Green Buckwheat Crepes

So where do you get your inspiration for dinner?

Finn with "silverbeet ears" 

For me tonight it was partly related to Summer’s day at school and partly what was in the veggie patch.  At school it was Pancake Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday, the marking of the start of lent leading up to Easter).  So I decided to follow suit and went with the theme for dinner along with a bit of a religious education for the kids.

Of course I like to cook outside the square a little, so it was a savoury pancake, and not just any pancake but a green buckwheat crepe.  The veggie patch is overflowing with silverbeet but there's also a few tomatoes, zucchini and chillies too.  These were thrown into my stock standard yet rather flexible Mexican bean and veggie filling.  A creamy mushroom and spinach sauce would be quite delicious too.  But the fun was in the pancake.

I combined buckwheat with regular flour just because I like to vary the grains we eat and I love the earthy flavour buckwheat gives.  You could use any other grain such as oats or spelt which leads to my favourite part of owning a Thermomix.  The fact that you can make your own fresh flour from any grain you want.

The hero of the pancake was the green. We love eating green in this Veggie house.  I think we all crave it at times. I used silverbeet because that’s what’s in the veggie patch but spinach or kale would work just as well.  These crepes are also great as finger food for little ones or as a wrap for school lunch the next day.  Yum!

Green Buckwheat Crepes

100g buckwheat grouts (ideally soaked overnight) or buckwheat flour
140g plain flour
3 free range eggs
Large handful (around 50g)of greens (silverbeet, spinach or kale)
250g milk (plus a little extra if required)
50g greek yoghurt
Pinch salt
1 tbls coconut oil

• Place buckwheat in Thermomix bowl and grind for 1 minute in speed 9
• Add all other ingredients and mix for 20 seconds on speed 6 or until well combined
• The mixture should be reasonably runny for a crepe so add a little milk if required
• Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes while you prepare your filling
• Heat a little coconut oil in frypan over a moderate heat
• Pour about half a cup of mixture into pan and quickly spread to thinly cover
• Cook for a few minutes on each side or until golden but still soft enough to roll
• Fill with your favourite filling and plenty of cheese, roll them up and enjoy!

Mexican Inspired Vegetarian Pancakes

When the kids say “yum” after the first mouthful of dinner you’re a happy mum.  Especially if the recipe is easy, nutritious and most of all voted delicious by the whole family.  Today was a rainy day and we stayed indoors for most of it but had plenty of fun.  We made a tent over the kitchen table and created our own imaginarium!  There was even a rare moment where I found my 16 month old Finn sitting reading a book.  A rare moment I say as he’s a typical little boy who is always on the go, and he really doesn’t stop all day so it was quite a pleasant surprise.  So cute...

This gave me time to whip up some dinner.  Summer had asked for pancakes for dinner (I think she meant the breakfast type).  However she loves Mexican and wraps so she was pleasantly surprised that this was a combination of all of the above.

Red Kidney Beans



I made a savoury version of Tenina’s buckwheat crepes which were delightfully light.  I just added a splash more milk than the recipe.  And while you could any Mexican or other flavoured filling, I found the flavours in this mix were just right. 

 

Another happy family!

Mexican Style Vegetarian Pancakes

Pancakes

¼ cup buckwheat groats

2 eggs

1 cup milk (plus a little extra if too thick when cooking)

1/4 cup plain yoghurt

1 cup plain flour

• Place buckwheat into Thermomix bowl and mill for 1 minute on speed 9
• Add remaining ingredients and blend for 1 minute on speed 6
• Set batter aside and allow to rest while you prepare filling

Mexican Inspired Vegetarian Pancake filling

50g tasty cheese
1 onion
1 clove garlic
Olive oil
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cinnamon
1 celery stick
1 carrot
1 zucchini
Approx 100g mushrooms
Approx 80g silverbeet
150g vegetarian mince such as Quorn
1 tin tomatos
1 tin kidney beans drained

• Place cheese in Thermomix bowl and grate for 5 seconds on speed 8 then set aside
• Place onion and garlic in bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 6 then scrape down
• Add a splash of olive oil and spices and sauté for 2 minutes on speed 1 at 100°
• Add silverbeet and chop for 3 seconds on speed 6
• Add celery, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms and chop for an extra 3 seconds on speed 6
• Add tomatos, kidney beans and mince and cook for 15 minutes on speed 1 Reverse at 100°
   
• While mixture is cooking preheat a large frying pan
   
• Add a little butter just before pouring mixture in, just enough to cover when swirled to edges (add a little extra milk if mixture is not thin enough)
   
• Cook for 1 minute until golden before flipping and cooking for another minute
   
• To serve, scoop mixture onto a pancake, top with grated cheese, roll up and top with your favourite guacamole (we love tomatos, avocado, a squeeze of lime juice and a little pepper!)