Zucchini-Potato Pancakes

Latkes are amazing, but also amazingly bad for you. There is not a lot of redeeming value about deep-frying potato and topping it with salt. So here, I took the basic concept of a latke but changed a few key pieces. The potato became potato AND zucchini, adding taste and nutritional value all at once. The deep frying became pan frying, taking out the majority of the oil and therefore the fatty calories. And the salt was severely reduced due to added flavor of zucchini and lots of black pepper. Yum!

I made the zuchini-potato pancakes along with some pesto turbot, one of my favorites. However, this side is versatile enough to pair with nearly any main course. I made it with a fresh cherry tomato salsa, which was juicy and delicious, but you can easily substitute another topping if you prefer.

Recipe and nutrition after the jump!

Difficulty: medium
Time: 40 min
Cost: $27.03



Zucchini-Potato Pancakes
Ingredients:
4 c russet potato, shredded
2 c zucchini, shredded
1 c sweet onion, shredded
1/2 c egg substitute (equivalent to two eggs)
1/4 c matzo meal
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
5 teaspoons olive oil
3 c sweet cherry tomatoes, quartered

Make sure your potatoes, zucchini, and onion are shredded. It's a lot faster if you can use a food processor, as I did, but you can always hand shred if you are really desperate.

Place a large piece of cheesecloth in a colander. Put the potatoes, onion, and zucchini in the cheesecloth. Twist it up and squeeze until all of the moisture is out of them. Then, once the liquid is out, put the mixture into a large bowl. Add the egg substitute, matzo meal, 3/4 tsp of black pepper, and the salt. Mix well until evenly combined. You may just want to use your hands for this since it's rather thick and hard to stir.

Heat a pan over medium to medium high heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is hot, add about 1/4 of the mixture and spread out until it's very thin. It will be a big pancake, probably 6-8 inches in diameter, but you want it just 1/4-1/2 an inch thick so it crisps up nicely and you get the frying effect. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Then use a large spatula to carefully flip it over. In fact, you may want to use two. Cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Put on a plate and repeat with another tsp of oil and another 1/4 of the mixture until you have four very large, crisp pancakes.

While the pancakes are cooking, place the cherry tomatoes in a bowl. Add 1 tsp of olive oil and the remaining 1/4 tsp of black pepper. Toss well so that the tomatoes are coated evenly.

Serve the tomato mixture over the pancakes and enjoy hot!

Servings: 4
Serving size: 1 pancake (6-8" diameter)
Nutrition: calories 245; carbs 42g; fat 6g; protein 8g; sodium 77mg; iron 22mg