Vegan & Glutten Free Squash Pancakes, with Sweet and Nutty Yogurt Sauce

So to compliment my shot at the challenge recipe, squash pancakes (Bittman 355), I made the simplest yogurt sauce (Bittman 24) with the sweet and nutty variation.

The Challenge Recipe, Zucchini Pancakes

With this recipe, I opted to use squash instead of zucchini, since I felt like buying squash instead of buying zucchini.

To substitute the eggs in the recipe, I bought ground flax seed and mixed at a 1:3 ratio with water, using just a tablespoon.

To substitute the flour, I purchased potato starch, and used the same amount (to begin with).

I started out by grating the zucchini and found that it was quite moist once I had grated it. After mixing in the additional ingredients, It was still a somewhat gel-like ocnsistency. Definitely not something I would associate with forming in to patties like the recipe suggested. So I added more potato starch, and it may have helped a tad, but not an overly significant amount.

Since the kitchen I use has commercial cooking equipment, I decided to make these bad boys on the grill top as opposed to a pan. Since I coouldn't really get the batter in to patties, there was no dredging in floor to be done. I instead just scooped the batter on to the grill top, like making regular pancakes. They cooked about 10ish minutes on the first side, with probably 8 or so on the other side, and actually ended up with a nice golden crust on the outside.

My Weekly Recipe, the Nutty Sweet Yogurt Sauce

This recipe was really easy, which was great because I had an incredibly busy weekend and just didn't have the time to commit to a more complex recipe or dish.

The normal yogurt recipe is really just the yogurt, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to flavor. For a little bit more flavor, I added in chopped walnuts, honey, and a little bit of lemon juice.

Once mixed together, I figured it would be worth trying on the Squash Pancakes!


The Results!

I'll first explain the sensations separately. The zucchini cakes were crisp on the outside and had a firm but ocnsistent mush on the inside. Sort of what I expected? Nonetheless, the onion and grated Parmesan definitely camp through.

The yogurt itself still retained some of the sour-ish yogurt flavor, but with a nice blend of the sweetness, and the nuts added an more interesting texture to it.

Combined, they actually tasted decent. I offered some to one of my vegetarian roommates, and I was pleasantly surprised that he really enjoyed them. Although its not something I would normally make, it is definitely something I wouldn't be afraid to make again.