Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Korean veggie pancakes

I discovered over the holidays that I had been eating too much soy. I knew because I started to develop symptoms of low thyroid, including extreme tiredness and sensitivity to cold, dry and breaking hair, wounds that wouldn't heal and sudden weight gain. Here is a link to other common symptoms of thyroid disease: http://mayoclinic.com/health/hypthyroidism/DS00353/DSECTION=symptoms

I recognized the symptoms because I had experienced them before being diagnosed with hypothyroidism and getting on thyroid replacement medication. There is some disagreement about the effects of soy on the thyroid. However, it seems to be widely believed that those on thyroid medication should restrict soy to no more than a serving every other day. The reason is soy interferes with the absorption of the thyroid replacement medicaiton.

My consumption of soy foods got out of hand in conjunction with being on the anti-candida diet. I think I thought it was okay since there were so many other foods I could not eat. Obviously, I was being guided by emotions rather than logic.

I've come to my senses, and I'm now on the "soy wagon." In fact, it's been more than three weeks since I've eaten anything containing soy. I'm starting to feel better, and I won't be cooking up any recipes with soy for awhile.

Here's one of the latest no-soy recipes I recently cooked up although Korean Veggie Pancakes could be topped with tamari sauce.

Ingredients:

1 cup garbanzo bean flour
salt and black pepper to taste
2 scallions, chopped
1/3 cup shredded cabbage
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup broccoli slaw (I used the pre-packaged version.)
3-4 T. olive or canola oils
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4-1 1/4 cups water

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Gradually add the water and 2 T. oil to make a thick pancake batter. Set aside.

Saute the veggies until slightly tender. Mix the veggies into the pancake batter.

Spray and oil a baking sheet with the remaining oil. Heat in the oven for a few minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Ladle scoops of pancake batter onto the pan leaving adequate space between pancakes. Bake the pancakes in the oven. Check after about 10 minutes. Turn them over if they are ready to be flipped. Bake another 5-10 minutes.

These pancakes are versatile. They can be eaten for any meal or even as a snack. They also store well in the fridge or even in the freezer for later eating.

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