Try A Lighter Potato Pancake
December 5, 2012 9 Comments
THE holiday food of Hanukkah is the potato pancake (AKA latke). The traditional recipe for potato latkes can include 3-4 cups of oil.
Yikes! (but that does sound delicious :)
I actually think latkes are a GREAT holiday food. Potatoes, onion, egg, and flour - there isn't anything but yumminess in the basic recipe.
And, latkes ARE nutritious when compared to Egg Nog, Christmas cookies, and candy canes. One latke has 24% of your daily value of Vitamin C - take that chocolate Santa!
They are also easy to make and will disappear fast if you make the mistake of leaving the room after cooking them.
First, I used my grater on my food processor. There was NO WAY I was going to grate 3 potatoes and an onion without one. This made making the latkes really fast and easy.
I squeezed out the liquid from the potato and the onion, added egg and flour, and then attempted to fry them with less oil than 3 cups. I used a cast iron pan and managed to use one tablespoon of oil for every four latkes that I cooked.
They were seriously tasty and left the plate as soon as I placed them there. If you are trying to serve people that can WAIT, put them in the oven at 200F to keep them crispy.
Other lighter latke recipes used zucchini, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes to lighten the recipe. These make a great, fast, easy and comforting last minute dinner. We served them with some chicken apple sausages. YUM!
Do you have a tip for a lighter latke? Please share.
Lighter Latke Recipe
(makes 16)
3 large Russet potatoes
1 large onion, peeled
1/4 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
Grate potatoes and onion in food processor with a coarse grater. Transfer to colander and squeeze out potato liquid. Mix eggs and flour into the potato-onion mixture. Heat a cast iron or non-stick skillet with one tablespoon oil until the oil starts to smoke.
Fill your palm with the potato mixture and pat into a 2 inch diameter circle. Put four pancakes into pan and cook until brown on both sides (about 6 minutes). After you remove the first batch, add one tablespoon oil to cook the next batch. Repeat with all of the batter.
Keep hot in a 200 F oven and serve! These taste great cold and room temperature as well (but they will lose their crispness).
For one latke = 100 calories, 4.3 g fat, 13.3 g carbohydrates, 2.5 g protein, 1.9 g fiber, 16 mg sodium, 3 Points+
Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes
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