Scallion Pancakes Without the Scallions

My version of a scallion pancake with sauce

Scallion pancake without the scallions? Yes. You're familiar perhaps with the Korean or Chinese scallion pancakes? They are wonderful, but I'm eating low-carb these days, so I've developed a low-carb and nutritionally dense "pancake" without flour and without scallions.

I use sauteed beet greens with onions and carrots, toasted sesame seeds and eggs. It couldn't be easier. And it couldn't be tastier when your serve this faux pancake with a light drizzle of the dipping sauce.

Beet greens are even more nutritious than their big, beautiful root, which is what we're most familiar with. Besides offering a good dose of vitamins A, K and C, beet greens also provide our bodies with iron! Sesame seeds are possibly the earliest known condiment and filled with so much nutritional goodness that many researchers are making remarkable claims about this tiny seed. And bean sprouts (Mung bean sprouts to be exact) are not just for vegans and vegetarians. These sunny sprouts are still loaded with lots of healthy stuff.

Eat quickly and keep the delicious mumbling sounds low

Enough about the nutrition! How does it taste--this vitamin-packed pancake--and how easy is it to prepare? Here's my "no-recipe recipe."

Dipping Sauce
(Okay, this is a recipe)
2 T sesame oil
1 T oyster sauce
1 T light soy sauce
1 t rice vinegar
1 T water
pinch of black pepper

Whisk to combine and set aside. Feel free to play with the ingredients to suit your taste.

Greens
1 T olive oil
1 bunch beet greens and stalks, washed and cut at one-inch intervals*
1 medium sweet yellow onion (or more or sliced scallions if you wish)
1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 T of the dipping sauce
1 T water

In a hot pan, pour in the oil and then add the onions. Cook until translucent. Add the sliced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Stir in all of the greens and carrots. Continue cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes or until greens have wilted and stalks are tooth-tender. Add dipping sauce and water. Continue cooking until the liquids have reduced by half.

Pancake
2 T olive oil
2 eggs beaten with a pinch of salt and pepper
1 large handful (or more) of bean sprouts
2 T (or more) toasted sesame seeds**

Everything can be done ahead and brought out for assembly tomorrow morning or for a light dinner or lunch.

Heat a small non-stick pan, drop in some of the pre-cooked greens mixture, top with sprouts and all of the sesame seeds. Once heated through (I don't stir.), pour oil around the perimeter of the greens so that it goes below the greens mixture. Pour in the whisked eggs immediately. Shake pan lightly and lift cooked edges of egg mix, tilting the pan to direct the uncooked egg mix underneath. Heat should be high and the entire cooking process will take only a minute.

Once most of the egg is cooked, flip the entire pancake in the pan or flip it onto a large pot lid or plate and slide it back into the pan. Continue cooking for about 30 seconds more and slide onto your breakfast (or lunch or dinner) plate and drizzle lightly with the dipping sauce.

*Use chard or a combination of lighter greens if you cannot find beet greens. I wouldn't recommend collards or curly kale--flavor profile is overpowering for this dish--but give it a go if you're adventurous. Let me know how it goes.
**I use brown/whole sesame seeds. Toast by heating in a non-stick pan over high heat, shaking constantly. Shouldn't take more than one minute. Pour onto your breakfast plate until assembly time.