Would that I could call these something more aspirational, but they could not be anything else than refrigerator clear out cakes -- they are what came out of my looking at an overwhelming assortment of bits and bobs from the fridge, mostly from the hydrator drawer, while wanting lunch. And a delicious lunch it was too, and filling (though there are those who might refer to these cakes as stodgy.)
You could use any vegetable that you wanted in this but, if so, you might have to adjust the amount of flour that you use. What you are looking for is a very thick batter that adheres to the vegetables, something reminiscent of spackling paste. I probably used less flour than you may have to because I used acorn squash and beans in the recipe which made the cakes pretty dense and able to stick together on their own to begin with.
This makes two very hearty, meal-sized cakes. I had one for lunch, hot from the pan, with Japanese BBQ eel sauce. I had the second one the next afternoon, at room temperature, with a dab of Greek yogurt and a spritz of lemon juice. A friend suggested that a drizzle of reduced balsamic might be good. You can zhush these up as you like.
2/3 a can of cannellini beans (left from making this salad.)
1 cup of cooked acorn squash flesh (left from making the salad above.)
1/2 cup thinly sliced radicchio
1 Tbsp finely chopped spring onion
1 Tbsp diced red pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 egg
2 Tbsps chickpea or regular flour
2 tsps olive oil
Salt to taste
Mix all of the ingredients except for the garlic and olive oil together in a bowl.
Heat the oil, along with the garlic clove, in a nonstick pan and lower the heat to the lowest setting.
Using your hands, form the batter into two equal sized cakes and add them to the pan.
Cook for five minutes on each side. I flattened the cakes with a spatula when I flipped them to make them less compact and allow for quicker cooking time.
after a total of ten minutes, check to see if the batter looks cooked through (this should be visible with a side view of the cake) and cook for an additional minute or two on each side to ensure that the batter is edible.
Serve as described above, or put your own spin on it.