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Spring has sprung, grocery store wise, at least. Blueberries! Strawberries! Mango! My little Mission market has had an influx of all of the above, particularly organic blueberries. Happy day! So I made some blueberry pancakes courtesy of Susan V over at FatFreeVegan.com. A great resource for ETL/vegan recipes, bookmark it! These kind of have a muffin/bread like flavor. Made with fresh blueberries… really good.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour — (half and half whole wheat + unbleached white. Susan suggested whole wheat pastry flour, I didn’t have that)
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 cup soy milk (I split half + half here too with unsweetened and regular soy milk)
1/2 Tbsp egg replacer — mixed with 2 Tbsp water
2/3 cup blueberries (I used more)
Directions:
Stir together dry ingredients. Add in milk, egg mixture and stir just until lumps are removed. Mix in blueberries. Spray and heat skillet over medium heat. Spoon batter to create 4 pancakes at a time – I had to flatten a bit because the batter is a bit thick. Flip when edges are dry and the underside appears golden. Serve with more fresh berries and syrup you like.
A yummy, easy, egg-free version of a classic lunch staple.
Mix together:
1/2 tub of firm tofu, excess water squeezed out, then crumbled
1 tsp turmeric, for color
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 small red onion finely chopped (add to taste, don’t over do it)
1-2 Tbsp mustard (as recently mentioned, I like a LOT of mustard. Specifically, I like Whole Foods Organic German Mustard)
1-2 Tbsp pickle relish (I like a LOT of this too)
~ 1 tbsp of some kind of vegan mayonnaise (optional, but a little bit goes a long way)
Serve wrapped in a big cabbage leaf or a sprouted wheat tortilla.
Another go-to lunch choice… a bulked up version of this cucumber salad with lots of protein from tofu and beans. Also very easy to throw together in a rushed morning (but, seriously, would it kill me to plan ahead?).
~ 1/2 can beans (I like cannellini), rinsed and drained
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, cored and chopped
~1/4 red onion, finely chopped (don’t over-do it)
1/2 tub extra firm tofu, drained, squeezed or patted dry, and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
Dress with the following, stirred together:
~1-2 Tbsp dijon mustard (I like a lot of mustard. Specifically, I like Whole Foods Organic German Mustard)
~2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
~ 1 tbsp of some kind of vegan mayonnaise (optional)
 I like a savory midmorning snack. Not necessarily out of hunger, I just want a little handful of something along with my tea. Usually some peanuts or cashews will do, but this is a nice low-fat alternative. The package reads one 1/4 cup serving has “70% less fat and 40% more protein than peanuts.” Not bad! Top that off with 8g of fiber. But…I can’t remember where I bought them! Whole Foods? Valencia Whole Foods?? Hopefully I’ll run across them again soon. I really liked the lightly salted, but there is also a wasabi flavor!
Online they can be purchased here.
Image: Seapoint Farms
This turned into a lunch staple for several days running. I am not a person who plans for a leisurely pre-work morning, I’m up and out. But on at least one occasion, deciding last minute to pack lunch, have managed to pull this together and still make the train. Low effort and very satisfying.
Over medium heat, lightly brown one side of a sprouted wheat or whole wheat tortilla. Flip tortilla over and coat with a light spread of vegan pesto and sprinkle in a small handful of non-dairy mozzarella (I love Daiya*). Take several artichokes (in water) squeeze the excess liquid out and dry a bit with a clean cloth. Coarsely chop and layer them onto one side of the tortilla. For the red peppers, I used jarred and similarly cut into strips and dried with a towel. Layer over artichokes. Fold the tortilla over the veges and continue to cook flipping over once until both sides are light brown and cheese is melted. Serve with marinara sauce.
* If you don’t go through a package of Daiya quickly (I don’t), note that it freezes well.
Veggie soup turns out to be a pretty simple equation. 1 onion + 1 lb veg + 4-6 cups broth + 1/2 cup milk alternative + spice/bullion. Done.
Saute one chopped onion in a soup pot with just a little bit of water. Peel and chop about a pound of carrots (to about 1 inch pieces) and add to onions once they are translucent (5 minutes). Add 4+ Cups water and a bullion or two. Add 2-3 square inches of chopped fresh ginger after about 10 minutes. Cook for about 20-30 minutes total, until the carrots fall apart with a fork. Turn heat off, add milk and blend. A little curry powder can be a good add, I was also a little short on carrots this past time and added some frozen butternut squash to good effect as well.
UPDATE: From The New York Times: Soup Equations!
From Post Punk Kitchen – delicious! I’ve never cooked with real vanilla bean before. I must say, my cupcakes did not turn out as beautiful as the photos on PPK. Maybe if I’d used the paper liners? Anyway, really yummy nonetheless, and surprisingly…eggy?!
Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
Cupcake directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray either a muffin tin directly or muffin tin liners with cooking spray. Mix almond milk and vinegar together and allow to sit so it starts curdling (~10 min). Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, banking soda, and salt into a bowl. Beat almond milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean in a large bowl for 3-5 minutes until sugar is not granular feeling. Stir in dry ingredients and mix until there are no more large lumps. Bake 20-25 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Ganache ingredients:
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
Ganache directions:
Melt ingredients together in double boiler (seriously this needs a double boiler not just low heat). Dip cupcakes in head first, or spoon ganache over the tops holding the cupcakes on their side over the pot so the chocolate doesn’t run all over the place. My ganache turned out a bit thin, but actually made for a nice thin coat of chocolate and no taste sacrificed!
Last summer, before a trip to Ireland, I was a little anxious about the B&B breakfast situation. I expected this with few other options. Fortunately, most places we stayed had Weetabix and our B&Bs were happy to stock soy milk on request. Fresh fruit was also usually available to round out breakfast. Back here in California, it’s a bit tricky to find but some Whole Foods do stock it. I like it with ice cold soy/almond milk and a little drizzle of molasses. A big handful of blueberries or other fresh fruit is also a great addition.
2 biscuits: ~130 calories, 0.5g fat, 4g fiber, 2g sugar
Image: Weetabix
 So… a little departure from food… sort of… I’ve had a rusty stain in the bottom of my toilet bowl forever. About a 4″ rust circle that nothing removes, not bleach, not scrubbing or scraping. My mother is appalled. Apartment Therapy (which I love) had an article about using lemon Kool-Aid or Tang to clean toilet bowl stains. Why not? So I bought a canister of Lemon Kool-Aid, thinking it would be the least likely to have adverse effects (turning the whole thing orange would be a step in the wrong direction). Then over the next few weeks, whenever I thought of it before bed or before leaving the house, I would pour in about a 1/4 of a cup or less. Nothing noticeable happened for about a week or two. Then it the stain started to seem… smaller and maybe a different shape? It was happening so slowly I was sort of forgetting the original. So I took a picture (I’ll spare you). Shortly thereafter just as a I was finishing the canister, things started happening fast and one day one flush almost completely removed it. Now, there are just small stains left that I could probably get rid of with another go. Verdict: win!
Image: Kool-Aid
I played around with the dressing from the previous post and came up with this simplified version.
Ingredients:
4 carrots
2 medium zucchini
Dressing:
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp light spy sauce or Bragg’s Liquid Amino
1-2″ peeled fresh ginger
1 Tbsp peanut butter
1 clove garlic (optional)
Directions:
Shred zucchini and carrots. Blend dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables to taste (this should make enough dressing for 2 salads).
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