Building A Meal Around Scallions!?

         

So I have some plans for most of the greens from my share this week. The broccoli is already gone from Wednesday's casserole, as is most of the kale. I have plans to use the escarole on Saturday (teaser!), and have made a few yummy salads with the lettuce. That leaves me (pun totally intended) with the lemon balm (seriously, I have no idea what I am going to do with that...if you know anything about it please give me some tips in the comments section), oregano, 2 green garlic bulbs...and a bunch of scallions.

Scallions are kind of weird, right? I think of them more of a garnish than anything else - on top of baked potatoes or corn chowder, but not something you build a recipe around. So while I was at my seasonal second job last night I did some Googling (Googleing?) and came across a recipe for scallion pancakes, which are evidently a thing.

 I've never had them before, but scallion pancakes (or "con you bing") hail from Chinese cooking and are rumored to be the impetus for the invention of Italian pizza. The recipe seemed pretty simple and straight forward with only a few ingredients that are pretty much a staple in our pantry - water (ok not technically in the pantry), vegetable oil, flour, and sea salt - with scallions. I followed the directions closely,and the end results were pretty darn tasty.

What they're supposed to look like!

Now, based on viewing photos online of what scallion pancakes are supposed to look like, I am going to go ahead and say I probably missed the mark a little bit.  I knew as I was making them that I was rushing myself - I didn't get started until about 9pm (late) and I hadn't eaten since noon (HUNGRY). If I were to make these again, which I probably will, I would make the following adjustments:

1. Give myself more time!  I liked this project because it was more like baking than cooking, which is really my forte.  Being able to do this at a leisurely pace would make it a lot more fun and relaxing.
2. Beware the salt distribution! One of the commenters on the website said "don't be shy with the salt" so I took his/her word for it and I'm not sure it was a good idea.  I love salt, and I don't think I'd necessarily use less of it next time, but I would be careful to make sure I distribute it evenly across the pancake so you don't end up with overly salty mouthfuls.
3. Eat them right away!  Ok, so I am jumping the gun on this one since I haven't tried to reheat them yet (that's what lunch is for today), but based 100% on appearance they just don't look as good as they did last night.  I'll update this entry today if I change my mind after lunch.

What mine looked like

Thanks for all of the support and comments, everyone!  This is a lot of fun for me and I hope for you too!