Sweet Potato Falafel - Baby led weaning recipe

Photo taken from The Lean Green Bean, recipe my own (I forgot to take a pic.)

As I mentioned at the weekend, we were away for half term which meant that before we left we pretty much emptied the entire contents of Nye's draw in the freezer into a cool bag.  Neil wanted to make sure that Nye would have something to eat for the time we were there.  I insisted that my parents were not people who go without food, and that Norfolk does indeed have supermarkets.  However, there was no deterring him and out came the tupperware

So, since we got home I've been trying to fill the freezer back up by looking around at what we have lying around and how I can make it in to something nutritious and delicious for my baby boy.

My eyes caught sight of a loan sweet potato which Nye loves and it reminded me of some fantastically delicious sweet potato falafel we had at The Horniman Museum Cafe.  I love falafel and used to eat them constently when I was a vegetarian but I have never even tried making them before.  Turns out there is no reason not to try making them as they are wonderfully easy.

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 2 tsp ground corriander
• 1 handful of coriander leaves (chopped)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 100g plain flour (or gram flour if you have it)
• 1 well oiled baking sheet

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 200°C  /180°C fan.
2. Microwave the sweet potato whole for 8-10 minutes until tender.  
3. Whilst the sweet potato is cooking, combine the cumin, garlic, ground and fresh corriander, lemon juice and flour in a large bowl.
4. Leave the sweet potato to cool until you are able to peel, add to the bowl and mash it together until smooth.
5. Use a tabelspoon to shape the mixture into balls (I rolled in floured hands), place on an oiled baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15 minutes until the bases start to brown, flip over and bake for a further 15 minutes.

I didn't season these as they were for Nye and served them in a toasted pitta bread with hummus and fresh red pepper strips.  Perfect for mum and baby and easy peasy to make.