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8.16.2007

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 medium sweet potato, cooked
1/4 c. grated carrot
1 handful raisins
1 t baking powder
2 ripe bananas
1 egg (or can omit if vegan and substitute extra ground flaxseed and a little applesauce)
4 T. brown rice flour
1/2 c. water
Optional: 2 T ground flax
Spices:
cinnamon
Garnish:
1 Handful walnuts

Sweet Potato cooking method with the microwave :
Wash sweet potato thoroughly and poke holes with a fork. Wrap the sweet potato in saran wrap and cook it in the microwave for 3 minutes (depending on microwave). Feel free to also cook it ahead of time in a conventional oven or toaster oven if you object to using a microwave.

When the sweet potato is done, unwrap and let cool. When cool, mash with the skin in a large bowl. Add brown rice flour and baking powder, seasonings, and mix thoroughly. Once mixed, add the egg, raisins, bananas, carrot and water to the mixture and mash.

Pour the batter into a preheated pan with organic virgin coconut oil and cook until the sides bubble up and turn brown (2 - 3 minutes per side). Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with any topping of agave nectar, honey, Smart Balance, nut butter, or just a sprinkle of cinnamon. Yum!

Serves: 4

Usage Ideas:
Don't just confine these little flavor and vitamin-packed guys to your breakfast plate! Their natural sweetness would make a nice contrast to a spicy pumpkin soup, spicy tomato-based soup, or Cajun grilled grass fed beef (recipes coming soon). Heck, they're pretty addictive and make great snacks as well.

Glycemic Index Note:
The beauty of using a real potato instead of premade sweet potato flour is that you get the skin with all of the vitamins, fiber, and minerals, not to mention the fact that an actual potato is fresh where flours are old and stale from sitting on the grocery shelf.

Don't worry if you don't normally like potato skin- you cannot taste the difference here and it adds additional fiber which lowers the glycemic index of the fruit. Sweet potatoes themselves are lower glycemic index than any other kind of potato, especially white potatoes.

Also, the inclusion of any high quality fats (such as walnuts and flaxseed) also helps to buffer the higher glycemic index of other foods, which is why I include them in so many of my recipes.

This recipe is dairy free and gluten free.

4 comments:

  1. This looks yummy! I adore sweet potatoes. I might try these with cranberries over here (I have a raisin-hater on my hands). Also, what are your thoughts of using almond meal/flour instead of the brown rice flour to make this lower carb and Passover-friendly?

    By the way, are you sure it's safe to microwave saran wrap? I've always heard that it melts toxins into the food, so it's better to wrap your sweet potato with a damp paper towel (of course, it's better to roast them in the toaster oven or even crockpot (that way, they are ready the next day with no work).

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  2. Cranberries would be perfect, especially for fall. I prefer cranberries (they are considered low carb like many other berries, and they are one of the top 20 or so seasonal "superfoods"). Jon, on the other hand, is a raisin lover. I think he'd sneak them in if I wasn't looking.

    Almond, hazelnut, coconut.. you name it- all those low carb flours would be great. They also add a good amount of Vitamin E (for the almond flour at least). Jon prefers the buckwheat and brown rice since his body does better with good carbs (low to medium glycemic index (g.i.)) and not well at all on heavy fats or animal protein. Mine is the complete opposite, of course. I can only have very low g.i. carbs, mostly green veggies, and my body adores ev olive oil, coconut oil, and grass-fed red meat. All of these help with my severe vitamin B deficiency and other celiac-inspired issues.

    As far as the saran wrap, yes it really shouldn't be overdone as a cooking method. It is usually my quick fix and not first resort. If I have to oven on or have room in the Crockpot I prefer to cook them that way. Technically, the saran should not touch the skin- you can create a "tent" around the food with a wide-mouthed Cornyware dish if you are short on time (or just use a covered Cornyware). The toxins you are referring to are called dioxins (sp?) which can come from plastic breaking down. These can also leach in your food if you're not using microwave safe reheatable containers or if your container has be "compromised." Anytime your container is stained (like red from tomato sauce or yellow from a burger or fatty meal, etc), then it is damaged and should be thrown out. The discoloration is from the chemical reaction of the acid and fat in the food with the plastic. This releases small amounts of toxins into your food or water. If your container is old, misshapen or discolored then just new get ones. Thanks for pointing that you, you have such great ideas M.

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  3. Tee-hehe
    I meant Corningware, not Cornyware
    Jeez, I'm a sleepy mess here!

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  4. A friend and I tripled the recipe and cooked it as a casserole - 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. I love all the healthy ingredients. Thanks for the recipe!

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