Broccoli and Cauliflower Pancakes

I have a vegetarian guest staying at the house. I thought it'd be an interesting challenge to stay on a vegetarian menu for 2 weeks of his stay and see how much I'd miss meat. It is the middle of the 2nd week and... meat, what meat? It has been surprisingly easy to live through the days with no meat, but it is also getting surprisingly challenging to spend that much time in the kitchen. Familiarity with meat gives me more range, more flexibility and thus, less time cooking.

Anyways, this is a wonderful recipe I've created based on a few I had read and combined. It is light on flour and heavy on veggies, easy to cook and big on flavour. The vegetables are not mashed or processed, keeping the texture of the fritters firm and crunchy.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 heads (each) cauliflower and broccoli heads
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 C (each) grated old Cheddar and Parmesan cheese (you can also substitute either one for cottage cheese)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced/ pressed
• 1/3C whole wheat flour
• 1t red chili sauce
• 3T chopped parsley
• salt, pepper to taste

Yogurt sauce:

• 1/2 C plain yogurt
• 2T lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1t chili or paprika

Preparation:
1. Separate the broccoli and cauliflower florets from the stems, chop up the stems, drop into boiled water.  Prepare until tender but not too soft, about 3 minutes, drain. Chop the vegetables into 1cm pieces.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Add grated cheese, garlic, chili, flour, mix. Fold in the chopped vegetables.

3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Spoon out the mixture, flatter to form a pancake, about 5cm in diameter. Fry each side, 3-5 min each. Serve with spiced yogurt.