Gezunt Latkes

Photo courtesy of Elena's Pantry

A few years ago my friends Mark, Nancy, Rachel, and Ben had me over to share Hanukkah with their family.  Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday, but it tends to fall near Christmas.  So, it has been elevated to more prominence as a parallel Jewish winter holiday.  What's not to love about a holiday that requires you to drink several glasses of wine with family and friends?!

One Hanukkah tradition is the preparation of latkes, or potato pancakes, with most everyone taking their turn at the fryer.

Latke derives from Russian via Yiddish according to Wikipedia, and my healthy take on latkes I've named Gezunt Latkes, or healthy latkes, in Yiddish.  If gezunt sounds familiar, it is because Yiddish evolved out of German, and we get our American sneezing word Gesundheit (German for health) also from German.  No sneezing around the frying pan though!

• Start with my earlier recipe for Mashed Potatoes for Mo, a delicious faux mashed potato dish made from mashed cannellini beans, You'll need 2 cups of Mashed Potatoes for Mo.
• One of these three options:  
• 3 tablespoons wheat or almond flour
• 2 slices of white bread
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Oil
• Salt
• OPTIONS:  sauteed minced onion, sauteed zucchini, or sauteed carrot slivers

This dish has a lot of optional ways of cooking it:

Method 1:  To the basic mashed beans add 3 tablespoons wheat or almond flour.  Mix together.

Method 2:  To the basic mashed beans add two slices of bread and puree in a blender.

Method 3:  To the basic mashed beans add 2 beaten eggs.  Mix together.

Once you have your chosen pancake batter from above, you can make your basic latke by frying in oil with a dash of salt.  The oil in the pan should be high enough to come up to about halfway up the height of the latke.  Too little oil and your latke will stick.  Alternatively, just toss that latke in your Fry Daddy and fry daddy fry.

To this basic latke you can add a variety of additions:

• sauteed onions
• minced raw onions
• raw green onions
• matchsticks of julienned and sauteed zucchini
• sauteed (or raw if you like more of a crunch) carrot slivers

After cooking to a golden brown (usually about 4 minutes on each side on medium heat), put the latke on a paper towel on a napkin to cool slightly and to soak up some of the excess oil.  Then serve as is or with a side of sour cream, applesauce or apple butter.

DIETS:
Diabetic:  yes*  (especially if you use Method 3 rather than flour or bread)
Gluten Free:  yes* (if you use Method 3)
Nightshade Family Free:  yes
Paleo:  no (has beans)
SugarBusters:  yes
Sugar Free:  yes
Vegan:  yes
Vegetarian:  yes
Wheat Free:  yes* (if you use Method 3)
200 Calories or Under:  no

Notice:  Be sure to check with your doctor and nutritionist about the safety of any eating plan for you.  Also, check ingredients as different brands and products may have different ingredients or have changed them since this post.  Some calories are estimates based on packaging.