Spinach Pancakes

Now you wait just one minute before you stop reading (actually – you need to start reading in order to start, but don’t stop before you even start… if that even makes any sense). These are not pancakes like you would eat for breakfast… think instead pancakes like potato pancakes, or chick pea patties, or something like that! Yeah – that kind of pancake!

I am continuing my healthy green kick tonight with these Green Spinach Pancakes (which yes – once again are pretty gosh darn healthy for you!). After finding these on  another wonderful WordPress Blog (thanks Five & Spice – these are awesome, and the photos are a lot better – I plan on visiting the blog of this ‘down to earth’ nutritionist a lot more often!), I decided to make these for dinner. But keep in mind that these would make a great side dish or appetizer or part of a “tasting” dinner menu!

Spinach pancakes (with ‘yogurt’ sauce)

• 1 1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt OR sour cream
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• [1/2 teaspoon lime zest]
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves OR 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 1 bag (10ish ounces) fresh spinach
• 1 small finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil for frying

Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the yogurt [sour cream], lime juice, lime zest, and mint leaves. Put in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve the pancakes. Stir once again before serving… just to be safe

Wash the spinach, then put the spinach in a large sautee pan with a sprinkling of water, cover, and cook over medium heat (stirring a few times) until the spinach is wilted. This will only take a couple of minutes. Put cooked spinach into a colander and let it cool down so you can handle it. Once cool, use your hands and squeeze out as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible. Then chop the spinach up well and set aside. [a box of frozen spinach would probably work well here too)

Heat your tablespoon of butter in a sautee pan over medium-high until it is foaming. Stir in the chopped onion and cook until it has gotten nicely browned. Turn the heat down very low and allow to cook for about 3-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, to get them a bit caramelized.

In a bowl: whisk together the flour, eggs, milk, 2 Tbs. olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Stir in the spinach and onion until all combined. You will have a very thick ‘batter’

Pour enough olive oil into a large sautee pan to coat the bottom. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into the pan & try to make them circular and even thickness (with spoon OR pressing down on it with the spatula). Cook until the bottom sides have turned golden brown, then flip and cook another couple minutes (no more than 5 minutes total for each batch). Transfer the pancakes to a serving platter (if needed, keep warm in a 200F oven) and continue frying – using more olive oil as needed- until all the batter is used up. Serve the pancakes accompanied with the mint-yogurt sauce for generously smearing them with. These reheat well too! 🙂

… with all these green recipes: you should be all set for St. Patrick’s Day this year!