SPINACH OATMEAL PANCAKES

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On a usual busy morning, while I’m making my not-so-frequent spinach juice, my sister makes it clear that she hates the smell of raw blended spinach. ”Smells like a cow’s dung” she says; then she proceeds to ask for a couple of sips, twists her tongue and proceeds to sip another, then another. And I think the first time I made spinach pancakes, I received the same reaction.

I assume for most people, spinach in a recipe makes them gag in imagination but there is that ”what if” Well you know what they say; ”you will never know unless you try”.

Flavoured and sweetened with pure vanilla extract, honey and bananas; with more than 30 per cent of oatmeal, the spinach is simply an aftertaste and that is if you are a connoisseur of food tasting.

Spinach oatmeal pancake is a winning breakfast serving for healthy eating but also equally delicious. Similar to my oatmeal banana pancakes, this is a blender-prepped pancake recipe which makes everything so easy and fast.

For pancake garnishing, I usually go for butter, a mix of berries, honey or maple, and sometimes whipped cheese cream. However, I was feeling extra this day and I had lots of strawberries in the fridge and thus made my healthy homemade strawberry jam.

Making spinach Oatmeal pancakes for the first time? Here is what to expect

• Taste and texture. Spinach oatmeal pancakes are delicious! they taste like banana-flavoured oatmeal pancakes with a slight hint of spinach after-taste with a fluffy texture since they are blender-prepped.

• Colour. Spinach oatmeal pancakes cook slightly browned on the top but are super green on the inside. The browning is due to the oatmeal in the pancake batter, which cooks to brown.

• Nutritional value. Spinach oatmeal pancakes are gluten-free with an adequate supply of fibre due to the oatmeal and spinach combination. It is also balanced with proteins from eggs and milk, and vitamins.

Ingredients you will need for the pancakes

• Rolled oats. Common in most breakfast tables; rolled oats are best for digestion plus it makes this pancake gluten-free (compared to regular all-purpose flour) which makes the pancakes light and fluffy.

• Spinach. Baby spinach is the best and I prefer it since they have no bulk up of chemicals compared to whole mature spinach leaves.

• Bananas. Very ripe bananas for maximum sweetness and flavour.

• Milk. Plant-based milk, whole milk, nut milk or regular milk.

• Eggs. For structure.

• Flavouring. I used pure vanilla extract for this recipe but feel free to add more flavours such as cinnamon which pairs so well with oatmeal.

• Sweetener. Just a bit of honey to up the sweetness and counteract the bitter element brought in by the spinach. You can substitute with regular sugar, date syrup or maple syrup.

• Baking powder. For fluffy pancakes.

Homemade strawberry sauce

The strawberry sauce uses only two ingredients; honey for sweetening and strawberries. All you need to do is mix these two ingredients in a small pot and cook until the strawberries are completely mashed; that’s it! For maximum strawberry flavour, I recommend adding a bit of fresh orange juice or lemon juice to the strawberry sauce. To make it even more nutritious, stir a teaspoon of chia seeds.

Other topping suggestions

1. Whipped cream with fruits
2. Butter with honey or maple syrup
3. Crushed nuts and drizzle of melted dark chocolate.
4. Blueberry jam

Recipe tips

Let the pancake batter sit for at least 10 minutes before cooking. The oatmeal mixture will seep in the fluids from the pancake batter and expand; leading to fluffy pancakes.

Use baby spinach. I prefer using baby spinach since it is safer with fewer agricultural chemicals than fully grown spinach. Baby spinach is also easy to blend with the other ingredients.

Cook pancakes on medium-low heat and always make sure the griddle pan is not too hot to avoid the risk of burning.

For long-term storage cover completely cooled pancakes with aluminium foil and into a zip lock bag; then freeze them for up to one month.

Equipment I recommend

1. A non-stick pan or griddle
2. Pancake spatula flipper
3. Blender