, peas or spinach.