chickpea and mint fritters

This is how I work.

Stomach: I want junk food.

Brain: Junk food is bad for you, have a carrot.

Stomach: Is it deep fried?

Brain: No it's fresh and delicious.

Stomach: PUKE.

Brain: What if the carrot was fried? With some chickpeas and mint?

Stomach:Is this a trick? I hear fried, but I hear carrot...

Brain & Stomach: HEALTHY JUNK FOOD!

I mean obviously, frying things isn't great for you, but I placate my arguing organs by thinking about carrots and chickpeas. These are pretty tasty little things and they're so yum with the red cabbage slaw.

Pretty good for this kind of situation too: snowed in and having to use what's in the cupboard! That big rope of snow used to be a washing line. Hmm.

You only need 4 ingredients for this:

A couple of cans of chickpeas

1 medium-large carrot

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint (I haven't tried them with dried, you could try but I'm not sure how they'd be)

1 tbsp flour

Drain the chickpeas then tip them all into a blender. Pulse them until most are chopped up but there are still a few lumps, we're not making hummus here. Put them into a bowl.

Grate the carrot over the top, then add the mint. Mix this all together, then season really well with salt and pepper. Add the flour and mush it all in with your hands.

Heat up a couple of tbsp of sunflower or canola oil over a medium-high heat in a decent non stick frying pan. Pick up a lump of mix and shape it into a tight little patty in your hands. Put it gently into the hot oil, careful! Let it fry until the underneath goes golden, then flip it.

Let the other side cook until that's golden and crispy too, then take it out and put it on a piece of kitchen roll to soak up a bit of the oil.

You could have these on top of the red cabbage, in a pitta with some hummus and salad, as a packed lunch, quick home lunch, they're really useful. Also, you don't have to stick with mint! You could use coriander or even skip the herbs and chuck a couple of garlic cloves in the blender with them to make a garlicky version.