Potato Zucchini Pancakes

I think I'm pretty lucky to have a kid who eats a lot of different foods.  I don't know why he's a pretty good eater, but I'm going to blame it on the fact that I LOVE food and also that we exposed Chase to lots of different foods from a young age.  We did baby led weaning and Chase ate pretty much everything we did.  It makes life easier for me when I don't have to make a separate meal for Chase.  I've known parents who make 2-3 different meals just so everyone can have something to eat.  If that works for your family, then cool! I know that it just wouldn't work for me! 

Anyway, I'm always trying to find new recipes for veggies to make them more interesting.  A lot of people who hear that we eat mostly Paleo automatically think that all we eat are steaks and burgers for dinner every night.  Actually, veggies make up a large part of our diet.  With that being said, I get tired of the same old grilled asparagus or sauteed spinach.  Luckily, Pinterest has a billion different recipes to try!  Even if they aren't Paleo (this recipe wasn't originally) I can usually modify the recipe enough to have a new dish to try!  

Tonight, Curt, Chase, and I are sharing a big old T-bone steak with some creamed spinach (one of Chase's favorites) and these awesome potato zucchini pancakes.  Now, I know most people who do Paleo don't do potatoes... you can easily swap the potatoes for sweet potatoes, turnips, or just leave them out altogether and use all zucchini.

Potato Zucchini Pancakes

First, I minced garlic and onions and threw them in a pan with some olive oil and butter.  I sauteed them on medium low until they were soft.

 While the onions and garlic were getting soft, I shredded the zucchini and the potato.  I used a hand grater, but I definitely need to invest in a food processor!

After the zucchini and potato were shredded, I put everything on paper towels and squeezed out all of the extra water.  

Next, in a bowl, I stirred up the eggs, potato starch, salt, and baking powder.  The original recipe called for flour, but since we don't eat flour, I used potato starch.  You could probably use almond flour or tapioca starch, but I figured that since the recipe called for potatoes, then potato starch would work.

Once the egg mixture was combined, I added in the shredded zucchini, potatoes, and the onion/garlic mixture.

Next, I heated up some butter and olive oil in a skillet.  The hotter the pan, the crispier the pancakes. I like crispy pancakes, so I did it on Medium high.  I dropped a spoonful of the mixture into the hot fat and flattened them slightly with the back of a spoon.

Once the bottom was nice, brown, and crispy, I flipped them over to let the other side get crispy too.

So here's the finished product!  I thought these were really good!  They were crunchy, flavorful, and a nice variation on zucchini and a starch.  I'll definitely be making these again!

Paleo Potato Zucchini Pancakes

Adapted from:

http://www.mykitchenintherockies.com/2012/09/07/potato-zucchini-pancakes/

Ingredients:

·         2 cups shredded zucchini

·         2 cups shredded potato

·         2 eggs

·         1/3 cup potato starch

·         ¼ onion, minced

·         2 cloved garlic, minced

·         Fat of choice (I used a mix of butter and olive oil)

·         ½ tsp baking powder

·         ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

1.       Shred zucchini and potato, then squeeze out extra water with a paper towel.

2.     In a sauté pan, cook onions and garlic with fat of choice until soft.

3.     In a separate bowl, whisk the egg. Mix in potato starch, baking powder and 1/4  teaspoon salt. Add zucchini and onion mixtures and stir until well combined.

4.     Heat some oil in a pan (medium-high heat) and drop the mixture in portions. I used a big tablespoon.  Then, flatten the pancakes a little bit with the back of a spoon.

5.      Fry until crispy on both sides, flipping them when edges turn brown.

6.     Serve immediately.