Top of the Morning! Happy St. Patty's Day!
My son is uber picky. He basically eats bread and water. He's a carbaholic. Pasta, pancakes, pretzels, soft pretzels, bread, etc. The only vegetable he will eat are cucumbers and once in a blue moon a baby carrot. Yes, one. That's it, he's done. So in an effort to get some vegetables in his body, I made green pancakes. I wanted to be festive for the holiday, but be natural about it. I don't like artificial anything in my food and I looked up some natural food dyes. Lo and behold you can add spinach to green things up without altering the taste.
Green Pancakes
Adapted from allrecipes
1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
Steam spinach.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Blend the milk and spinach until smooth. Add a well beaten egg and vanilla to milk and spinach mixture. Poor the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat or griddle. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip the a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.
Enjoy!
I decided to steam the spinach in an effort to use the entire leaf and get the most out of it I could. I thought about just putting the raw spinach in the blender with the milk, but decided it would be too chunky. Steaming worked great. I read on the web about juicing the spinach, but I don't have a juicer. I have a lot of kitchen items, but a juicer isn't one of them at the moment.
After I mixed everything together, it smelled rather spinachy. I wasn't sure how they would taste, but they came out great! You can't really taste the spinach at all, especially after you put the syrup on them. I have a keen sense of smell and taste (my boyfriend thinks they are freakishly strong), so most people probably wouldn't be able to taste them at all. My son ate three. My boyfriend ate, let's just say more than three.
Green Pancakes
Adapted from allrecipes
1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
Steam spinach.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Blend the milk and spinach until smooth. Add a well beaten egg and vanilla to milk and spinach mixture. Poor the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat or griddle. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip the a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.
Enjoy!
