Golden Beets with Cranberry Latkes

By: Chana Banayan

Yield: 8 medium latkes

Prep: 10-20 minutes

     

Ingredients:

2 cups packed with golden shredded beets

¾ cup of a mixture of red and yellow onions

⅛ cup of chopped fresh cranberries

3 egg whites, slightly whipped

2 tsp. whole wheat flour

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Form 8 pancake-like shapes from the batter. Place them on parchment paper. Lightly spray oil over the latkes
  3. Bake until both sides are golden brown.

Note:

When Jessica Pearl approached me to send over Chanukah recipes for the winter newsletter, I felt compelled to revise my old latke recipe. It was exciting to develop a brand-new recipe that dietitians may approve as a healthier choice than the traditional potato latke. I would love to hear your responses as you try these recipes. One consideration in choosing the main vegetable was to exceed potatoes nutritional values in some of the macro and micronutrients. The winners were: Celery knob and yellow beets.

In this recipe, I swapped sweet potatoes for golden beets. Beets have half the calories and carbohydrates. They also have higher B9 (folate), iron and manganese contents levels, and double the vitamin C. Additionally, beets are higher in total omega 3 and Omega 6, even though the ratios in both vegetables are similar. Although there is a sufficient amount of antioxidant in this recipe, I still added some fresh cranberries to the recipe in order to balance out the sweetness. The golden beets recipe is more delicate to handle, since it has slightly higher water content than sweet potatoes. Because of this issue, I would not suggest storing for a later use. You may want to add more flour than suggested, if you feel that the mixture is becoming too liquid. Beet benefits are known to reducing inflammation, supporting the heart, and protecting the digestive, brain, and eye health.

Chanukah is both an oil and dairy related holiday. Historically, the royal Hasmonean family overpowered and was victorious over the Greeks. The Jews searched and found only a single cruse of pure olive oil, just enough to light the menorah for a single day. One of the many miracles we are celebrating is that they lit the menorah with this oil for eight days; hence many celebrate today lighting menorahs with olive oil and eating “oily foods”. Therefore, traditionally, we fry Chanukah latkes. Both discussed recipes have been tested fried and baked. One could skip the oil and still have a nutritional side dish, however, many of us were raised to long for that specific taste that frying has imbued in our childhood memories. In this culinary experiment, I compared the latkes in baking with frying. For baking, I suggest lightly spraying the top of the latkes beforehand. This was sufficient to yield a good consistency, and a golden brownish color. I found that the beets latke looked better when they were baked instead of fried. For frying, I suggest using no more than one spoon of oil for every two latkes. Note that the latkes should not be deep-frying in a lot of oil, like traditional recipes. I prefer using avocado oil. Some like using canola oil, but have in mind that it should be expeller-pressed or cold pressed oil that’s also organic or non-GMO. Pure olive oil, a blend of virgin and refined oils, is also adequate for pan frying because it has a higher smoke point than other olive oils.

     

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