Pancake up your greens with Okonomiyaki

September 26th, 2012

Okonomiyaki Pancake up your greens with Okonomiyaki

I’ve been cooking a lot more lately. Could I (gasp) finally be getting the hang of this motherhood thing? It’s a real skill to cook while a toddler stands on your toes and pushes you away from the counter with all his strength.

But I imagine you have your own challenges, yes? Late nights at work, no time to go grocery shopping, maybe honestly a distaste for cooking in general? I get it. But it’s like clean clothes: if you want to wear them, you have to do laundry. If you want to eat real food, you have to cook. At least a little. But I can help make it easier for you, promise!

One of my tricks is to wash and chop all my veggies at once, and them store them in the refrigerator. It means I only have to get out the cutting board and knife once and I just blow through all those heads of kale and lettuce and whatnot in a few minutes. Usually while my husband does bathtime.

greens Pancake up your greens with Okonomiyaki

Another trick is to redefine what makes a meal. Does it have to be a main course with 2 sides? Hell no. What am I, the hot food bar at Whole Foods? Sometimes a meal is as simple as this, with just 4 ingredients:

Okonomiyaki (Japanese-style cabbage pancakes)
3-4 cups shredded cabbage
3 eggs
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (I haven’t tried this with other flours, I’m sure something gluten free would work)
1/4 tsp. salt
Optional condiments: mayo, mustard, hoisin sauce

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat. Melt a little olive oil or butter, then drop 1/4 cup of cabbage mixture at a time into skillet and press down to form a pancake. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, or until cabbage browns.

I bet there are a million variations on these pancakes – using different greens, adding in seasonings or using different toppings. If you come up with something cool, let me know!

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2 Comments motherhood, quick and easy, recipe, vegetarian

  • http://twitter.com/SproutLifestyle Skylor Powell

    This is the second time I have seen Okonomiyaki in three days. I guess I will have to try making it! I love patties, pancakes, meatless (and meatfull) burgers – anything that involves food compacted together is delicious.

  • Diane

    I love to add shredded zuchini! And I’ll sub in super thin shredded kale or collards for the cabbage. It just depends what greens I have on hand.
    It’s easier for me to make one big cake and cut it into 6 pieces instead of deal with flipping the little ones.
    Thin sliced almonds on top is a great texture/flavor.
    And I like to make a sauce out of a little umeboshi paste, rice wine vinegar, a splash of soy or aminos, and a touch of raw local honey.
    Mmm… so easy, so good!

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