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Healthy Holiday Recipe: Sweet Potato and Carrot Latkes

FitSugar — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 03:00:00 -0800

Since many of you are celebrating Hanukkah this week, I wanted to share a twist on my favorite latke recipe. I know oil is a huge part of the tradition, but drenching potatoes in a ton of oil isn't exactly the healthiest thing for you, so check out this recipe. It doesn't involve any deep-frying, and mixes grated carrots with sweet potatoes.

To see how I make a healthier version of this Hanukkah favorite read more.

Sweet Potato and Carrot Latkes
A variation on my Grandmother's

Ingredients

2 regular potatoes, peeled
1 sweet potato, peeled
1 carrot or 1/2 cup of carrot matchsticks
2 eggs
3 tablespoons wheat flour
Olive or canola oil
Salt and pepper
Ketchup or applesauce

Directions

Grate the potatoes and the carrot in a big bowl.
Use your hands to press the mixture flat against the bowl and pour out the extra liquid.
Place a pan on the stove on medium heat. Pour two to four tablespoons of oil in the pan.
While the pan is heating up, add the egg, flour, and a little salt and pepper to the grated veggies and mix well.
Now you're ready to cook the latkes. Using a big slotted spoon, scoop out about two tablespoons of the mixture and drop onto the pan. Use the back of the spoon to flatten them so they're about 1/4 inch thick.
Allow the latkes to cook for five to eight minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown. Check the bottoms constantly with a spatula and flip them when they're ready.
Let them cook for another five to eight minutes, or until golden brown.
Place a paper towel on a plate, and then put the cooked latkes on top so the extra oil can be absorbed.
Serve warm with ketchup or applesauce.

Print recipe with images | without images

Do you have a healthy snack or recipe to share? Then share it in the Lite'n it Up - Healthy Recipe Group and I might just post it on FitSugar.

Holiday Fit Tip: Healthier Potato Latkes

FitSugar — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:45:00 -0800

Since many of you are celebrating Hanukkah this week, I wanted to share my favorite latke recipe with you. I know oil is a huge part of the tradition, but drenching potatoes in a ton of oil isn't exactly the healthiest thing for you, so check out this recipe. It doesn't involve any deep frying, and mixes grated carrots with the potatoes for a sweet and healthy twist. Plus a little color and you know I love orange!

To see my recipe, read more

What you need:

3 potatoes, peeled
1 carrot
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp wheat flour
Olive or canola oil
Salt and pepper
Ketchup or applesauce

What to do:

Grate the potatoes and the carrot in a big bowl.

Use your hands to press the mixture flat against the bowl and pour out the extra liquid.
Place a pan on the stove on medium heat. Pour 2-4 tbsp of oil in the pan.
While the pan is heating up, add the egg, flour, and a little salt and pepper to the grated veggies and mix well.
Now you're ready to cook the latkes. Using a big slotted spoon, scoop out about 2 tbsp of the mixture and drop onto the pan. Use the back of the spoon to flatten them so they're about 1/4 inch thick.

Allow them to cook for 3-8 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown. Check the bottoms constantly with a spatula and flip them when they're ready.

Let them cook for another 3-8 minutes, or until golden brown.
Place a paper towel on a plate, and then put the cooked latkes on top so the extra oil can be absorbed.

Serve warm with ketchup or applesauce.

Print recipe with images | without images

Fit's Tips: Why not experiment with adding different veggies? Zucchini and sweet potato are also delicious additions to this basic recipe. Let me know if you have any other latke variations in the comments section below.

Healthier Potato Latkes

FitSugar — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:30:00 -0800

Whether you are Jewish or not, everyone loves a good potato latke. And since Hanukkah is coming up, I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes.

The thing is, this tradition of making latkes has to do with celebrating the miracle of oil, so you can't exactly remove the oil in the recipe. I've had baked latkes before - they're just not the same.

It's ok to live it up a little, especially around the holidays. The calories don't count anyway when you eat them with family, right? Right.

Why not compromise by using less oil? Instead of frying them in a sea of oil, try using only enough oil to cover the pan.

If you want to know how to make them, read more

Potato Latkes

2 eggs
3 cups grated, drained potatoes (6 medium potatoes)
4 tbsp grated onion
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
olive oil

Saute the onion until slightly browned.
Beat the eggs in a bowl. Mix in the grated potatoes, cooked onion, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and flour.
Cover a pan with 1-2 tbsp of oil, and turn the heat to medium.
Scoop the mixture out in little balls and drop onto the pan, flattening with a spatula. (They should be about the size of an orange slice)
Cook until crispy brown on both sides, and lay them on paper towels to soak up any extra oil.
Serve warm with applesauce or sour cream.

Why we love it: They're fun to make, and potatoes actually have Vitamin C in them, so they're great to eat during this time of year when just about everyone is sick.

Fit's Tip: Try adding a little bit of grated sweet potato, carrot, or zucchini to the mixture.

Falafel Mix: It's Fantastic

FitSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:45:00 -0700

How many of you love falafel? There's a place near me that makes the best I've ever tasted, and I just turn the other cheek when I see the little balls being deep-fried. If only there were an easy and healthier way to make it myself....

There is! I picked up a box of Fantastic Falafel Mix that a friend recommended to me, and now I'm sharing this gem with you. It's quick and easy to make, and you can add your own veggies in the wrap to make it even healthier. It's got the perfect amount of crunchy chewiness, and it's made with garbanzo beans, so it's got protein too.

Want to see what it really looks like, what the nutritional info is and how to make it yourself? Then read more

This mix makes about 24 balls. I only wanted to make half of that, so I measured out about 6 oz of the mix (3/4 of a cup).
Pour it into a bowl and add 5/8 of a cup of water (that's 1/2 a cup plus 1/8 of a cup of water). Mix it together and be sure to let it stand for 15 minutes to absorb the water. If you don't give it enough time, your balls will fall apart.

Turn a burner onto medium and get a frying pan ready. Pour olive oil into the bottom. The directions on the box say to pour enough so the oil is 1/2 inch deep, but I just poured about 1/4 cup in. Who needs all that oil?
You can pre-form the little balls, but I just use a small spoon to scoop out the mix and then I plop them in the pan one at a time. Using the back of the spoon, I smoosh them down into little disks, so there's more surface area getting cooked.

Fry the balls about 5 or so minutes, or until they're golden brown. Then flip them individually like potato latkes.
While they're browned to your liking, you can cut up veggies to go in the wrap. My favorite are tomatoes and cucumbers.
After they're done cooking, you can place the balls on a plate with a paper towel to absorb any extra oil.
Now place 6 pieces of falafel in the middle of a wrap and then your veggies. Pour about 2-3 tbsp of Annie's Goddess Dressing on top, wrap it up and enjoy!

Well, if you only have 3 balls, as the serving size suggests, I'm happy with the nutritional content. If you are feeling extra hungry, and want to have 6 balls (as shown in the wrap above), I listed that nutritional info too.

Holy moly - that's a ton of sodium for one meal, considering the RDI of sodium is 2,300 mg. If you're watching your salt intake, and you've already eaten a good portion of your daily sodium before getting to dinner, you can just use 3 balls, and add a ton of veggies to fill you up. If you haven't eaten much sodium all day, I'd go for the 6 balls of falafel.

Either way, this falafel must be healthier than the oil-drenched falafel balls I get at my favorite cafe. I'm a huge fan of this Fantastic Falafel Mix!

Serving Size	about 3, 1" balls	about 6, 1" balls
Calories	130	260
Total Fat	2g	4g
Saturated Fat	0g	0g
Cholesterol	0mg	omg
Sodium	350mg	700mg
Carbs	21g	42g
Fiber	6g	12g
Sugar	3g	6g
Protein	7g	14g