Shed Kitchen: Lightened-Up Latkes

I am not Jewish, as you may have guessed from my frequent references to Christmas. However, despite going to Catholic school for 10 years and going to a predominately non-Jewish college, I still have managed to become a half-black shiksa. I know, I know…it’s still a mystery to me too. I don’t really seek out Jewish boys…but somehow they seem to find me wherever I go! We’re just chatting at the bar and then suddenly he mentions Yom Kippur — and, then, you know, if the world’s really against me, I see he has a pro-McCain sticker on his car — and well, what am I supposed to do? All I can say is that I’ve had way more than eight crazy nights.

Anyway, at the rate I’m going, I figured I might as well learn more about Jewish culture sooo…latkes! This recipe is from Cooking Light back in the day, and even though it uses oil (do not bitch out and use Pam on these, the whole tradition is about the damn oil), they are still pretty light, and really tasty!

Ingredients

• 1  pound baking potato, peeled
• 1/2 cup onion, peeled and minced very small (or grated)
• 1/8  cup egg substitute
• 1  tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8  cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1  tablespoon canola oil, divided

This Is How We Do It

Shred the potato and onion using the shredding blade of a food processor, or, if like me, you don’t have one, use a grater.

(Who knew that shredded potato looks exactly like tuna fish?! Odd…)

Combine the shredded potato and onion in a colander over a large bowl, tossing very well to combine. Let the mixture stand 15 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until most of liquid drains off. Remove colander from bowl. There will be this brown potato liquid…

Carefully pour it off and toss, but reserve the thick white layer of potato starch in the bottom of the bowl.

Combine the egg substitute, flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and stir with a whisk.

Add the egg mixture, parsley, and potato starch to the potato mixture in a large bowl.

Stir to combine.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tbsp canola oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add potato mixture in 1/4-cupfuls to pan to form 6 latkes; flatten slightly.

Cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

You can serve with many condiments, so I initially went with sour cream!

Ohhh yum. I-forgot-how-much-I-love-fried-potatoes-YUM! I also tried them with applesauce and then with ketchup, because I really, really like ketchup. Yum all around. If you’ve never had them before, they kind of taste to me like earthier hash browns.

So tasty and the stats aren’t half bad: two latkes has 208 calories, 7 grams of fat, 5 grams protein, and 2.5 grams of fiber. HOLLER. Or, I guess I should say, “CHALLAH!”

Tagged as: Hanukkah, healthy recipes, holidays, winter