Spinach and Tarragon Chickpea Pancakes, with Pea and Broad Bean Salad and Herby 'cheese'

Chickpea pancakes could not be simple to make plus they are Gluten Free which gives them extra brownie points.

I often make this without the spinach and as a kind of plant based version of a classic omelette, made larger , stuffed and folded in half. It‘s a very similar recipe and I have attached the link here for you.

This is a brilliant recipe for those of you who have fussy little eaters, you know the ones that won‘t touch anything green! You can‘t really taste the spinach and if you omit the tarragon, I will defy them not to gobble them up.

There is something about eating and drinking green things that makes feel me like I will be glowing from inside outside.

SERVES:
4

Ingredients
Instructions

Ingredients

Pancakes

1 ¼ cups chickpea flour/gram flour

1 cup water

1 large handful baby spinach leaves

Roughly 1 tbs tarragon leaves

1 tsp baking powder

½ sea salt

Good grind black pepper

1 tbs apple cider vinegar

Pea and Broad bean salad

250g fresh or frozen peas

500g broad beans (pre podded weight)

4 spring onions

Pinch of salt

Grind of black pepper

Glug of evoo

Squeeze of lemon

Lemon and herb ‘cheese‘

150g plant based cream cheese I used almond by Nush foods

2 tsp finely chopped tarragon

2 tsp finely chopped mint

Juice ½ lemon

Glug of EVOO

Good pinch of salt and black pepper

To serve

1 lemon

Few springs of mint leaves

Drizzle of evoo (optional)

Instructions

In a high-speed blender add all the ingredients except the ACV , and blend until smooth and bright green. As soon as spinach is blended in stop the machine. Pour into a jug or bowl and set aside.
Bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil and pod the broad beans and add them to the water for 1-2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon into a sieve and immediately rinse under a cold tap and place in a small bowl.
Add the peas to the pan of water and again blanch them for a 1-2 minutes, drain into a sieve and rinse under cold water, place into a separate bowl and set aside.
Coming back to your broad beans, you now want to shell them. I do this by pinching them open at one end and popping out the bean, add the shelled beans to the peas.
Finely slice the spring onions and add them to peas and broad beans along with the remaining ingredients, stir to combine and set aside.
In a small bowl add all the ingredients for the ‘cream cheese‘ and stir to fully combine. Set aside.
Heat a large non-stick pan and add a little light oil such as ground nut or odourless coconut.
When the pan is hot add the batter in to form roughly 10cm diameter pancaked, cook until bubble form on the surface and they are starting to look dry on the outside rim, flip and cook for another 1 minute. Remove and repeat with the remaining batter.
You can place the the cooked ones into a warm oven until they are all done.
Add three pancakes to each plate, top with a couple of dollops of creamy lemon and herb cheese, a few spoonfuls of the pea salad, and top with a few mint leaves, a little lemon zest and a drizzle of evoo if you like.