Polish Beet Pancakes

These Beet Pancakes are a twist on the traditional Polish placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes)!

 

Potato pancakes are a staple food in Eastern Europe, and many Middle Eastern countries, such as Israel. I remember helping my mom and grandma make these when I was a little girl; I had the job of mixing :) I love making potato pancakes to this day, they're still one of my favorite foods, but trying to cook healthier foods, I came up with the idea to use beets instead! Beets are also a very common food, that is incorporated into many Polish dishes, so we always have a couple of beets stocked in our fridge.

 My family and I absolutely love these pancakes and they go faster than they fry!

Absolutely delicious :)

Ingredients:

Pancakes-
2 beets, peeled
1/2 diced onion
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp died basil
1 tsp dried parsley
3 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce-
1 cup of Greek yogurt
1/4 cup of chopped dill
1/2 a large cucumber, grated
1 tsp of lemon juice
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 tsp olive oil

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Assembly:

Beet Pancakes

1.) In a medium pot, bring about 5-6 cups of water to a boil. Add peeled beets, and let them boil until the surface of the beets is fork tender; you've cooked the beet too long if the entire beet is fork tender.

2.) Drain the beets and rinse them with cold water, until they are cooled off enough to handle. Grate the beets in a large bowl (make sure to include all the juices!)

3.) Add 1 Tbs of olive oil, and the remained of the ingredients to the grated beets and mix. You might have to add more flour depending on how much juices the beets release; you want to consistency of cake batter.

4.) Heat the rest of oil in a large pan. Once the oil has heated, form the beets into tennis ball size, add them to the pan, and press them down to make a flat pancake. (You can make the pancakes bigger or smaller).

5.) Fry them until golden an crispy on one side, flip and fry them until golden, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towel to drain the excess oil.

 

** The pancakes are not going to be perfectly round, its okay if they come out a little deformed, mine always do!

Cucumber Sauce

1.) In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Mix together and top beet pancakes!

 

Serve immediately! Best when hot!

 

 

** Everyone loves how bright red these turn out! Also, the red pancakes with the sauce on top resembles the Polish flag!! :)

 

ENJOY

<3 Babushka