Making potato pancakes in the food processor my mother got me at the Republican yardsale (see dated visual below) while listening to Christmas music = multicultural win.

These pancakes made for a delicious and pretty healthy dinner because they were baked instead of pan fried – few opportunities for them to soak in grease!  Make these for a week of lunches, for a party, to freeze, or in advance of a family brunch – I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Recipe modified slightly from this WW recipe.

Thyme and Scallion Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 3 medium potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and grated/shredded in a food processor
• 2 small onions, chopped into thin slices
• 8 scallions, chopped (just the white and some of the green)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 large eggs
• 1 glove garlic, chopped or sliced (just to add some kick!)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Chop/ process the potatoes and onions – press together either between paper towels or within paper towels in a strainer to remove some of the water.
3. Combine all ingredients (other than spray) in a large bowl and toss – don’t do what I did and mix things first, just do it all together!  And feel free to use your hands – it’s the best way to make sure every piece of potato is coated.
4. Scoop out 1/4 cup (or so) chunks of mixture and place on a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper.   Don’t worry too much about size but make sure all your pancakes are the same thickness so they cook at the same rate.  Spray the exposed sides with a mini-spritz of cooking spray and place in the oven.
5. Cook for 7-10 minutes (until the potatoes become translucent for the most part) and then remove from the oven to flip over and spray the other side lightly before returning to the oven for another 7-10 minutes.  (The original recipe said these would take 30 minutes to cook but mine were definitely less than 20 each).  Bake until well browned – remove and serve immediately or heated up later.

These are so good, I had to pack them up just so I would stop eating them.  Assuming that you make about 30 total, a serving is about 3 or 4, and they have about 1 PointPlus each.  In other words, they’re part of – or all of! – a tasty dinner… and lunch… and breakfast… and life!  These are definitely going to become a staple in our apartment, even after the holidays.

Other tips:

• The Silpat mat did not come through for me this time – skip the mat and go straight for parchment paper to get a nice crisp and better texture overall.
• Weigh your potatoes at the store – I was shocked at how big each potato actually weighed, since I never really cook with them.
• Not into potatoes?  Got something else around?  I bet these would be similarly delicious with zucchini, some sweet potatoes, curry, etc. – just start from the basic recipe and you can’t really go wrong.
• Don’t grate by hand, if possible – but if you’re short on time/equipment, you can supposedly buy pre-shredded frozen potatoes at most grocery stores.

The other secret win of this recipe is in the machine itself – I have a really bad habit of planning whole dishes without knowing for sure if my appliance is going to work at all/fit the quantity of food I’m making.  Case in point: my Republican blender is NOT as successful an appliance as this one and my beaters are not equipped to handle double batches of tahini bread.  But the fact that this food processor even was able to power up, and then worked exactly as I wanted it to, is a major victory.  Thanks, Mom!

What’s your favorite kind of holiday food?