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

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. 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.
  3. Remove from oven and allow yam to cool.
  4. 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.
  5. Add mixture to a large bowl, along with onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.
  6. Once yam is cool enough, peel the skin off, dump into the bowl, and mash all the ingredients together until well combined.
  7. 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).
  8. Put pan into the freezer for 1-1 ½ hours, until mixture is firm enough to cut and bread without falling apart.
  9. Once mixture is firm, remove from freezer and cut into squares of desired size. You could also use a cookie cutter if preferred.
  10. Place eggs into a shallow baking dish with water and use a fork to whisk together until well combined.
  11. In a separate, deeper dish, combine flours and salt.
  12. Dip squares into egg mixture then into flour mixture.
  13. 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

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Place each square on a baking sheet that has been well coated with coconut oil.
  3. Brush a small amount of coconut oil on top of each square.
  4. Bake at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until nicely browned on outside.
  5. Enjoy!

Directions: Pan Fry

I prefer this method for the crispiness

  1. Melt a generous amount of coconut oil in a cast iron fry pan.
  2. Fry squares until golden brown on each side.
  3. Enjoy!

by Michelle Marcoux, ND