Brunchtastic recipe (GF) – Savoury Pumpkin Corn Waffles with Seared Salmon, Sauteed Mushroom Kale

If you follow my Instagram feed, you’ll notice that most of my food festivities happen in the weekend. As a corporate full-timer, this is when I have the time, space, and light to create, capture, and savour yummy recipes. More than often, I’d stay in for a good part of the weekend to make brunches and somewhat more extensive dinner, bakes & snacks, lunch-prepping and menu-planning for the following week.

My top favourites are waffle and pancake recipes, often gluten-free, vegan, and sugar-free, that can be whisked up in as little as 20-mins with lots of fresh, wholesome and nutritious ingredients to get energy flowing. Not only do they serve as a  festive Sunday brunch but also a beat-the-Monday-blue breakfast the next morning. Hah, a great way to kick off the week,  both in taste and style, isn’t it?

This week, I write up for you a scrumptious, yet simple Pumpkin Corn(meal) Waffles recipe that will certainly please your tummy, eyes, your social feed ?, and anyone else you’re sharing them with! Let’s get started

Ingredient – 4 servings (10-12 waffles)

Dry ingredients

• 75gr  buckwheat OR quinoa flour
• 75gr  organic yellow cornmeal (please note: it should be fine yellow cornmeal, or maismeel in Dutch)
• 1/2 tsp salt (~ 2gr)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp  ground black pepper for some heat
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (~ 4gr)

Wet ingredients

• 150gr  pure pumpkin puree (homemade by roasting skin-on at 200C for about 45mins)
• 2 free-range eggs
• OR (Vegan) substitute with 1 flax egg (1tbsp flaxmeal + 4 tbsp water) and extra 50gr pumpkin puree
• 250ml milk of choice (non-dairy such as almond, soya; or dairy, all work ?)
• 1 tbsp (~4-5gr) chopped chives
• 1/2 tsp dried dill OR 1 tbsp fresh dill
• 5ml pumpkin seed oil (I got mine from my recent trip to Slovenia). Its toasty smell and nutty taste really add dimension to the waffles ?
• Optional but recommended: 1 small can of bio corn (140gr ). The charred kernels are the secret to make your waffles crunchy on the outside and chewy  in the inside!
• 10-15ml mild olive oil or rapeseed oil to grease the iron

Sides & Garnishes:

• 150-175gr  pan-seared wild salmon OR tuna steak – Lots of protein and healthy fats!!!
• Sauteed garlicky mushrooms with spinach or kale
• 1 fried egg sunny side up
• Garnish with chopped chives, fresh dill & a few corn kernels

Method

• Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Separate egg white from the yolks, save for latter. For #vegan version, use aquafaba preserve of a can chickpea instead
• Place all wet ingredients except the corn and egg white in another bowl.  Beat with an electric hand mixer or with a whisk until smooth.
• Pour wet mixture onto the dry base, half at a time to make sure the batter is not too runny. Waffle batter needs to be  thicker than that of pancakes. It should be smooth but still drops in large lump from the spatula.
• Drain corn from the can.  Rinse with cold water
• Mix corn into the batter.
• Whisk egg white until forming a stiff foam, about 3-4 mins
• Gently fold in the waffle batter until both parts are well incorporated
• Leave the batter in the fridge for about 10-15 mins to rest

• Heat up your waffle iron
• Coat the iron  generously with oil
•  Scoop the batter on to the griddle
• Close and let it cook away on medium heat (level 3 out of 5)
• Once the lamp turns green (about 3mins), you can  take it out or leave  the waffle in there for another minute or so for  major crispiness. ? At this step, it might happen that the waffles break and stick onto both sides of the iron. This is because  there was not enough oil ?. So please please grease  your iron very well!!!

TIP: For sides, sear the salmon filet without oil about 4-mins each side until the skin is nicely charred while the flesh is pinkish-ly cooked. Natural fat of the fish will come out in the process which you can use to sautee the kale and mushroom ⬅ Two birds with one stone and zero added fat ?

Now – Time to take out your waffles, load up with sides & garnishes, and ENJOY!!! Remember, nice things are better when shared ;). ? Don’t forget to  double the dose for the morning after!!!

Cornmeal version (without corn kernels)

Crunchy corn version

Crunchy corn version

Nutritional value per waffle ( 1 serving = 2-3 waffles)

(from MyFitnessPal based on manually-added ingredients)

Calories: 94kC/393kJ; Fat 2.8 g of which saturated 0.7g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 120mg; Potassium 110mg; Carb 13.4g; Fibers 1.4g; Sugar 1g; Protein 3.4g; Vit C 1.3%; Calcium 4.6%; Iron 0.8%