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Rainbow Veggie Pancakes
Anabel B. (original recipe)
Iowa is a weird state. Its 99 counties are not quite a 9x11 grid. I've driven through Iowa
several times and it is a nice state to drive through. Believe it or not, their state motto is
"America's crossroads" which is basically the automotive equivalent of "we're flyover country."
It could have been "Between point A and point B." So drive through it we must and I have to say,
the rest stops had wifi before that was really widespread, before we had Internet on our phones,
so wifi at the rest stops was a pretty big deal. This is evidence they take their role as America's
crossroads seriously. I can only imagine what futuristic rest stop amenities they must offer
today.
Today's recipe receives high marks for meatlessness, especially for an Iowa kid, while brazenly
raising the issue of eggs in our 1st installment. I eat eggs, but probably shouldn't. This blog
is more about aspirations than reality, so let's try to avoid chicken exploitation. Since it is
our first election stop and happens to be vegetarian as written, I thought I would attempt to
make this recipe, and use it as an excuse to try Just Egg in a few weird recipes that might
otherwise call for fowl eggs. I don't really want to glamourize corporate products on this
blog, but the recipe as written calls for a ridiculous amount of vegetables for lonesome me so I
will be cutting it a lot and thus will require but a small amount of Just Egg. Then I can
tell you what I really think.
Here is the recipe I am making. My first attempt delivered the rainbow but was a little bland
and fell apart when I tried to flip it a second time, so I am adding some seasoning and increased
the Just Egg.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cu. chopped/shredded vegetables (I used asparagus, carrot, potato, tomato, and
yellow pepper in approximately equal portions)
- 1 heaping Tbs. All-purpose flour
- 1 Tbs. packed fresh Basil, shredded
- A generous amount of Olive oil, for pan frying
Preparation
Start by chopping all your vegetables. Maybe you heard this on the radio too; supposedly you
can use a box grater on any vegetable. I used mine to shred the carrot and potato, then got a little
plucky and grated my yellow pepper. I did not attempt to grate the asparagus or tomato (but they
claim you can!). Collect your prepared vegetables in a large bowl.
Now add the flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and stir to cover the
veggies. Then stir in the Just Egg and the fresh basil.
Heat oil over medium heat, then add a ball of veggies to the center of the pan. Flatten to
approximately 1/2" thick and form into a circle. Use your spatula to clean up the edges and allow
to cook for approximately 4 minutes. Then flip it and cook another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until you
have fried up all your veggies, adding more oil as necessary.
Discussion
As you can see, my first attempt had beautiful color but didn't hold together. I added
potato to the mix to improve the flavor but this diminished the rainbow effect.
I think the recipe as written (including
serving suggestions) would be a little unbalanced for a meal. It's pretty much all
vegetable, which is good, but could use a little something more. In the first photo,
I have served it with basil un-chicken (recipe coming) as a protein
and there would have been rice but I ran out.
All in all, this was an encouraging first effort. Do I recommend it? Would I make it
again? I liked the Just Egg and the mix of vegetables. I think I would probably make an
omelet next time. Asparagus in December was surprisingly good. Of course it comes in a
giant bunch so you'll be throwing asparagus into everything for a while. It's like a
taste of spring in the dead of winter. I have no idea where it comes from but it's not
like you're buying it every week. The recipe contributors seem to have ignored the
seasonality of their primary contests so I will be cooking out of season a lot in this
project. It's unfortunate but we'll all live.
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Iowa
The only U.S. state bordered by two navigable rivers
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 New Hampshire
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