Baked fish patties with polenta crust; roasted capsicums

I've set myself a challenge this week, as I'm want to do quite often, and that is to limit our menu to whatever is already in the house. If I can help it, I'll only be buying in some fresh fruit this week, and carrots ... I'm out of carrots! (They're almost a staple in our house.)

Today we started with a breakfast of homemade yoghurt and cereal. Lunch was kindly donated by the chickens: egg and lettuce sandwiches. Tonight was a little more challenging as there were a few fridge items that needed to be used as soon as possible. I had some lovely red capsicums, 1/4 a cabbage and the remaining florets of a cauliflower. So, I got to thinking how we'd use these tonight. What I came up with is 'sort of' a Mediterranean take on fish patties with vegies.

Firstly, I roasted the capsicums under the grill to give them all a lovely black, blistered skin. These were all then transferred to a paper bag to sweat and cool down. Once cool it's an easy job to just peel off the skins. Some virgin olive oil warmed in a saucepan with some chopped garlic, then with the capsicum strips tossed through, makes a lovely quick side dish. (Do this last step just before serving.) This is just lovely with roast lamb, too .. warm or cold.

Whilst the capsicums were roasting, I had the potatoes boiled and cooling ready for the fish patties. My fish patties are pretty simple: just potatoes, a tin of drained fish (tuna or salmon), some dill, salt & pepper all mashed together. Shape into patties and let cool completely.

I tried a different method years ago to avoid frying the patties and it's become my preference now. Instead of bread crumbs after the flour and eggwash stage, I use polenta (also known as corn meal). It gives a nice crunch and has a sweet 'nutty' taste.

Finally, a quick toss in the wok to cook the remaining vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, an onion, garlic, plus a 1/2 cup of frozen peas) and dinner was done.

I really like sweet chili sauce on these patties, but some of the family still went for the traditional tomato sauce (ketchup).

For the rest of the week, we'll use more of what's on hand, plus the fruit I'll be buying in for snacks:
Monday ~ oatmeal porridge; pita bread pizzas (tomato, cheese, olives); roast lamb & vegetables.
Tuesday ~ omlettes; lamb salad; vegetable pasta bake (sauce: onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, beans)
Wednesday ~ oatmeal muffins and banana smoothie; grilled sandwiches (usually cheese over tapenade or sliced tomato); remaining lamb warmed with gravy served with rice and vegetables.
Thursday ~ oatmeal porridge; egg and lettuce sandwiches; vegetable soup (prepared in crockpot) served with pasta.
Friday ~ yoghurt and cereal; remaining soup and toast; honey/soy chicken drumsticks on rice with salad. (I'll post my recipe of this at a later date.)
Saturday ~ eggs on toast; sandwiches; most likely something with pasta or leftovers .. I will have a tin of tomatoes left, anchovies and lemons, so possibly something simple there.