I am reading about low carb / no carb diets all over the blogosphere and somewhere, something seems to have been lost in translation. In my opinion, a healthy diet will consist of about 55% carbohydrate consumption. These healthy carbohydrate choices can be found in whole grain breads, brown rice, fruit and vegetables, popcorn, nuts, seeds, low fat / non fat milk and yoghurt, dried peas / beans. There is a difference between starchy carbohydrates i.e. cassava, corn, hominy, parsnips, peas, plantain, potatoes, pumpkin, spaghetti, winter squash, succotash, yam and sweet potato which give 80 calories per 1 cup raw serving and add 15g of carbohydrates to your diet, and non starchy carbohydrates. These non starchy carbohydrates include amaranth, Chinese cabbage, artichokes, asparagus, baby corn, bamboo shoots, beans, bean sprouts, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chayote, eggplant, gourds, scallions, collard greens, kale, turnip, hearts of palm, jicama, kohlrabi, leeks, mushrooms, okra, onions, daikon, pea pods, peppers, radishes, rutabaga, spinach, summer squash, zucchini, sugar snap peas and Swiss chard and give 25 calories per 1 cup raw serving and add 5g of carbohydrates. The key to a healthy diet is to have carbohydrates with each meal, aiming for a minimum of 175g per day, and for me personally, I restrict our starchy carbohydrates at night. To kick start your metabolism in the morning do not overload your breakfast with carbohydrates. With this in mind, I made these potato and butternut latkes to have with our lunch one Sunday. The recipe came from a feta booklet published by Fairview Cheese, which is a local farm, close to where I live.
Potato And Butternut Latkes
Ingredients
- 3 potatoes, peeled
- 1 butternut, peeled and pips removed
- 15 mls freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
- 100 g feta, finely crumbled
- 50 g flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 5 mls minced garlic
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- 100 mls canola oil
Method
- Grate each potato at a time, and once grated place into a kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess liquid
- Place the grated potato into a large bowl
- Grate the butternut and place into a kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess liquid
- Add to the potatoes
- Add the parsley, feta, flour, eggs and garlic
- Season generously and mix together until well combined
- Place the oil into a large frying pan and when it is very hot you can start frying the latkes
- Pack a 125ml (1/2) cup measure tightly with the latke mixture
- Flip into the frying pan and cook for 3 minutes
- Turn and cook for another 3 minutes
- Drain on kitchen towel and serve once they are all done
Notes
Nutrition
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
What I blogged:
- one year ago – Mo and Rose Bistro
- two years ago – Pears Poached In Red Wine
- three years ago – Friday’s Food Quiz
I agree with you about carbs Tandy. A super restricted diet just makes you more likely to cheat and regain all weight again. This is a great recipe. Will try it soon and let you know 🙂 xx
Hope you enjoy these Tami 🙂
Couldn’t agree with you more about the carb thing – I love latkes and have had them floating around in my mind for the last few weeks – think I had better make them sometime soon:)
Hope you enjoy them Rachel!
Looking vey tasty and light. Love that color..
ela h.
Thanks Ela 🙂
Very nice idea for potato cakes…love the addition of butternut squash.
Thank you Roger 🙂
I do confess to being a bit of a carb addict 🙁 Love these latkes, they look so pretty too!
Anything in moderation is good for you Tanya!
These look beautiful and colourful. I also wouldn’t want to give up carbs but I do try to have mainly healthy ones.
Healthy anything is good for you 🙂
Hi! These sound lovely. I love anything that’s ‘fritter-y’ like this. Actually, as the veggies in these are grated, they remind me of a Swiss rosti, especially as you’ve added cheese. Beautiful! Would they go soggy then if you kept them for another day?
They do go a bit soggy, but I just pan fried them to heat them up and that crisped them up again at the same time 🙂
I so agree Tandy! There are plenty of healthy carbs out there!
Indeed there are 🙂
Hi Tandy!
I’m so glad you did this post. Sometimes, I’m tempted to skip out on carbs, telling myself all carbs are bad and make you fat. This is simply not true! And my love for butternut squash has no equal =)
What a great, tasty breakfast! Wish I could pop on over for a taste right now. hehe.
I am so glad that you enjoyed this post – carbs are so important for a healthy diet 🙂
Hi Tandy, I agree, everything in moderation. These look wonderful. Love the potato butternut squash combination.
Thank you Cheri 🙂
How confusing is the food pyramid these days, it changed so often I honestly have no clue how much of anything I am to eat. These Potato And Butternut Latkes look pretty delicious, they’d be a nice with some meat and herb salad, a big glass of vino would work a treat too. 🙂 That covers all the food pyramid right?
Happy Friday Tandy. xx
I think that is a great food pyramid Anna 🙂
The internet is wonderful, but then there are so many people saying different things it is hard to know who is right. For me the acceptable range of carbs is 45-65%. This is the range that is associated with reduced risk of chronic disease while providing the essential nutrients. I’ve seen some people that go crazy for low carb. We need at the bare minimum 130g per day to prevent ketosis. Some people look to go into ketosis, but the problem is it decreases the ph of our blood. I believe in balancing both starchy and non starchy carbs, with primary choices coming from fruit, non starchy veggies, whole grains, beans and legumes.
I love your list and information Tandy!
Cindy, this is perfect! I cannot agree more 🙂
These look so nice and crispy! I try and limit starchy carbs but sometimes I get a craving for them! 😛
I always give in to my cravings Lorraine 🙂
Ohhh, these look so good, Tandy. 🙂 I’m a big fan of breakfasts like this. 🙂
These would be perfect for breakfast Krista 🙂
I absolutely agree Tandy, complex carbohydrates are what gives fibre and bulk to keep hunger pains at bay whilst delivering a much lower calorie load than, fats, sugars and refined foods. Love the look of these!! Yum. For me it’s all about calories in Vs calories out 🙂
Perfect way to balance everything Julie 🙂
It’s true that there’s a whole lot of Internet articles about what and how to eat. I think the basic is to eat in moderation. It also varies from one individual to another. Love the colours of your latke! I know it tastes just as good!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
Moderation is the most important aspect to me!
thanks for sharing this info, very often we do not take all that is necessary into consideration when choosing an eating plan.
A lot of people have blind faith rather than doing evidence based research 🙂
I think it’s a very bad idea to cut out entire food groups from your diet. Moderation in everything seems to be out of fashion. Lovely recipes – it reminds me of my Dad (who made Placki)
Glad I could remind you of your dad Sally! And I agree, everything in moderation is key 🙂
The combination of butternut and potatoes sounds great. Your latkes look crisp and delicious.
Thank you Karen 🙂
Love carbs, and I’m slowing turning into a pudding, which seems apt, don’t you think? 🙂 Seriously though, I went low carb high protein years ago and lost heaps of weight, but I was always cross. I’m much happier now, and I’d be happier still if I could have a serve of your latkes! 🙂
I would rather be happy and chubby Celia 🙂
I have a soft spot for latkes and alwyas grow lots of squash so this is a win-win recipe Tandy. I had a conversation the other day about carbbs in diets, and it drives me nuts, like you I recognicse that we need them, and for me it’s all about balance and awareness, not restrictions or outright bans! Thinking about this, I better get off my soap box befor ei really get going 🙂
The soap box stand is most welcome and I am so glad that you will be able to use this recipe Claire 🙂
Mmmm… these look incredible! See, now this is why I also want to do a nutrition course – there’s so many mixed pieces of info out there. Last year I went on a silly diet of eating only carbs for breakfast and then a lentil salad for lunch and chicken/lean meat and veg for supper. Worked really well and I lost weight and had tons more energy. But then I realised I was losing too much weight, so now I just eat what I feel my body needs during the day and it’s working out much better. Gotta try these!
I think eating what your body craves works wonders if you keep to the moderation thing!
These look amazing, Tandy! Love the recipe!
Thank you so much Jess 🙂
These latkes look really pretty, Tandy..and I love the color from the butternut squash..
I think restrictive diets cannot work in the long run..they just increase cravings 🙂
Thank you Pragati, and I so agree 🙂