Pink Pancakes

Curious? You should be. The pink in these pancakes comes from beet purée. I found this recipe in one of my favorite cook books 'Deceptively Delicious' by Jessica Seinfeld. Every meal incorporates a veggie purée into it. I especially love this recipe because it is packed full of protein making it a great lunch or dinner option too. I'm forever thankful to one of my besties Annelie for introducing me to this cook book.

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup beet purée

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup pancake mix

1/4 cup of grated apple

Non stick cooking spray

1 tbsp oil

In a blender or processor, combine the water, ricotta, beet purée, vanilla and cinnamon. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple. Stir until just combined. Batter should be slightly lumpy.

Coat a griddle or non stick frying pan with cooking spray and set on medium- high heat. When hot add the oil. Spoon the batter on to the pan or griddle using about 1/4 cup of pancake mix for each pancake. Cook pancakes until until bubbles form on the top and the batter is set (1-2 minutes). Flip the pancake and cook until golden brown on the other side (2-3 minutes).

You can use whatever syrup you like or whatever syrup is on hand. I live alone and don't make a habit of having pancakes or waffles so the first time I made this I realized after the pancakes were cooked that I had no syrup in my pantry. I did however have frozen blueberries in my freezer so I topped my pancakes with this:

1 cup blueberries ( fresh or frozen)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

Cook blueberries with sugar and water until thick