I made Multigrain Pancakes for breakfast, this morning. And they were awesome. But, what is it about the month of January that makes me want to take another look at pancakes? I mean, last January I gave you the Best Buckwheat Pancakes Ever. Now, this?

I think, like most of you, I’m suffering from “Holiday Hangover” – looking back over all the decadent fat and sugar-laden foods we’d consumed over the last couple of months, and saying to myself, “Self, time to get yourself in check.” Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll pass. But in the meantime, I want pancakes. Light, fluffy, tasty pancakes that have something going for them in the nutrition department. Choices. It’s all about choices, people.

Multigrain Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal, ground
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 packet Truvía (or 2 tsp. sugar)
2 Tbs. Smart Balance Light Spread (or butter or margarine)
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk (or dairy milk of your choice)
1 large egg

Preparation:

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients (flour through sweetener).

Melt the Smart Balance (or butter) and allow to cool a bit. Measure the soy milk into a 2-cup glass measuring cup, add the egg and whisk together. Add the melted Smart Balance or butter and whisk thoroughly.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until completely combined.

Spray a large frying pan or griddle with cooking spray and heat it until a few drops of water bounce around before evaporating. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. Turn when the tops develop bubbles and the edges look dry. Cook the second side for about 3 – 4 more minutes, or until brown.

Serve with additional Smart Balance and/or whatever you like. Personally, I think they make a dandy platform for one of my Freakin’ Flamingo Jams. Oh, come on – you would have been disappointed if I hadn’t slipped a plug in there, somewhere! The jam in this photo is a new one I’m working on, Strawberry Mojito. Almost ready for prime time.

Makes about 16, roughly 4-inch pancakes.

Notes:

One more time: I receive no consideration for using Smart Balance Light, or any other brand. I have it in my fridge because we like it and for its stated healthy composition. If you want to use something else, feel free

And, of course, this recipe is easily multiplied to feed a crowd. You can freeze any leftover pancakes with pieces of waxed paper or parchment paper slipped between each one, in a freezer bag, and reheat them from frozen (don’t thaw them) in your oven or toaster oven, whenever you want them!

Mike loved these so much, he instantly began thinking of other uses for them, besides breakfast. Slathered with cold jam, topped with whipped cream and a strawberry, it’s dessert. Leave out the sweetener, make the batter a bit thinner, and cook them at silver dollar size, and you have a savory pancake that’s a perfect base for an appetizer. And then he begged me not to post the recipe!

I love my husband.

This post is part of Share Our Holiday Table, a seven-day, online progressive dinner series that we hope will encourage you to support and donate to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign during this critical holiday period. I’m honored to be one of more than 50 bloggers who are participating. If you’ve been following along, the dinner has been unfolding for the last week across 7 courses and in 4 tracks (Gourmet, Family-Friendly, Gluten Free and Vegetarian).

Today’s featured course is the Side Dish and I’m offering you one of my favorite Vegetarian dishes, Kasha Varnishkes. My mom used to make this as a side to pot roast and turkey, and I’ve been cooking it through my adult life, frequently as a main course.

You see, kasha is actually roasted buckwheat kernels and is one of the healthiest grain products out there. A complete protein on its own, high in fiber, yada yada yada, kasha can be used as a main dish, side dish, stuffing, and even as a delicious hot breakfast cereal. It’s also gluten-free, so if that’s an issue for you or someone you love, you can also prepare the following recipe without the pasta as a Kasha Pilaf.

This recipe will feed a crowd on your holiday table or buffet, and makes an attractive change – or addition to – the usual potato fare. If you have less than a crowd, you can easily make half the quantity.

Kasha Pilaf Varnishkes
(serves 8-10 as a side dish, 4-6 as a main course)

Ingredients:

1 14 – 16 oz package Farfalle (Bowtie) pasta

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup carrots, split & sliced thin
1/2 cup celery, sliced thin
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced thin
1-1/2 cups medium or coarse Kasha
1 large egg or egg white (optional – see Preparation)
2 Tbs canola oil or butter
3 cups vegetable broth (divided)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

If not using the egg, skip to the next step. If using the egg or egg white: Beat the egg or egg white until well-blended. Add the kasha and combine with a fork until the grains are coated well.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the kasha and stir while toasting, till the grains are mostly separate and you smell a pleasant, toasty aroma.

Add the vegetables and 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth, stir well, and saute until the vegetables soften slightly, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the remaining broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan tightly, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the kasha is soft. Uncover, and cook an additional 3 – 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the kasha to dry out a bit.

Check the seasoning, and add the farfalle (bow-tie) pasta, tossing together until thoroughly combined. Serve hot.

Notes:

You can find kasha in your regular grocery store in either the pasta/rice aisle or the ethnic foods, kosher products section. I’ve only ever seen Wolff’s brand, but feel free to use any other you may spot. It comes in Fine, Medium, or Coarse granulations. Only use the medium or coarse granulation for this recipe. The fine granulation is mostly for cereal and will turn out mushy.

A variety of liquids can be used to prepare this, including beef or chicken stock (although using these would render this no longer vegetarian), or even water.

The word “varnishkes” refers to the bow-tie pasta. No, I don’t know what it means.

As noted earlier, if you omit the pasta, this Kasha Pilaf is an excellent gluten-free choice, too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this special holiday post on behalf of Share Our Strength, and that you’ll visit the other participating blogs to see what they’re serving up for Share Our Holiday Table.

In fact, I hope you’ve enjoyed it enough to click on one of these links and make a donation to Share Our Strength and sign the No Kid Hungry Pledge. Approximately 17 million children right here in the United States go hungry because of lack of access to programs that can change that, and lack of access to healthy foods. A hungry child can’t learn.

Even though my husband and I have no kids, we recognize that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. And can yank our Social Security in a heartbeat.

Will you join us in the No Kid Hungry Campaign?

Today’s side dishes in each track are brought to you by:

Gourmet

• The Urban Baker
• Heather Christo
• We Like to Cook, and Eat
• Plum Pie

Family Friendly

• What’s Cooking
• Dine and Dish
• The Evolving Cook

Vegetarian

• My Kitchen Addiction
• Taste as You Go
• Flamingo Musings (that’s me!)

Gluten Free

• The Whole Gang
• Jenn Cuisine– A mostly gluten free cooking blog.
• Creative Cooking Gluten Free

Oh, my. I have just discovered The Buckwheat Pancake. No, no! Not just buckwheat pancakes – THE best buckwheat pancake I’ve ever had! I made these for Sunday breakfast, and had to share them with you.

Sure, they’re healthy and low fat, but they’re also so delicious and easy to make, you won’t care! Would I lie to you?

Please don’t go by this photo! I don’t know what happened here, but they really do look golden brown & delicious in real life!

Buckwheat Apple Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk (can use low-fat, if available)
1 large egg (or equivalent of egg-substitute like Egg Beaters)
1/2 Tbs. wildflower honey
1/2 Tbs. dark honey
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbs. Smart Balance Light (or other) margarine, melted
1 medium apple (your favorite) diced or chopped small

Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation:

In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. In another, smaller bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients, except the apple. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and mix until thoroughly combined. When the batter is smooth, fold in the chopped apple. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Spray a large frying pan or griddle with cooking spray and heat it until a few drops of water bounce around before evaporating. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Turn when the tops develop bubbles and the edges look dry. Cook the second side for about 3 – 4 more minutes, or until brown.

Serve with additional Smart Balance and honey. Makes about 8, roughly 5-inch pancakes

Notes:

One more time: I receive no consideration for using Smart Balance Light, or any other brand. I have it in my fridge because we like it and for its stated healthy composition. If you want to use something else, feel free.

I prefer to use local honeys. If there’s a farmer’s market in your area, odds are you’ll find someone selling local honey. For this recipe, I used a local wildflower honey and an avocado honey, which is a very dark, rich honey that has almost a bite to it at the finish. If you can find buckwheat honey, that would be awesome! If you can’t find a dark honey, you can substitute molasses.

If you’d like, you can substitute agave nectar for the honey – use the light agave nectar for the wildflower honey, and use the dark, raw agave instead of the dark honey. *Bonus* – Although there’s very little honey in this recipe, substituting the agave nectars for the honeys makes these pancakes an excellent choice for Type II diabetics.

No, you don’t have to use a “cooking” apple. I used a Golden Delicious in mine – you can use whatever you have.

I used an electric griddle set at 325º F.

And, of course, this recipe is easily doubled to feed a crowd. You can freeze any leftover pancakes with pieces of waxed paper or parchment paper slipped between each one, in a freezer bag, and reheat them from frozen (don’t thaw them) in your oven or toaster oven, whenever you want them!

You have got to try this the next time you have a craving for pancakes – and they won’t wreck your diet!