A Vegan Version of Ellie Krieger's Velvety Artichoke Soup and Souper Sundays is Back with a Linkup!

It's been a breezy and busy week with work projects, a wind storm that peeled the top layer my roof back Tuesday night (only some external damage thankfully), and house guests that arrived the following day--so although I made this soup earlier in the week, the is the first chance I have had to post it. We are focused on soups, curries, stews, and other meals-in-bowls this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs so I made a vegan and lower-sodium version of Ellie Krieger's Velvety Artichoke Soup.

I made changes to Ellie's recipe (noted in red below)--mainly cutting out the dairy (milk and cheese) for my current eating goals and using diluted low sodium veggie broth instead of water and other measures for reducing the salt/sodium. As written, this soup clocks in at 830 mg of sodium for a 2-cup serving--which if you were to compare to a canned soup (which might have 800 mg or more for a 1/2 cup serving) it isn't bad, but it's pretty high for one dish/one meal (equaling about 36% of the recommended regular guidelines of 2,300 mg of sodium a day and 55% for anyone on a reduced-sodium diet.)  

To keep the flavor while reducing the salt, I added an extra clove of garlic, lemon juice, and replaced the cheese with nutritional yeast. Replacing the dairy which has a lot of natural sodium with non-dairy alternatives also helps, as does diluting the broth--in my opinion commercial veggie stock is usually too heavy anyway, so I habitually dilute it with water. With those changes, I reduced the sodium by more than half and got it down to a very respectable 364 mg per 2-cup serving. (If you are wondering how I figure that, I use an app where I can input a recipe--even scanning the bar codes of prepared items that will show the nutritional data.) Although I am sure that my tastes have shifted to not need as much salt over the years, I think this soup still has plenty of flavor and I don't miss the extra sodium at all. This is in no way a knock to Ellie, she does a great job with her recipes and the American palate is trained to want salt, I just come from a family history of heart disease and I am ultra vigilant about controlling sodium where I have control--in the food I make at home. (Steps down from sodium soapbox now...) ;-)

 
Velvety Artichoke Soup
Adapted from EllieKrieger.com
(Serves 4)

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I used low sodium vegetable broth, diluted w/ water)
3 Tbsp olive oil (I reduced to 2 Tbsp)
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic (I used 3 cloves)
1 medium white potato (about 5 oz)
1/4 cup dry sherry or dry white wine
two (9-oz) packages frozen artichoke hearts
3/4 tsp salt, plus more to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 oz Manchego or Parmesan cheese  (I used 2 Tbsp used nutritional yeast)
1 cup 2% milk (I used lite coconut milk)

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium (3-quart) covered saucepan over high heat. While the broth is heating, heat the oil in a large (4-quart) saucepan over medium-high heat. 

Meanwhile, chop the onion. Add the onion to the saucepan and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. While the onion is cooking, mince the garlic and peel and dice the potato into 1/2-inch dice. Add the garlic to the saucepan and cook for 1 minute. 
Stir in the sherry or wine, then add the potatoes, artichokes, salt, pepper and hot broth to the pot. Cover and return to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes have softened, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, finely grate the cheese.

Remove the soup from the heat, stir in the milk, then puree in 3 batches in a blender, transferring the puree to the saucepan that held the broth. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender.) Heat the puree over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Add the cheese and stir until melted, 30 seconds. Season with additional salt, if desired.

Nutritional Data: (Per 2 Cup Serving): Ellie's version: Calories 320; Total Fat 18g (Sat Fat 4.5g, Mono Fat 9.5g, Poly Fat 1.5g); Protein 15g; Carb 27g; Fiber 9g; Cholesterol 15mg; Sodium 830mg. Deb's version: Calories: 239; Total Fat 11.6g (Sat Fat 3.9g Mono Fat 5g, Poly Fat .7g); Protein: 7.3g; Carbs 25.7; Fiber: 10g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium: 364mg

Notes/Results: A simple but lovely and satisfying creamy soup. I love the tangy flavor of the artichoke hearts and lemon and the richness from the coconut milk and nutritional yeast. I found I did not miss the extra salt at all, so I would encourage you to taste as you go and add some lemon before adding in the salt in the recipe--you may very well find you don't need it either. This soup makes a nice lunch or would be a great starter for dinner on a cool night. I would make it again.

You can see all of the Bowled Over dishes--soups, stews, curries and such that everyone made this week by checking out the picture links on the IHCC post. 

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***Souper Sundays Link-Up***

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I have been slowly coming back to making soups and have been missing seeing the wonderful soups, salads and sandwiches that everyone makes each week at my weekly Souper Sundays event. 

Since the Souper Sundays formal roundup was such a big time investment on Sundays, I am trying something new, with a picture link-up post every Sunday that participants can link their soups, salads, and sandwiches to throughout the week. Since I like the community aspect of a roundup, going forward I will feature a few dishes that were linked up the week before with each new post.

To join in:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month) on the picture link below for the current week and leave a comment below.

•  On your entry post (on your blog):
  • please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
  • you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and/or blog (optional).
   
  

•  Linkups will be open until midnight (PST) Saturday each week. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Everyone is welcome--hope you join in the fun!
 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of Sugar Crush by Dr. Richard Jacoby and Raquel Baldelomar, Served Up with Grilled Salmon & Zucchini 'Zoodles' with Watercress, Herb and Sunflower Seed Pesto

I am kicking of the TLC Book Tour for Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage, and Reclaim Good Health by Dr. Richard Jacoby and Raquel Baldelomar, released in paperback this week. Sugar Crush is a sobering look at how sugar negatively impacts our health, something I firmly believe. Accompanying my review on today's tour stop is a healthy (and delicious) recipe, inspired by the book.

Publisher's Blurb: 


Sugar = Chronic Inflammation + Trauma = Nerve Damage, Pain, and Dysfunction
Do you suffer from ailments your doctors can’t seem to diagnose or help—mysterious rashes, unpredictable digestive problems, debilitating headaches, mood and energy swings, constant tiredness? If so, nerve compression is likely the cause.
 
What Grain Brain did for wheat, leading peripheral nerve surgeon Dr. Richard Jacoby now does for sugar, exposing the shocking truth that a diet high in sugar, processed carbohydrates, and wheat can compress and damage the peripheral nerves of the body, and lead to pain, numbness, and tingling in the hands and feet, as well as a host of related conditions, from migraines, autism, and ALS to gallbladder disease and diabetes.

Over the years, Dr. Richard Jacoby has treated thousands of patients with peripheral neuropathy. Now he shares his insights and tells the story of how he connected the dots to determine how sugar is the common denominator of many chronic diseases.

Practical and accessible, Sugar Crush breaks down our dangerous addiction to sweets, offering a unique, holistic understanding of the toll sugar and carbs take on the body, and demonstrating how dietary changes can help nerves regain their normal function dramatically.

Whether you have diabetes or prediabetes, or are even just concerned about your health, Sugar Crush is the essential guide to knowing the dangers of nerve compression. Complete with dietary advice, the latest thinking on ways to prevent and reverse neuropathy, and a quiz to help you assess your nerve damage, this book will give you the tools you need to quit sugar, calm your nerves, and reclaim well-being.

Paperback: 256 Pages

Publisher: Harper Wave (Paperback Edition: February 16, 2016)

My Review: 

I was drawn to this book for a few reasons; first is coming from a family with diabetes (dad, brother, sister-in-law) and wanting to learn more and protect myself, I was also very interested in hearing more about sugar's impact on inflammation--especially as it pertains to chronic allergies, which I suffer from, and finally, I have a fascination of how what we eat impacts our health, doing some work as a certified health coach and teaching people how to eat, cook and take care of their health and wellness. 

Sugar Crush is essentially a scared straight book for diabetics (or those on their way to diabetes) and the authors do a great job in emphatically stating why sugar is so terrible. I completely agree that sugar is bad and is definitely killing America, and I do agree with a lot of what is in the book. For the most part the information, if not always in layman's terms, is well explained and backed up. There are a few tangents and times when the information gets a bit repetitive but the message is clear--STOP EATING SUGAR, and it's told with enough force and reasoning that it will make a reader think twice about ordering a soda (full sugar or diet) and hopefully turn over packages and look at the nutrition labels. Is it enough to sway a sugar addict suffering from nerve pain and damage? I hope so. 

With all of the good information, I do wish there was more help for the average person on the "what to do" portion of the book, beyond "don't eat sugar." There are charts on what foods to eat and avoid whether you are striving for a Ketogenic diet--zero to very little carbohydrates moderate grass-fed protein, and plenty of grass-fed fats. (Plan A in the book, pretty drastic and rigid, and how Dr. Jacoby eats) or a Blood Sugar Reduction Diet--focusing on food with low glycemic load. (Plan B in the book, somewhat easier to maintain for the average person and a gradual shift in reducing sugar in the diet.) There are some tips on what to eat--mainly when traveling or at restaurants, but I think the book could have benefited from some daily eating plan suggestions--"here's what a day/week's meals might look like under each plan." When I have worked with people striving to eat better for health reasons, they are often bewildered and want to quit because they just can't figure out what or how to cook when the processed food goes away. I don't know that it needed recipes--it's a more medical than lifestyle book, but the more resources people have the better. There is one point that bothered me--it is said to avoid processed meats like bacon and deli meats due to the additives and cancerous nitrates, but then under 'suggested foods' at both a diner and hotel, it mentions bacon and eggs being a good thing to order. While bacon may be the lesser of evils in the sugar world when compared with chocolate chips pancakes with syrup, most diners and hotels aren't buying naturally cured bacon and even if they are, many brands of bacon also have some sort of sugar (cane syrup or even honey) added to them in the curing. Although avoiding all processed sugar is the big push here, D. Jacoby warns of diets high in sugar--including fruits, honey, starches, etc. without exercise as a pathway to Type 2 diabetes. I am not at the point where I am considering fruit only as an occasional treat but certainly see the sense in lowering the amount of added sugars and sweeteners and grains and starches overall that I consume and making sure I get plenty of healthy fats and protein in my diet.

Personally, I was looking for more information on sugar's impact on allergies and sinusitis even though I knew the focus was on diabetes, but I found Sugar Crush to be a relatively fast and interesting read with a compelling argument for the role diet plays in our health. With family members currently battling diabetes and MS, I plan on sharing the book with them. For me, since I have low to moderate risk (darn family history) on the nerve damage quiz, I will continue to avoid processed sugar and grains and limit less-processed sugars like honey and maple syrup somewhat, but I am unlikely to give up my fruit consumption. (Hey, I live in fruit paradise here.) ;-)
 
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Author Notes: Dr. Richard Jacoby is one of the country's leading peripheral nerve surgeons. He practices in Scottsdale, Arizona, and specializes in the treatment of peripheral neuropathy. He is one of the cofounders of the Scottsdale Healthcare Wound Management Center and is the former president of the Arizona Podiatry Association and the Association of Extremity Nerve Surgeons. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Podiatric Sur-gery and is a member of the American Podiatry Association, the Arizona Podiatry Association, and the Association of Extremity Nerve Surgeons. He lives in Scottsdale with his wife and two children.

Raquel Baldelomar is the founder of Quaintise, a health care marketing and advertising agency. An expert in medical marketing strategies, she helps organizations transform sick care into true health care. She is a contributing writer for Advertising Age, Modern Healthcare, and Physician magazine, and is a reporter on how digital health and wireless technology empower consumers to take control of their own health. She lives in Santa Monica, California. 

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As I mentioned, there are some dietary suggestions in the book of what to eat (including bulletproof coffee--black coffee with grassfed butter), but there is not much food inspiration or focus on the wonderful food you can enjoy on a sugar-free diet versus everything you can't have. I decided to take my inspiration from the charts of allowable food and come up with a dinner recipe that would fit within the guidelines and still taste delicious. 

I am currently not eating grains and having fun with my Inspiralizer, so I knew some veggie noodles would be the base of my dish. I chose zucchini as it comes with less moderation warning than some of the starchier vegetable choices. I added grilled salmon with its healthy fats, and a pesto made with sunflower seeds, watercress and herbs for flavor. All of the ingredients for this dinner are on the "Primary Foods" chart (salmon, watercress, coconut oil, olive oil, garlic, herbs) or are considered low to moderately glycemic on the "Secondary/Cautionary Foods" chart (lemon, sunflower seeds).
 

Watercress, Herb & Sunflower Seed Pesto
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes 1 cup)

2 cups watercress 
1/2 cup fresh herbs of choice (I used savory and basil)
2 garlic cloves
1/3 cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
water to thin to smooth consistency
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

Wash watercress well and remove larger stems. Put watercress in a high-speed blender or food processor with other ingredients and blend, adding water until pesto is smooth and pureed. Taste for seasoning.

Notes/Results: Satisfying and delicious and simple to make. The watercress has a peppery bite which smooths out with the sunflower seeds and partners well with the salmon. For a creamier sauce like a pesto, I like the heavier fettuccine-size zucchini noodles. I spiralized these and to release some of the moisture, I lightly salted them and let them drain for an hour, then patted the zoodles dry and sauteed they in a bit of coconut oil until al dente. If you don't have a spiralizing tool, you could make noodles with a vegetable peeler--either using them thick or slicing them into narrow zoodles. This dish is one I would happily eat even not trying to cut sugar and other high glycemic foods. I will make it again.

Sugar Crush is my fourth entry for the Foodies Read 2016 event. You can check out the February Foodies Read linkup, hosted by by Heather at Based on a True Story, to see what everyone is reading this month.  

Note: A review copy of "Sugar Crush" was provided to me by the publisher and TLC Book Tours in return for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review and as always my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this Book Tour and learn what other reviewers thought about the book here on the TLC Book Tour Website.

 

Eggs in Tomato (with Sweet Potato *Noodles*) A Little Breakfast for Dinner + Some Favorite Tessa Kiros Recipes

When I open a cookbook from Tessa Kiros, I invariably want to curl up in a chair with a pot of tea and read it cover to cover. Her cookbooks have the power to transport me to places and spaces as beautiful as the pictures and the prose contained in them. This week Tessa Kiros is our Monthly Featured Chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we get to cook with one of our beloved previous IHCC chefs. We originally cooked with Tessa back in 2011 and she quickly became a favorite.

So many books and recipes to choose from but I wanted something really quick and simple for a busy week and so I selected her Eggs and Tomato recipe from Apples for Jam. Of course the recipe screams for, and Tessa recommends, good rustic bread for dipping however, I am not eating wheat presently. I still wanted something starch-ish to dip or run through those glorious runny yolks, so I quickly used my spiralizer and sauteed some sweet potato noodles.

I made a couple of minor changes to the recipe--noted in red below.

Eggs in Tomato
Slightly Adapted from Apples For Jam by Tessa Kiros
(Serves 2)

2 12 Tbsp olive oil (I reduced to 1 Tbsp)
1 clove garlic, peeled and squashed a bit (I used 2)
1/2 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
2 basil leaves torn up (+ more to garnish)
2 eggs
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil and garlic in an 8-inch frying pan. When it begins to sizzle and you can smell the garlic, add the tomatoes. Season with salt, and the basil, and cook for a few minutes over medium heat until the tomatoes begin to melt together. 

Reduce the heat and carefully break the eggs into the pan, leaving a little space between them. Cook until the whites just start to set, then make sure the bottoms aren't sticking to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and cook about half a minute until the whites are milky set. Sprinkle a little salt and freshly ground black pepper over the yolks as desired. 

Leave the eggs slightly undercooked and take the pan to the table with the lid on rather than risk having the eggs hard and overcooked as you want to be able to dunk your bread (or sweet potato noodles) in the yolks. 

For the sweet potato, I used the C-Blade on my Inspiralizer which makes a fettuccine sized noodle. I used 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and sauteed the noodles for about 5 minutes until al dente. 

Notes/Results: Simple but really delicious, like so many of Tessa's recipes. The tomatoes cook down to a nice jammy consistency and the eggs nestle right in. Sure, bread would be nice, but the sweet potato noodles were a great pairing with their slight sweetness and firm noodle consistency. The tomato eggs would be great on top of regular pasta as well. This is also a good starting point for adding other ingredients--a bit of harissa or red pepper flakes for spice, maybe some baby spinach or chopped greens...  you get the picture. A great weeknight (or morning) pantry/fridge dinner when you want something delicious but don't want to make a big effort. I will make this again.

To celebrate Tessa Kiros properly, here are six of my favorite of her recipes cooked during our time with her at IHCC and beyond. It's tough to pick out just a handful because I have loved every dish I've cooked with Tessa (you can see the others if you check out the Tessa Kiros label on my blog sidebar) but these are the ones that were most memorable (and most crave-worthy!).

Tomato Soup with Rice & Basil from Recipes and Dreams From An Italian Life
 

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, Peperoncino & Avocado from Recipes and Dreams From An Italian Life (Still one of my favorite pasta dishes ever!)

Red Bell Pepper & Anchovy Sauce from Venezia 

  

Sage and Rosemary Mashed Potatoes from Apples for Jam

Gelato al Limone (Lemon Ice Cream) from Venezia

Portuguese Purslane Soup from Piri Piri Starfish 

Delicious, right?!?!

You can see what Tessa Kiros dishes our participants made for this week's IHCC Monthly Featured Chef Event by checking out the picture links on the post.

 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "What the Waves Know" by Tamara Valentine, Served with (2-ish Ingredient) Banana Panckes with Maple Syrup and Fresh Blueberries

On today's TLC Book Tour stop I am reviewing What the Waves Know by Tamara Valentine, a novel about secrets, love and family, accepting the truth, and finding your voice. Along with my review of this charming and slightly magical story is a book-inspired recipe for pancakes made from banana, eggs, baking power and flavored with vanilla and cinnamon--seems like there's something just a bit magical in pancakes made from just banana and eggs.

Publisher's Blurb:

On the sharp crags of tiny Tillings Island lies the secret of Izabella Rae Haywood’s sixth birthday. That night, her father vanished, taking her voice—and the truth of what really happened—along with him. 

In the autumn of 1974, after eight long years of unsuccessful psychiatrist visits and silence, Iz’s mother packs up the tattered remains of their life, determined to return to Tillings in one last attempt to reclaim Iz’s voice—and piece together the splintered memories of the day her words ran dry. But when the residents of Tillings greet them with a standoffish welcome, it becomes clear that they know something about Iz, and the father she adored, that she does not.

Now, as the island’s annual Yemayá festival prepares to celebrate the ties that bind mothers to children, lovers to each other, and humankind to the sea, Iz must unravel the tangled threads of her own history . . . or risk losing herself—and any chance she may have for a future—to the past.

Paperback: 352 pages  
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 9, 2016)

My Review:

What a beautiful book, with a fourteen-year-old narrator that you can't help wanting to hug. Izabella (Iz to her mom) is wounded from the night of her sixth birthday, when her father went away. Iz thinks her strong and angry words were what made him go so she hasn't spoken since. Her mother Zorrie, among the walking wounded herself, can't seem to reach her and brings Iz back to Tillings Island in Rhode Island in hopes of reaching her; getting her to remember what happened and begin to heal and speak again. Although secrets are alluded to in the description, there is not really a big mystery or huge twists in the story. It becomes clear fairly quickly to the reader what happened and we watch as Iz begins to unblock it from her mind. The beauty of the story is in the relationships--especially between the four women--Iz, her mother Zorrie, Grandma Josephine and neighbor Remy. It is the things that tie them together, the love they have for one another, and especially how the three older women work to protect Iz and help her work through her trauma that are the heart of the book. Grandma Jo was my favorite character, the loving crunchy-granola grandmother that everyone would love to have--with her humor, acceptance, and tofu macaroni and cheese--overlooking her penchant for nudity of course. She adds her wisdom and is a bright spot that both Iz and Zoe, and even Remy, desperately need in their lives. Remy is the outspoken older friend that Iz needs, blunt but caring, covering her own issues with sarcasm and bravado. Although distant at first (her own protection from the world), Zorrie grew on me too. I could happily hang out with these strong and well-drawn characters.

Sometimes books tagged as magical realism can be a little 'woo-woo' for me but the magic in What the Waves Know, is wound primarily around the mysticism of Tillings Island and Yemayá--a goddess and the patron saint of women and the ocean according to Santeria and Yoruba beliefs. In the story, the community of Tillings Island is celebrating Yemayá, the Great Mother, through an annual festival with people coming from all over to leave offerings in hopes she will help them find what is missing. Yemayá, a strong and fierce protector, fits with the characters and the island setting and is skillfully woven into the story. As a side note, my interest piqued, I had to do a little research to learn more about Yemayá. About Santeria had this to say:

"Yemaya is the great mother who lives and rules over the seas. Water is essential to life, so without Yemaya, life on earth wouldn't be possible.  Although she's maternal and nurturing, she's also fierce. Her punishments can be terrible when she's outraged, but she's fair minded and forgiving when proper remorse is shown. Yemaya is clever and brave.  When she goes to war on behalf of her children, she wields a machete with expertise and no one can defeat her." 

Image and text from AboutSanteria .com

Tamara Valentine knows how to tell a great story, poignant, hopeful, and ultimately full of love. I wanted the best for these characters, caught up in their lives and the island community. The 350+ pages were over before I knew it (or wanted). What the Waves Know is an immensely pleasurable read and a great book to curl up with. 

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Author Notes: Tamara Valentine obtained an M.A. with distinction from Middlebury College and has spent the past fourteen years as a professor in the English Department at Johnson & Wales University. Presently, she lives in Kingston, Rhode Island, with her husband and three children.
 
Find out more about Tamara at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

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There is not a ton of food in What the Waves Know but there certainly is some. Grandma Joe is the adventurer and cook in the family, "borrowing" a tin bucket of sap, tapped from a sugar maple to boil down maple syrup for pancakes, braving bees for fresh honeycomb for Iz's toast, and her self-described, "mean carrot cake and cheese biscuits that melt right over your tongue." Remy is suspicious about Josephine's famous tofu macaroni and cheese (she blends Vermont Cheddar "so sharp it stings your tongue" with whole wheat pasta and tofu crumbles). On the  mainland wharf there are crab cakes, deep-fried clams, crawfish boils, and popcorn shrimp, and the Tillings Island Yemayá Festival features a variety of baked goods and is known for the curried chicken. Remy bakes apple pies for the festival with Iz, Zorrie has Iz get the ingredients for honey chicken, and then there are mentions of ice cream from the local parlor/soda shop as well as tea, coca-cola, and root beer to drink.

For my book-inspired dish, since I am eating wheat free for the time being, baked goods were out. I was considering a curry--maybe with tofu in honor of Grandma Joe, but it was pancakes with maple syrup that won out. With the no-wheat thing, it seemed like a great time to try the Pinterest-famed "2-Ingredient Banana Pancakes" I pinned a while back. I wanted to see how well pancakes made from a medium banana and two eggs would work.

I did add a few extra ingredients--baking powder (as I heard it makes for "fluffier" pancakes), a pinch of salt and cinnamon and a dash of vanilla extract. So I guess these are 6-ingredient pancakes. ;-)

2-ish Ingredient Banana Pancakes with Maple Syrup & Fresh Blueberries
Adapted from The Kitchn
(Makes About 8 small pancakes)

1 medium ripe banana
2 large eggs

+ optional ingredients:
1/8 teaspoon baking powder, for fluffier pancakes 
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla
large pinch of cinnamon 

coconut oil or butter to for pan
maple syrup and fresh blueberries to serve

Mash the peeled banana with a fork (or toss in blender with other ingredients) until no large lumps remain. Add any extra ingredients like baking powder, vanilla, salt, and or cinnamon. 

Whisk eggs together until whites and yolks are completely combined and mix into bananas to form a loose, liquid-y batter. 

Hit pan or griddle over medium heat and add a little butter or coconut oil to prevent sticking. When hot, drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter onto the hot pan. If it doesn't sizzle slightly, turn up heat. 

Cook until the bottom of pancake looks golden brown when you lift a side--about 1 minute or so. The edges should also be looking set but the middle will still be loose. 

Carefully lift the pancake by gently working a thin spatula about halfway underneath the pancake, and carefully turning over to the other side. If any loose batter spills when you turn the pancake, lay the pan cake on top of the spill and move any excess back under the pancake. Cook pancake for another minute or so until it is golden brown on each side--flipping back and forth as needed to get them evenly browned.

Set pancake aside (keep warm) and cook remaining batter/pancakes. 

Serve immediately while warm with maple syrup, fresh blueberries or other favorite toppings.
 

Notes/Results: Although perhaps not a true pancake, they are pancake-y enough to be pretty darn tasty, especially when covered in real maple syrup and served with fresh blueberries. I was a bit worried they would be fussy to turn with the loose batter but they actually were not that much different or more difficult to flip than a pancake if you make them small and are quick and careful when you turn them. I used the blender for mixing and found that I needed to stir the batter between batches on the griddle to get a consistent quality and thickness. Still, I got eight small decent pancakes out of the mix. I don't make pancakes often but these are really simple to mix up and quite filling. I will happily make them again.

I am sharing this book review and food pairing with Beth Fish Reads: Weekend Cooking Event, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post. 

 
Note: A review copy of "What the Waves Know" was provided to me by the publisher and TLC Book Tours in return for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review and as always my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this Book Tour and learn what other reviewers thought about the book here on the TLC Book Tour Website.