Blueberry Kefir Pancakes and Tomato Peach Salad

Happy belated Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone had a blessed and safe holiday!

Yeah, the title of the post is a bit odd but I'm not actually advocating that these two dishes go together.  Promise.

I love the Edible Communities magazine series.  Edible has a series of food magazines catering to local foods, recipes and food articles.  And it's usually free in the foodie shops--can't beat that.   While I can easily grab the latest Edible Front Range copy right at Whole Foods, I hadn't had much opportunity to browse through any of the other community copies.  Edible Aspen?  How did I not pick one of those up on my last trip up there?  Edible Manhattan or Edible Brooklyn?  How fun.  Edible Cape Cod?  Yes please.  Edible Hudson Valley?  Hey I know that place.  And Edible Bozeman?  I wish I had known it existed prior to one of my many business trips up there.

I did however pick up Edible Santa Fe on our Labor Day trip down there.    Seriously read this cover to to cover--I'm now well versed on "Honey: the art of the bee."  Thank goodness. 

I tried two recipes and loved them both so much that I felt it was a bit unfair to choose which to post....hence the two recipe post.  Try and pick...it's not easy. 

First off was the recipe for Kefir pancakes.  I happened to have blueberry kefir and fresh blueberries but these can be adjusted for whatever flavor of kefir you buy.

What is kefir? According to Edible Santa Fe, "Kefir, like yogurt, is a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly microorganisms that help balance your inner ecosystem.  More nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals and valuable B vitamins."  I don't know how therapeutic I actually find yogurt to be, but it sure is tasty--as is kefir.  Aside from kefir being a bit "tangier" than yogurt, I'm not sure I could tell them apart in a taste test.

The extra tang in kefir lends itself perfectly to pancakes...think buttermilk pancakes.  And between the kefir and the baking powder and baking soda, this batter makes a super light and fluffy pancake despite the fact that I used whole wheat flour.  The batter itself rises right in the bowl before I'd even made half of the pancakes.  Imagine the fluffiness that would result from all purpose flour. Definite keeper recipe in this house.

The second recipe was for a Tomato Peach Salad.  Even more exciting was trying out the orange mucat champagne vinegar I'd found at Trader Joes.  Ohh, such an exciting salad if you are a tomato and peach fan.  Tangy, sweet and with a bite from the onions and dressing. Another keeper recipe--yay Edible!

Blueberry Kefir Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups kefir
1 cup frozen blueberries

1. Preheat a griddle or skillet to just under medium heat.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the kefir. Add the melted butter and whisk together.
4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until moistened. If you overmix the batter, it will not be light and fluffy
5. Lightly grease preheated pan with canola oil. Drop about 1/4-1/3 cup onto the hot griddle to form each pancake. Sprinkle blueberries over each pancake. When numerous bubbles have risen to the top of the pancakes (about three minutes), turn and cook for about one minute on the other side, until nicely browned. Remove from heat and continue until all of the batter is used up.
6. Serve hot, topped with additional thawed blueberries and warm maple syrup.

Heirloom Tomato and Peach Salad

2 lbs heirloom tomatoes
1 lb ripe peaches
1/2 smal red onion finely diced.
2 tbsp extra virgin oive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed OJ
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
dask of salt
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn or sliced

Cut tomatoes and peaches into relatively similar sized pieces. Add onions. Whisk together oil, oj, vinegar, lemon zest and salt to make dressing.  Pour dressing over tomato and peaches.  Add basil, toss and serve.