Light Cheese Blintzes/Crepes

Beat eggs and egg whites together with salt and set aside. Mix potato starch with part of the water to form a smooth paste. Add the rest of the water and beaten eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well again. (A blender or food processor is handy for mixing the batter, but be careful to mix just until blended. Over mixing will create a foam that must be removed, or it will affect the texture of the finished crepes.) Transfer batter to a pitcher that is wide enough to allow mixing.

Heat olive oil and non-stick spray in an 8- inch, non-stick frying pan. Pour off extra oil into a dish. Keep a paper towel in this dish to use for wiping the pan after every few crepes (this helps keep the amount of oil needed down to a minimum), or spray with non-stick cooking spray. When the pan is hot, lower the heat to medium and pour in 1/4 -1/2 cup of batter. Tilt pan to cover the bottom and pour any extra batter back into the pitcher. This will ensure very thin blintzes. As soon as the batter is firm, loosen the edges and turn over onto a dish towel or slightly greased piece of aluminum foil.

Then return it to the pan to cook on the other side. (You can flip it with a spatula, but most people find it easier to turn it out and then return it to the frying pan.) Cook on the second side for no more than a few seconds and remove to a towel. Before making the next crepe, mix batter with a fork in order to blend in any potato starch that settles. Unless you’re a real pro, the first 1 or 2 blintzes will probably not come out easily and will tear.

For crepes (blintzes): Use the filling of your choice and either fold the crepe around it blintz-style (like an envelope) or roll up. The unfilled crepes freeze well, either stacked or in layers divided by wax paper.

You can certainly use the standard mashed-potato filling, but if you want a lower carb count and something more interesting, here are a few suggestions:

Cheese:  Mix farmer cheese with 1 beaten egg white, sugar substitute, cinnamon and vanilla flavoring.

Pareve (non-dairy) “cheese”:  In a small pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Drop in small amounts of egg white, breaking up with a fork. They will look like curds of cheese. Drain well; add a pinch of salt, sugar substitute and cinnamon (optional).

Low-carb potato: Mix equal amounts of cooked potato with cooked cauliflower and some fried onions. Add salt to taste.

Meat: Mix ground meat and/or chicken with fried onions and seasoning.

Apple: Grate apples; add sugar substitute, cinnamon and ground nuts.Nut:Beat 1 egg white just until shiny and starting to stiffen. Add ground nuts to form a paste. Add sugar substitute, cinnamon (optional) and juice from half a lemon.

Nutrition information is for an empty crepe.