Savory Refrigerator Pancakes

What the heck is that you say?  A savory pancake is one make with whole grains (GF version a little later in the post) without vanilla, cinnamon or sugar in the actual pancake which you then top with sauteed or fresh vegetables and sauces or cheeses or even pumpkin sauce that was in the freezer 😉  Admittedly, the pumpkin sauce was in the freezer because it was meant to be an alternative masc & cheese sauce, but nobody liked it that way.  I kept thinking there would be some other use for it.  But you don’t have to use pumpkin sauce!  You can use frozen macaroni and cheese sauce, or salsa, or a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Really any leftovers that would be good with bread would be good on a pancake…. and sauce makes everything nice.

Just another way to throw together a healthy meal using whatever bits of this and that you happen to have in the fridge.  Little Sis addressed this idea a year ago if you want to see her savory dinnertime pancakes and want a wheat recipe for savory pancakes.

Here’s what I did.

Mr. Bigg Sis is gluten free and I am always looking for bread-u-lar bases which are whole grain but gluten free.   I came across this recipe for an Uttapam at Vegan Richa – a great source for plant based recipes.

Oat Uttapam:  (crepe-type / pancake thang)

Grind 1 cup of Oats with a 1 Teaspoon fenugreek seeds into a fine flour.  (I did not have fenugreek seeds but had ground and used about 3/4 tsp.)

Mix with 1 cup rice flour (I used brown).

Whisk in about a cup of water to make a flowy batter.

Let the batter ferment overnight or 6 hours. (I did this and did not notice any change in the batter – not sure it’s necessary)

Add salt, and water if needed, to get a thin pancake batter consistency.  (You want thin or your pancakes will be difficult to cook all the way through)

Rub minimal oil into heated pan (carefully!!!)  Little Sis’ tips for perfect pancake preparation here.

Pour batter into pan, wait for bubbles and flip.

mine were indeed a little thick – but you get the bubbles idea from this picture

They will not be as light and fluffy as gluten-y pancakes, but you could certainly do this with any pancakes.  In fact, you could make a large batch of pancakes for breakfast one day, freeze some and use them for dinner a few days later.  Really the topping determines the pancake’s personality 🙂  Here are some ideas for alternate sweet toppings for pancakes.

Back to savory:

They are looking kind of like pancakes, aren’t they?  🙂

I had some leeks in the fridge – sauteed them up.

And the aforementioned pumpkin pasta sauce turns out to be very nice indeed with sauteed leeks on a pancake!  The recipe for savory pumpkin sauce is from Oh She Glows and is here

I put those 2 things on the table along with some fire roasted diced tomatoes (which have a lovely flavor, no additions necessary and we tried a little of this.  I could have also cut up some peppers or cucumbers or shredded some romaine to sprinkle on top but I ran out of time.  Mr. Bigg Sis and I especially liked the pumpkin version:

I also put out some leftover cashew cream which I’ve mentioned before comes from An Unrefined Vegan and is part of a particularly awesome chickpea stew recipe.  It was great with both versions.  I also use the cashew cream to make delicious mashed potatoes.  Predicatably, my son went for the tomatoes alone.  Thank Goodness for tomatoes!

  While it is not always easy to plan a meal, cooking extra when you do cook not only provides cheaper healthier school and work lunches – it often means you have the makings for a cheaper, healthier dinner at home without a lot of fuss.

This post was shared at Wildcrafting Wednesday.