I am forever searching for healthy and innovative ways to get kids to eat their veggies — and sometimes adults too. I think this one might be a winner, as everyone gobbled them up at dinner last night, including my husband and two kids, all of whom have what I like to call particular palates.
I came up with this on the fly, a gluten-free variation of a recipe I found on weelicious.com. It’s a bit labor intensive, but it’s well worth the effort. Not only are these incredibly tasty and pleasing to all palates young and old (and particular), but it makes a large batch so you can freeze the extra to use at a later date. One batch will serve as a side dish to four different meals for my family.
It’s so easy to pop these out of the freezer and into the oven or fry pan for a quick meal accompaniment or an afternoon snack. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Gluten-Free Veggie Nuggets Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups greens — baby kale or spinach work well, but use whatever you like
- 1 cup shredded parsnip
- 1 large yam
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 cups amaranth flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp salt
- Coconut oil for cooking
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Poke a few sets of holes in your yam with a fork, place on a baking sheet, and bake in oven for 1-1 ½ hours, until yam is soft all the way through and can be easily pierced with a fork.
- Remove from oven and allow yam to cool.
- While yam is cooling, put greens into a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, and pulse until finely chopped. Add shredded parsnip and pulse until finely chopped and well combined with greens.
- Add mixture to a large bowl, along with onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.
- Once yam is cool enough, peel the skin off, dump into the bowl, and mash all the ingredients together until well combined.
- Line a large baking sheet with wax or parchment paper, pour mixture onto sheet, and use a knife or spatula to spread mixture evenly to cover the pan (it should be about ½ inch thick).
- Put pan into the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours, until mixture is firm enough to cut and bread without falling apart.
- Once mixture is firm, remove from freezer and cut into squares of desired size. You could also use a cookie cutter if preferred.
- Place eggs into a shallow baking dish with water and use a fork to whisk together until well combined.
- In a separate, deeper dish, combine flours and salt.
- Dip squares into egg mixture then into flour mixture.
- If freezing, place in a freezer safe container lined with parchment or wax paper. If cooking immediately, you have 2 options: bake or pan fry.
Directions: Bake
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Place each square on a baking sheet that has been well coated with coconut oil.
- Brush a small amount of coconut oil on top of each square.
- Bake at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until nicely browned on outside.
- Enjoy!
Directions: Pan Fry
I prefer this method for the crispiness
- Melt a generous amount of coconut oil in a cast iron fry pan.
- Fry squares until golden brown on each side.
- Enjoy!