I’m not one to celebrate holidays with kitschy decorations and such but I thought you all would appreciate a special post for St. Patrick’s Day. These green pancakes are a fun way to sneak vegetables into your kid’s breakfast (and yours). They’re mostly made of peas which are probably overlooked for their nutritional value. Did you know one cup has 15% of your daily value of protein? They are also a very good source of fiber, vitamin K, manganese, vitamin B1, vitamin C, copper, phosphorus and folate among others! Recent studies also show their unique phytonutrient content helps protect against stomach cancer.
I did a lot of recipe testing for these pancakes and just couldn’t make it work well with a chia egg so I decided to call it quits and stick with an actual egg. There are some great pancake recipes out there without eggs which you can find here and here. I do want to stress the importance of buying either organic eggs or even better eggs from pastured chickens. Conventional eggs are from chickens who live in crates, never see the light of day and eat only genetically modified grains. As you can imagine, these conditions do not foster much nutrients at all on top of the fact that the chickens are given hormones and antibiotics. Eggs coming from chickens who are foraging for bugs and seeds and plants have less cholesterol and saturated fat and more good omega-3 fats, vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin D. The color of the yolk says it all!
sweet pea pancakes
adapted from cannelle et vanille
yields 8-10 small pancakes (serves 2)
ingredients
1 1/4 cup sweet peas (fresh or frozen, or edamame or a mix of both)
3 tablespoons unsweetened plant milk
1 inch piece of ripe banana (brown spots are good)
1 organic or pastured *egg
3 tablespoons brown rice flour
1 tablespoon millet flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
topping ideas
banana
date syrup (made by blending 4 pitted medjool dates with half a cup water in high speed blender)
hemp seeds
directions
bring water to a boil in a small pot. add the peas and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until they are tender but not mushy. drain them and immediately submerge them in ice water to stop the cooking process.
drain the peas again and add to blender along with banana and plant milk. blend until smooth. then add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until smooth.
heat a medium non-stick pan on medium high heat. drop 1 heaping tablespoon of batter onto the skillet each time. when the sides start to set and small bubbles appear, carefully flip the pancakes and finish cooking for another minute or so. repeat until all the batter has been used.
*I have made pancakes before without eggs or with vegan eggs (flax/chia) but after about 6 tries with this recipe I still couldn’t get the batter to really set well. so I am sorry for those who are vegan or have egg allergies (I tried!).
