Potato fritters with smoked salmon, whipped feta cream cheese & pickled red onions

A delicious high-protein dipThe whipped lemon feta cream cheese can be used as a dip or a spread, and when combined with yoghurt, it makes a great salad dressing. Nutritional Tip: Cooking the potato and allowing it to cool down before use will improve the GI load of the potato fritters. Salmon is an ideal complement to this dish to help you achieve your omega-3 fatty acid needs. Serving the potato fritters and whipped cream cheese with salmon or any other lean protein, e.g. chicken breast pieces, lean or fine biltong, or chopped nuts, will increase the protein content of the meal, keeping you fuller for longer.
Ingredients
- 3 Medium sized potatoes +/- 650 g
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 2 whole eggs
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp fine sea salt
- freshly ground pepper a fw twists
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Whipped lemon feta cream cheese
- 125 g cream cheese room temperature
- 100 g soft feta
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp finely chopped dill
Toppings
- 120 g smoked salmon
- dill springs to garnish
- red pickle onion slices
Instructions
- Place the cream cheese, feta, lemon zest, lemon juice and dill in a small food processor and blitz until smooth. Pop into a bowl, cover with cling wrap, and then into the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 80ºC. Using the coarse side of a cheese grater, grate potatoes into a colander over a large bowl.
- Peel and finely slice the onion, then add it to the potatoes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Let this sit for 10 minutes for excess moisture to come out, then rinse well with running water before transferring the mixture to a tea towel, where you will try to squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Place the potato and onions into a clean, dry mixing bowl. Add the cheese, garlic, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Heat about half the oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium-high heat (FYI: pan needs to be hot before you begin to cook the fritters. Drop a small amount of the batter into the pan and wait for it to sizzle before you start to fry them up). Pack a ¼ sized measuring cup (3-4 tablespoons of batter) full of mixture, then pop it into the pan, gently pressing it down to flatten it slightly. Cook for ±4 minutes until golden brown, then flip and cook on the other side. You can cook two at a time.
- Once done, place the cooked fritters on an ovenproof plate on a piece of kitchen paper (to soak up any excess oil) and pop them into the warm oven while you make the rest.
- To serve: Stack a few fritters on top of one another, add a big dollop of lemon feta cream cheese, then garnish with dill and a generous helping of pickled red onion. Add a nice helping of fresh smoked salmon to the side. Enjoy!