Black Bean & Potato Pancakes

I made some pretty delicious Black Bean & Potato Pancakes a couple of weeks ago for a Friday supper. The Meatless Meals sharing that the wonderful ladies of Faith and Family Live are hosting today prompted me to write up how I did them.

I started with this super-simple recipe for German Potato Pancakes from allrecipes.com (cutting the number of potatoes down to 3, because I was making them for just the two of us. This makes a TON). I used the shredding disk on my food processor to shred the potatoes, but the biggest side of a box grater would work, too (and be better for your arm muscles). Whichever way you do it, you will want to drain the potatoes very well, as their moisture can make the pancakes too loose.

The recipe I linked, as written, would end up very, very bland. Don't be afraid to use a slightly heavy hand when seasoning these, since the potatoes tend to soak up flavor. In addition to salt and pepper (plenty of each--quite a bit more than called for in the recipe), I added a generous amount of garlic powder, basil, and oregano. You can easily alter the seasoning to your tastes. I pulsed two or three cups of previously prepared black beans gently in the food processor (since I already had it out. Smashing them up with a potato masher would have worked, too), then mixed that in with the shredded potatoes and diced onions (probably closer to 2/3 of a cup, in a 1/4 inch or so dice) and poured in the egg mixture (I just used one egg, since I'd halved the potatoes. I used the full amount of flour and baking powder, though).

Probably because of the beans (perhaps also because I didn't drain the potatoes quite well enough), I found that the pancakes actually did better if I did them without the oil called for in the linked recipe. Just a small drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking was plenty for me (and healthier, too). This made a ton for just the two of us, but the leftovers kept well. I actually had leftover "batter" that I wrapped up and then cooked later that kept for a week or so, and the ones that I fried the first night and reheated later were still good on the second day.