#MeatlessMonday: GF Basil Asparagus Pancakes with Egg

Good afternoon & Happy Meatless Monday! This week, I made my Meatless Monday meal on Sunday, but it'll taste just as good on a Monday - I promise you!

I made these with El Peto Gluten Free Flour, so if you want to make these with white or whole wheat AP flour, reduce the water by at least 1/2 to start with, and see how the consistency is before adding more.

These delightfully green pancakes are a perfect thing to put on the table for a St Patrick's Day supper tonight - but would be tasty any day of the year! Bonus: my (picky eating) kids love pancakes and hate veggies. These pancakes went down without a fight, and I even heard a "Thank you mommy for making delicious pancakes!"

This recipe would really work well with most vegetables that you find on your shelf or in your fridge, as long as they're blanched or steamed. I'm thinking...broccoli, spinach, carrots, beets... Oooh, just think of the colourful pancakes you could make!!

{GF} Asparagus & Basil Pancakes
Adapted from spabettie
Ingredients:

• ~ 2 cups asparagus, roughly chopped & blanched
• 2 eggs (plus 1 more for each person to serve on top of pancakes)
• 2 tsp basil paste or minced basil
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup GF flour (I used El Peto AP) or regular flour
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ~ 2 cups water (start with 1, add more as necessary to get a thinner 'pancake' batter consistency

Method:

1. Heat skillet on med-low heat on stove - I use a cast iron skillet, so it takes a while to heat thoroughly on an electric stove. Grease well.
2. Place asparagus, eggs, & basil in food processor & pulse until asparagus is completely blended.
3. Add salt, flour, & garlic. Process until combined thoroughly.
4. Add water slowly & combine. Stop to check consistency before adding all of the water.
5. Cook pancakes on low heat (to maintain green colour; the hotter your pan, the more brown you'll see on the pancakes) for 3-4 minutes. Flip carefully & cook another 2-3 minutes. Because of the type of GF flour I use, my batter ended up like a thick mousse - I had to spread it around in the pan to get a thin circle. Fyi.
6. Cook egg in greased or non-stick frying pan with about 1/4 cup water added, cover with a lid. Cook for about 2 minutes on high heat for a runny yolk. Place cooked egg on top of a stack of pancakes, top with Parmesan cheese (or, as my son likes to call it, "Farmers On Cheese").

If you're skilled at making Hollandaise sauce, it would make a nice addition to the dish. However, because I served my eggs with the runny yolks, it tasted just fine without it (though my Dear Husband did mention that it would have been super amazing if I did serve it with Hollandaise. But then again, his fave food in the whole world is Eggs Benedict, so he thinks that everything should be served with Hollandaise).