It’s Hanukkah, the festival of lights, the celebration of fried foods, children’s joy and weight watcher’s worst nightmare. Yup, it is, by far, the best. holiday. ever!
Some people love Hanukkah for the jelly doughnuts, some for the candle lights, some for the songs and some for the time off. Me? I love Hanukkah because I get to see how happy the kids are when they get their presents, I get to spend time with family and friends and finally, I get to eat latkes!! Those yummy potato pancakes.
It’s funny, because theoretically (and realistically) I can fry latkes on any given day, but something about Hanukkah makes it OK to eat soooo many fried foods. It’s the feeling of joy I believe.
I woke up this Saturday morning and craved some good ol’ fried latkes. But then I looked to my left, looked to my right and my mom wasn’t there, which meant it’s ME who had to deal with the grating, mixing and worst of all, frying.
Thinking about the smell I’m going to have in my hair (oil ehm ehm) and the grated fingers I’m going to end up having (not to mention chances for a minor heartburn) made me come up with plan B right there and then. I’m going to bake my latkes. I’m not saying I’ll be able to avoid oil completely but it’s going to be significantly less fat.
So I started (carefully) grating the potatoes thinking it could have been nice to add some nutritious value to these latkes. So I did, add values, in the form of carrots, onion and zucchini.
I ended up having a colorful batter that turned into colorful, delicious latkes. Dipped in sour cream or yogurt I finally felt my mission was complete and I can now just go back to bed 🙂
- 5 Medium Potatoes - Finely Grated
- 1 Carrot - Finely Grated
- 1 Zucchini - Finely Grated
- ½ Onion - Coarsely Grated
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 3 Tbsp All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (can be substituted with regular all purpose flour)
- Oil Spray
- Preheat oven to 400F (205C)
- Layer large baking sheet with parchment paper
- Place the grated vegetables in a medium mixing bowl and divide into 3 parts
- Squeeze each part between your hands to remove excess veggie juices (squeeze above the sink and return to the drained veggies to the bowl)
- Add the salt, eggs and flour to the grated and squeezed vegetables and mix all together (using a wooden spoon or fork)
- Spray the parchment paper with some oil
- Scoop a spoonful of latke mix and form a patty about ½-1 inch thick and place on the oil sprayed parchment paper
- Repeat with the rest of the mix
- Spray some additional oil on top of the latkes and bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven
- After 10 minutes turn the latkes to make sure they’re evenly baked on both sides
- Bake for additional 10-12 minutes and remove from oven
- Latkes should be golden on both sides, this is how you’ll know they’re ready
- Serve with garlic dip, sour cream or plain yogurt
