By Shannon Brennan-Cressey
When I first enrolled at Integrative Nutrition, I thought the only healthy way to eat was low fat, low carb, and low calorie. I ate the same things over and over again and developed many food intolerances by overdoing it, yet I was never satisfied. It’s no wonder, looking back at my diet now – I realize how much it was lacking!
Going through the IIN training helped me clean up my diet, understand the nutritional significance of my food, and fall in love with cooking. I learned how to modify any recipe to my specific dietary needs and started enjoying my food. That’s right – I became a total foodie!
Through the years, my ability to add in healthy elements to a dish has come in handy many times, especially when dealing with my husband’s Polish family. His mother is an amazing cook, but her traditional food can be a bit heavy for my taste (think meat, meat, and more meat). The way she shows love is through her food, so it was important I figure out how to make it work.
After many conversations, iceberg lettuce was replaced with romaine, stuffed cabbage was made with brown rice instead of white, meat became grass fed and organic, sugary salad dressing was swapped out for oil and vinegar; you get the picture! This recipe is my favorite. I’m sharing a real family secret with you here! It’s gluten free, contains healthy fats, and is high in protein and fiber. I swapped out white flour with garbanzo bean flour, vegetable oil with olive oil, and regular eggs with organic. The results: AH-MAZING!
Zucchini Pancakes
Yields 10 pancakes
Total cook time: 5-6 minutes
Total prep time: 15 minutes
Please note: These measurements are approximate. My mother-in-law doesn’t measure, but cooks to taste. I really encourage you to develop your palate so that over time you can do this as well!
Ingredients:
3 zucchini
Approximately 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 egg
Approximately 1/4 cup olive oil
Salt to taste
Directions:
- Wash zucchini and pat dry
- Shred zucchini into a bowl using a grater
- Add in ¼ cup garbanzo bean flour
- Add 1 egg and mix
- Add in salt and mix. This will pull the liquid from the zucchini so you may need to add more garbanzo bean flour. The texture of the mixture should be dense, not watery
- Heat olive oil in a pan to high heat; 8 out of 10 on the dial
- You will need approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil so the pancakes don’t burn
- Make sure olive oil is very hot before adding batter
- Spoon the batter into the pan spreading to about 3-4 inches wide
- Cook for 2 minutes on each side
- Flip to each side one more time for approximately 30 seconds per side
- When making multiple batches, be mindful of watching your cooking time as it will decrease as the pan continues to heat
- Place pancakes onto a plate covered with paper towel to absorb excess oil as they cool down.
Serve and enjoy!
Shannon Brennan-Cressey is a Health Coach, chef, and yoga instructor. She shares stories about food, health, relationships, and living a life you love on her blog Whole Foodie Booty. She is a 2007 graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
What milk do you add? None in the list of ingredients.
Hi Margaret! This recipe doesn’t use any milk. Just zucchini, egg, olive oil, and garbanzo bean flour. Hope this helps!
Can the egg be substituted? Thanks
Hi Leticia, you could probably try flax egg (1 Tablespoon finely ground flax seeds plus 3 Tablespoons water replaces one egg – whisk together and let it sit until it hits egg white like texture) as a substitution since the egg is primarily used to help bind the zucchini and garbanzo bean flour together. However, it may affect the flavor of your final product. If you try it out let us know! We’d love to hear how it works for you.
I have made a similar recipe with half zucchini and half carrot. Do you think this would work here? Tx for sharing.
Hi Catherine, Yes! I think going half and half with zucchini and carrot would work here! Try it out and let us know what you think!