This is a really healthy, really tasty way to eat a veggie-filled lunch. This pancake salad is the perfect thing to make for a girls’ lunch. The veggie pancake is mostly made of beets, and when it cooks, it becomes a sweet, caramelized, savory concoction that pairs perfectly with some spicy arugula. Everything in this meal is good for you!

Start off by cooking 1 cup of cubed potato or squash. I steamed some butternut squash (which Stella went looney for). Then, peel 3 beets and 3 carrots. I love how beet juice looks, except when I think I’m bleeding.

Use a food processor to grate the carrots and the beets. You could do it by hand, but why? Add the gratings to a LARGE bowl. Rinse a can of chickpeas, and add half of them to the bowl. Chop the other half of the chickpeas up, and then add them to the bowl too. Also throw in your cup of potato/squash. Add 1/2 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, some pepper, and stir everything together really well.

Over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan that has sides. Pour the beet mixture into the pan, and press down on it with a spatula to flatten it out. Let it cook for 10 minutes. Then, as you would with a frittata, place a plate on top of the pan and flip the plate and the pan over so the pancake drops onto the plate. Have no fear! Then, slide the pancake back into the pan so the uncooked side is on the bottom. Again, cook it for 10 minutes.

Serve your beet pancake by cutting it into wedges and topping it with arugula. Dress the arugula with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. If you want to add some extra heft to this meal, serve a cooked egg on top. You also might want to have a piece of toasty bread if you need some carbs to help fill you up.

And guess what? Stella girl likes arugula!! Maybe a little too much…

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine, Sept. 2011.