Extreme Vegan Makeover: Potato and Vegetable Latkes Edition

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah. One of the best things about Chanukah is that the holiday requires you to eat fried food so there is no way to feel any guilt over indulging a bit. After all, the holiday is all about oil.

Still, I use safflower oil which is a healthy oil, filled with antioxidants and Vitamin E and good for cooking with high heat. I make the traditional potato latkes but my favorite are the vegetable latkes filled with zucchini, yellow squash and carrots. Some ground flaxseed helps with the binding because there are no eggs in this recipe (if you feel like you need something for extra binding, you can always add some potato starch, corn starch or arrowroot flour).

This year the kitchen I have doesn't have a food processor or any fancy gadgets so all the peeling and grating got done the old-fashioned way: by hand. Good exercise for the biceps and a great stress-reliever. Plus it must have burned off some of the calories from the oil :)

Ingredients:
Note: I made multiple batches so the list of ingredients gives the ratios appropriate for one batch. For the traditional potato latkes, just omit the other veggies except the onion.

1 Tbs. ground flaxseed mixed with water until thick
1 1/2 lbs. potatoes, peeled, grated, and drained
1 zucchini, grated and drained
1 yellow squash, grated and drained
2 large carrots, grated
1 small yellow onion, grated and drained
1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup flour (I used whole-wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
Safflower oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. This is to put the latkes in to keep warm after frying.

In a bowl mix the potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and onion. Add the parsley, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Add the flaxseed to the bowl. Mix well. If the mixture feels too loose, you can add more flaxseed, more flour or corn/potato starch but if you drained the liquid out the veggies well, it shouldn't be necessary.

Heat a large skillet with safflower oil (in reality, I use 3 skillets at once so I can make all the batches faster). Take a large tablespoon of the mixture and carefully put the dollop into the skillet. Using the bottom of the spoon, flatten the mound. Let fry about 4 minutes or until golden brown. Flip over and cook the other side for about 3 minutes.

Move the golden brown latkes to a platter lined with paper towel to absorb the oil. Then transfer to a pan or oven-safe platter and keep in the oven so the latkes will stay crispy and warm.

Serve with your choice of Vegan sour cream (chop some scallions in for a pretty and tasty spread) and/or with apple sauce (my choice).

Happy Chanukah! Enjoy!