Savory Zucchini Carrot Pancakes

Ingredients

• Approximately 3 pounds of zucchini or yellow squash
• 1 large red onion
• 2 large carrots, or about 3 large handfulls of baby carrots
• 1 recipe for buttermilk pancakes (altered, see below)
• herbs and spices

Instructions

1. Grate or shred the squash, onion, and carrots. Mix well, and let drain in colander while you prepare the pancake batter.
2. Scaling for 2.5 cups of flour (any kind is fine), make buttermilk pancake batter. My husband used 2.5 cups all-purpose white flour, about 1 tsp salt, about 1 tsp baking soda, about 2 tsp baking powder, NO sugar, two big tbsp of olive oil, 2 eggs, and slightly more than 2 cups of buttermilk. IMPORTANT: the veggies will add their own moisture, so you don't want a soupy batter. Mix dry ingredients in one very large bowl. Add more herbs and spices than you think you'll need to the dry ingredients (at least 4T worth of herbs and spices, whatever you like; my husband used Italian seasoning, a salt-free spice mix of his own design, some cumin, some smoked paprika, and some oregano), and mix well.
3. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl, add veggies to wet ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Add the wet to the dry, taking care not to over-mix. The veggies should dominate, with the batter barely holding everything together. Let the mixture sit, covered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Heat a non-stick pan or griddle of your choice to medium or medium-high (well-seasoned cast iron would play nicely with this recipe). You want to be able to drop some water on top of the cooking surface and have it skitter around, not just bubble and leave. Prep the surface (can wipe with more oil or butter, and wipe off the excess), and quickly add about 1/2 cup of batter, spreading it to 1/2"-3/4" thick. My husband likes to use an ice cream scoop.
5. Once some bubbles stay, and the edges start looking cooked, flip the pancakes and leave until they're done. It's important to allow the interior of the pancakes to cook, especially with all of the veggies, so you'll need to adjust heat and timing to ensure the pancakes cook properly. You'll probably be leaving the pancakes on the first side longer than you're used to, to make sure the middle is heating.
6. If you're keeping them warm in the oven, put them in a serving container and dig in! We really liked them with Ranch and hot sauce, though tzatziki, hollandaise, cheese sauce, light pesto, tapenade, salsa, or any other veggie-friendly topping will do. Enjoy!