What Should Have Been Cilantro Jalapeno Zucchini Pancakes with Chipotle Sour Cream

I was inspired to make this dish after posting my Links for Latkas last Friday. I wanted to see if you could take the deliciousness of a potato pancake and turn it on its head. Eliminate the frying. Up the veggie quotient. It wasn't too big of a stretch.

Plus, I happened to have a lot of zucchini in my refrigerator that I needed to use up a.s.a.p.

So as the snow fell outside, I was comfortably warm cooking up my own storm this past Saturday morning. I knew I would be serving this dish that evening to my newish next door neighbors. The neighbors where the wife is the phenomenal cook.

The pressure was on.

I thought I would do something really creative and make a casserole out of the pancake ingredients. A kugel if you will.

It worked, but while the resulting dish was delicious, I know that it could have been so much better, although more time consuming, if I had just stuck with straight up pancakes. The casserole lacked the crispiness on all sides that I was craving, so I carefully cut the entire tray into small squares and rebaked all of the pieces.

Luckily, it worked. But you don't need to go through all that hassle. Just make the pancakes from the start!

I'm not sure you'd want to attempt these without the magic of a food processor, but if you've got the muscle (or need a good workout), go right ahead.

Cilantro Jalapeno Zucchini Pancakes with Chipotle Sour Cream
adapted from this recipe

Printable Recipe

1 Tbsp EnerG Egg Replacer
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 pounds zucchini, shredded
1 pound peeled baking potato, shredded
1 small onion (mine was 7 ounces), shredded
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp chopped chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce
scant 2 Tbsp finely chopped, seeded jalapeno pepper
2 tsp cumin
4 thinly sliced scallions (mine were on the small side)
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp garbanzo bean flour

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together EnerG Egg Replacer and water.

In a very large bowl, place all ingredients, including egg replacer/water mixture. Stir well to combine ingredients thoroughly.
Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of the batter onto the hot skillet and press each mound into a 3-inch pancake. Cook the pancakes until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer the latkes to a baking tray and put in the oven to keep warm.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Optional: serve topped with Chipotle Sour Cream.

Chipotle Sour Cream
Not exactly health food, but vegan. Outstanding.

1 12 ounce container Tofutti Sour Cream
2 Tbsp chopped chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce
Zest of 1 large lime
Juice of 1 large lime

Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

These would also make outstanding Vegan appetizers for a party. Just use a tablespoon full of batter as you make the pancakes instead of 1/4 cup. Arrange on a platter and keep warm in the oven. Dollop a bit of the Chipotle Sour Cream on right before serving.

What a Blast. Chef Aj's Thai Noodle Salad.

What can I say? Between jet lag, the time change, sous cheffing for Chef Aj all day yesterday and then hosting a large pot luck last night, my brain is kinda fried!

So this post will be brief. I want to highlight one of the recipes from last night's pot luck: Chef Aj's Thai Noodles. Main ingredients? Rice noodles, broccoli, haricot vert, scallions and carrots. All smothered in peanut butter or sunbutter, lime juice, maple syrup or date syrup and other tasty things. Can anyone say "yumkins?"

Served with extra dressing on the side.

Ate it for breakfast this morning straight from the storage container.

Having it again for lunch over a huge bed of fresh spinach leaves.

Can you tell I liked it?

It's that right balance of spicy and sweet, crunchy and soft. Yumkins.

Get the recipe here, straight from Chef Aj.

And lucky for all of us, my friend Quinny wrote a hilarious accounting of her experience at this pot luck. Thanks for sharing Quinny!

Enjoy and have a great day!

Help! Comments Section Horrors and Chris-anna's Lemony Garlic Wheat Berry Salad with Split Yellow Peas

So a few days ago I changed the comment system on HGK to a system that would allow me to make comments back directly to each individual comment that is left on HGK. This was not an option with the existing comments section of the blog platform that I use (Blogger).

But because I have imported a system that isn't 100% functional with Blogger, I am beginning to wonder if the benefits of the new system outweigh the costs. Specifically, I'm nervous that many of you no longer "see" the comments at the bottom of each post.

If you click on the title of this blog post and the url that you are on is no longer the url for my homepage, but rather the specific URL for this individual post, you should be able to see the comments.

What a mess.

I need your help.

I cannot see what you see.

Please let me know what you see. Do you see a comments section at the bottom of this post?

No? Try clicking on the title of this post.

Still not? Press your refresh button.

Is this a pain in the neck?

Maybe I should go back to my old comment system.

I need your advice. If you can't leave it as a comment, please e-mail me at healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com.

Why am I making such a big deal of this? Because blogging is no fun, no fun at all, without you and your thoughts and reactions to what I am thinking and saying. Without you, urging me to keep going and helping me to steer this ship.

As a reward, I present you with this highly unusual and very delicious grain salad. It's chewy and yummy and would be great served over a bed of raw spinach or baby greens for a complete meal.

This dish develops flavor over time and can be made a day or two ahead of time. It is moist and reheats well.

Chris-anna's Lemony Garlic Wheat Berries with Yellow Split Peas

Makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

1 � cups wheat berries

4 � cups water

� cup yellow split peas

3 cups water

1 bunch asparagus

2 cups pea pods, julienned

4-6 green onion, thinly sliced white and light green parts

3 T. sunflower seeds

� cup almond butter

� cup lemon juice

zest of one lemon

1 garlic clove, finely minced

� cup hot water

salt and pepper to taste (or not)

Wash and drain wheat berries and soak overnight.

In a medium pot bring wheat berries and 4 � cups water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 60 minutes. Fluff with fork. Wheat berries should be chewy and starting to split open.

In another saucepan, add yellow split peas to 3 cups boiling water. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Drain.

Break asparagus in the middle of stalk and cut 1-1 � inch angled pieces from the top portion. Lightly blanch asparagus and julienne pea pods until bright green, but still crunchy or steam until the same.

Mix, lemon zest, lemon juice, minced garlic, almond butter and hot water. When this is creamy and blended, mix with wheat berries, split peas, asparagus, pea pods, green onion and sunflower seeds.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Thoughts on the new comments section?

If you are struggling with your food choices today, I highly recommend reading this blog posting and all of the comments that follow it.

Asian Cabbage Slaw

Have you ever had one of those cabbage salads with the Asian flavors and either uncooked ramen noodles or some other fried crunchy bits? I have. These salads are pretty popular around these parts, and for very good reason. They're easy to assemble and they taste amazing.

I set out to make a version that, well, is healthier. And while some of you may be shocked by the addition of toasted sesame oil to the dressing, I just don't know of any other way to achieve the sesame flavor. So this is one of the rare instances where I will include oil in something that I prepare. Compare the 2 tablespoons of oil in this recipe that serves 12 to the 1 cup of oil in the dressing of the classic version and I think you'll find that my version wins out, any day.

HGK's Asian Cabbage Slaw

serves a crowd (12)

Printable Recipe

8 packed cups finely sliced or shredded green cabbage

6 scallions, sliced thinly

4 Tbsp sesame seeds

2 cups matchstick or shredded carrots

1 cup julienned red pepper

1 10.5 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained and liquid reserved for dressing

1 cup toasted sliced or slivered almonds

Place all ingredients, except almonds, into a large bowl. Toss with dressing (recipe below). Let marinate several hours or overnight before serving. Before serving, toss with almonds.

Light Asian Dressing:

4 Tbsp mandarin orange liquid

6 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 Tbsp mirin

2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

pepper

1 tsp salt (or not)

Put all ingredients into a bowl and whisk.

Are you familiar with the classic version of this salad? Is it popular where you live? Would you consider taking a healthy version of this or another classic dish to your next pot luck?

Tex Mex Quinoa with Cilantro, Lime and Apricots

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway yesterday with your most pressing plant-based nutrition question.

If you have not yet entered, please do! The contest closes on Thursday at midnight and Julieanna Hever has graciously offered to answer our 3 most popular plant-based nutrition questions in a guest post right here on HGK.

It's very interesting to read through everyone's responses. What I am struck by is the variety of questions. No single questions are being asked repeatedly by any volume of respondants . . . yet!

On to other big news, I made this quinoa salad as part of a taco bar (more on that in a later post) party that we hosted this past weekend. It was a big hit with the guests and I couldn't wait to share it with all of you.

HGK's Tex Mex Quinoa Salad with Cilantro, Lime and Apricots

Printable Recipe

1 cup quinoa
1 � cups water
1 cup packed cilantro
� cup raw pepitas
Zest of one lime
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tsp ground cumin
dash or two of Cayenne pepper (depending on your heat preference)
� tsp salt (or not)
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 roma tomato, diced small
2 scallions, sliced thinly
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 avocado, � inch dice
Place quinoa and water into a rice cooker and cook, or prepare as follows: In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and return to a boil. Reduce heat to lowest setting and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes. Water should be absorbed. Fluff with a fork and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a large bowl.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cilantro, pepitas, lime zest, lime juice, orange juice concentrate, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt (optional). Process, scraping down sides, into a paste. Transfer to bowl with quinoa.

To cooked quinoa and cilantro paste, add black beans, tomato, scallions, apricots and avocado. Fold well to combine. Taste and add more Cayenne if necessary.