Wild Rice Cakes with Harissa Carrot Slaw

Plan ahead and cook extra rice while preparing another meal. You’ll need to cook about ⅔ cup (150 mL) wild rice blend to get  2 cups (500 mL) cooked. It’s quick to shred carrots with a cheese grater but you can buy pre-shredded carrots or coleslaw mix in a bag for a shortcut. Serve the cakes on a citrus vinaigrette-dressed arugula salad. While these make a satisfying main course on their own, a piece of grilled fish is a nice pairing as well. Leftovers become a tasty cold lunch.

HARISSA CARROT SLAW

¼ cup (60 mL) plain yogurt or mayonnaise
2 tbsp (30 mL) sunflower seed or other seed or nut butter
½ tsp (2 mL) harissa paste
2 carrots, shredded, about 1 ½ cups (375 mL) 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and freshly ground pepper 

RICE CAKES

1 large egg
2 tsp (10 mL) harissa paste ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground pepper
¾ cup (175 mL) drained rinsed canned lentils
2 cups (500 mL) cooked wild rice blend, cooled ¼ cup (60 mL) rice flour or all-purpose flour
1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 mL) canola oil

1 For the slaw, whisk together yogurt, seed butter and harissa paste in a medium bowl. Stir in carrots and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2 For the rice cakes, whisk together egg, harissa paste, salt and pepper with a fork in a large bowl. Add about half of the lentils and mash until pasty. Stir in remaining lentils, rice and flour until evenly combined.

3 Heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Form one-quarter of the rice mixture into a cake, about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, and carefully add to pan. Repeat to make 4 cakes total, cooking them in batches. Cook, turning once, for about 3 minutes per side or until browned on both sides and hot in the centre. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Add more oil to the pan between batches as necessary.

4 Serve hot rice cakes topped with carrot slaw.

Serves 4