Most shredded potatoes find themselves nestled inside latkes and hashbrowns. But if you want to get islandy (or Latin American), something else gets thrown into the mix -- black beans.

Suddenly, that fried and starchy side gets a whole new depth -- the meaty beans offering a thicker and slightly creamier texture and a more substantial latke sort of flavor. Rather than a crisp, thin slab of potato, you get a thicker pancake, crisp on the outside and creamy inside.

Putting together potato and black bean pancakes isn't the quickest task, unfortunately. In the recipe that follows, you must rid the potatoes of their water, chop up a whole myriad of ingredients, let then firm in the fridge, form them, coat them (in ground saltines which gives them a nice, unique taste), fry them and then bake them.

So it's not really the sort of dish you throw together after work unless you like eating really late. But when you've got some extra time or an extra hand or two in the kitchen, this side quickly becomes a nice twist to your meal.

The following recipe is quite basic, relying on fresh parsley and bacon to amp up the flavor, but there are other ways to make these pancakes pop. They're just itching for some hot peppers, extra spices or even a coriander + cilantro twist.

Potato and black bean pancakes after the jump.

Potato and Black Bean Pancakes
from "Cuba Cucina!"
Ingredients (for approximately 2 dozen cakes)

4 Idaho potatoes, finely grated (approx 3 cups)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley + more for garnish
2 tbsp minced red onion
2 tbsp minced green pepper
2 minced garlic cloves
2 cups canned black beans, rinsed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Flour -- for dredging
Cracker meal -- for dredging (in other words, ground saltines -- perfect for the ones that went stale)
Olive oil -- for frying
4 slices of bacon
1 cup light sour cream

• Squeeze water from potatoes and mix in large bowl with eggs, green onions, parsley, onion, green pepper, garlic, black beans, vinegar, flour, salt and pepper. Mix well and chill in fridge for 1-2 hours until firm.
• Form large spoonfuls of the mixture into balls, roll in the flour, press into pancake form and coat with cracker meal.
• Heat a large saute pan to fry the cakes and preheat oven to 350 F. (Since the frying will take some time, you might want to delay the preheat until you're close to done.)
• Add olive oil to the frying pan, fry bacon until crisp, remove, and crumble. Then fry the cakes -- approximately 3 minutes per side, until crisp. Remove to a paper towel or brown paper bag to drain, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and later move to a baking sheet.
• When the cakes are finished, bake for 5 minutes.
  
• Serve the pancakes sprinkled with some parsley and bacon, and teamed with some sour cream and chutney.