Munch with Mark

When you eat these zucchini pancakes, you’re going to feel happy. One reason is because they taste so good – crispy around the edges and soft inside. Mm-m-m. The other reason you’ll feel happy is because you made them from scratch. They are made from fresh ingredients – real zucchini, real egg, good vegetable oil, and whole wheat flour. After you eat fresh food, your body feels good. It feels taken-care-of. I don’t eat fast-food at all now because of the difference I feel after I’ve eaten. People think fast food is great because it’s quick and no work is needed to get it inside you. How long does it take you to get to the nearest place for fast food? How long does it take to get back home? When you add it up, it takes at least a half hour – enough time to make a good, healthy meal for yourself. And the cost? How much time do you have to spend on your job to earn the money for that fast-food meal? About twice the time it’ll take to fix this healthy meal I myself love to eat.

My Supper Menu:

            Homemade vegetable soup: 1 cup
            Turkey breast: 3 ounce slice from deli
            Zucchini pancakes with no-fat sour cream (3 3-inch pancakes)
            Sliced medium tomato
            Iced tea sweetened with Splenda

Zucchini Pancakes for 2: from start to finish!
Tools you’ll need: a medium sized bowl, a small bowl and a fork; a grater and a big plate or cutting board; measuring spoons; a skillet; a spatula to turn the pancakes; a mixing spoon and a rubber scraper.

Into the bowl measure:
            ¼ cup all-purpose flour, preferably whole wheat
            ¼ teaspoon baking powder
            ¼ teaspoon baking soda
            A pinch of salt and pepper or seasoned salt
            ½ teaspoon oregano
            1 teaspoon crushed garlic or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
            2 Tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

Wash a medium-sized zucchini and trim off the two ends. Use the coarse side of the grater to grate the zucchini onto a big plate or cutting board.

Crack one egg into the small bowl and beat it 10 times with a fork.

Stir together the dry ingredients in the medium-sized bowl. Then use your mixing spoon to stir in the zucchini and beaten egg. The mixture will seem too dry at first, but the zucchini has a lot of juice in it. Just let the mixture sit for 5 or 10 minutes, and you’ll see the zucchini moisten the other ingredients to make a batter.

Spray the skillet with oil and put it on the stove at medium-high for 3 minutes before you start to cook the pancakes. Spray again for the second batch of pancakes after the first pancakes are cooked.

Now you’re ready to cook the first batch of pancakes. Fill your mixing spoon or a quarter-cup measure with zucchini batter and scrape it off the spoon with a rubber scraper into the hot skillet. Make the pancakes about 3 inches across. Three of them will probably fit together in the skillet. Let them pan-fry there for about 3 minutes and then turn and let them pan-fry for another 2 minutes. They should be a golden color with darker edges on both sides. If you nick one open in the middle and find that it’s still gooey, let them cook a little longer. Then serve.

While they cook, you can put some no-fat sour cream in a small bowl with a spoon so you can top the pancakes with the sour cream at the table.