Anni-cakes

I really didn't know what to call these. It started out as a hash idea, but it's not really a hash. So until I think of something better, Anni-cakes it is. I'm starting my 4th Whole30 on Monday, so I've been browsing pinterest (addicting) for new cooking ideas. This was inspired by the picture of cooking hash browns in a waffle maker; contemplated buying a cheap waffle maker at Target today, then thought what the heck, I'm sure the George Foreman will work just as well. It did, save for one aspect which you will see later. Anyway, this is the process. All ingredients and measurements are quite flexible.

~.75c grated Japanese purple sweet potato (not packed down, a fluffy three quarter cup!)

~.75c grated yam (ditto)

~.75c chopped kale

~.25c chopped and cooked bacon (uncured and nitrite free of course)

2 eggs

~2Tblsp egg white

Grate your sweet potato and/or yam and microwave for about 2 minutes. (I have a pretty weak microwave, I did 2:30) I suppose you don't HAVE to microwave it, but they wont be on the grill long enough to really cook, so it might end up a bit crunch if you don't.

This picture is totally unnecessary, but what is a food blog without pictures.

Chop kale and mix it in with the partially cooked sweet potato.

Chop the bacon into small bite size pieces, removing the majority of the fat while doing so (if you're chopping anyway, you might as well. I'm a huge fan of dietary fat, and firmly believe the low-fat diet is a huge part of what is wrong with Americans, but bacon fat is not ideal). I chopped it first and then cooked it in the microwave (because hey it's 10:00pm and I didn't feel like doing more dishes), but whatever method you prefer works just fine.

Add the cooked bacon to the mixture, along with the eggs and egg whites.

Doesn't that look like Korean hot pot? Yummm, so good. But it's not, so don't eat it yet. Mix it all together and if you feel like it (I did) you can add a dash of olive oil. Heat up your George Foreman or waffle maker, or griddle or skillet, whatever. I made two medium sized cakes the first time, then one slightly larger one afterwards, but however you want to do it. Each batch only took about 2 minutes to cook. This is where the slight disadvantage of the George Foreman comes in as opposed to a waffle maker or something. The grill is slanted (for all the fat to run out with most things you grill), and eggs are runny.

See all that wonderful egg running off the cakes and into the drip tray? I poured it back into the left over batter, and for the next batch propped the grill up so it was mostly level. If you go that route, be careful, the bottom of the grill is hot. I burned my finger. But despite some of the eggs running out, they turned out great!

I might make a few changes next time. I think I would try to use a bit more kale and yam with the same amount of egg, or possibly not add the extra egg white. They were a bit eggier than I was expecting. You could also use spinach instead of kale, ground sausage instead of bacon, add onions, garlic, spices... Really whatever you have on hand that you might put in a scramble. Even without any salt or spices it was quite delicious, I ate the bigger one for a late dinner, and I'm taking the other two with me to work tomorrow for breakfast.

As I was cooking them they reminded me of the crab cakes my mom always makes on Christmas morning. This past Christmas we tried baking the crab cake batter in small muffin tins and it worked out great. Might be a good option for this as well :-)