STILL GOOD: Veggie Skillet Cakes with Green Goddess Dressing

These are really good, and a lot healthier than regular potato pancakes with sour cream. The original recipe comes from Whole Foods Market, and you can see below for the ways I messed it up the first time, and then the tweaks I made to the original recipe and cooking method, and the addition of Green Goddess Dressing.

Ingredients:
3/4  teaspoon chili powder
2   (8-ounce) russet potatoes, peeled, shredded and squeezed of excess moisture  (SQUEEZED WITH A PAPER TOWEL. MESSY. USE REGULAR TOWEL.)
4  tablespoons unsalted butter
2   parsnips, shredded
1  large egg, lightly beaten (DID NOT BEAT)
2   carrots, shredded
1  teaspoon fine sea salt (USED WHATEVER SALT I HAD)
1/2  cup finely diced red onion (ONLY HAD YELLOW ONION)
1/8  teaspoon grated nutmeg (WAS OUT OF NUTMEG AND DIDN’T WANT TO BUY MORE FOR LIKE, TWO DASHES OF NUTMEG.)
1/4  cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1  large egg white, lightly beaten (WHAT? NO.)

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, until it begins to sputter and is covered with a layer of foam, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and wait until sputtering stops. Skim off and discard foam; pour clarified butter into a small bowl, leaving behind any milky liquid. (THIS SEEMED LIKE A STUPID EXTRA STEP. JUST MELTED SOME BUTTER.)  

In a large bowl, combine the vegetables and onion. Sprinkle with flour, salt, chili powder and nutmeg, and toss to coat. Stir in egg and egg white.  (I JUST USED TWO EGGS AND MASHED EVERYTHING TOGETHER WITH MY HANDS.)

Brush a large skillet with clarified butter and line just the bottom with parchment paper. (PAIN IN THE ASS.)  Brush the paper and sides of the skillet generously with 1 tablespoon more clarified butter. Heat the skillet over medium heat until hot. Pour in vegetable mixture and press gently. Cook, running a spatula around the edges of the skillet occasionally, until bottom is very brown, about 12 minutes.  (BOTTOM WASN’T GETTING BROWN, GOT IMPATIENT*. TURNED UP HEAT.) *THE START OF ALL PROBLEMS, ALWAYS.

Place a round platter upside down over the top of the skillet. Grasp sides of the skillet and platter with oven mitts and invert pancake onto the platter. (THIS SEEMED LIKE A LOT OF ACROBATICS. BUT I DID IT!) Press back in any stuck bits of pancake. (PLENTY OF STUCK BITS) Wipe the skillet clean, place parchment back in the skillet and brush generously with clarified butter. Slide pancake back into the skillet (browned-side up) and continue to cook over medium heat, loosening edges with a spatula and shaking the pan occasionally to loosen the bottom. (STARTING TO SMELL SOMETHING BURNING, BUT PANCAKE LOOKED OK.) Cook until bottom is browned and crisp and pancake is cooked through, about 12 more minutes. (AT ABOUT 10 MINUTES REALIZED PARCHMENT PAPER WAS ON FIRE. HAD TO REMOVE) Invert the skillet again to remove pancake. Cool 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. (PANCAKE WAS MORE OF A HASH AT THE END, AND A LITTLE CHARRED. BUT STILL GOOD.)

MY EASIER, LESS HEALTHY, PARCHMENT PAPER FREE VERSION:

Ingredients:

1 red onion, sliced
2 parsnips, peeled and grated
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 russet potatoes, peeled and grated, squeezed and drained of excess liquid
2 scallions, diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1 stick butter

Add all ingredients except for butter to a bowl, mix with your hands until eggs and flour are incorporated. Heat a non-stick skillet on medium and add 1/4 stick of butter. Drop mixture by heaping spoonfuls (you can make these as big or as small as you want, depends on how long you want to spend cooking) into skillet, and cook over medium heat until both sides are browned (at least 5 minutes per side, depends on how big you make them). Press frequently with spatula to keep them in pancake form, but if these fall apart you can just cook them into a hash and they are just as tasty. Let skillet cool between batches and add more butter before each batch. Top with Green Goddess Dressing, recipe follows.

Green Goddess Dressing:
2 cups 0% (fat free) greek yogurt
2 scallions
juice of one lime
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
4 gloves garlic
at least 1 cup chopped basil, have two cups available so you can adjust if it is not basil-y enough

Throw everything in a blender and puree.  Add more basil if you want. Puree again. The end. This should last 4-5 days in the fridge.