Author: Hannah

Vegan Mohnkuchen (Poppyseed Cake)

Hannah

We celebrated my husband’s birthday on Monday! This year, he requested Mohnkuchen (a German poppyseed cake) for his birthday cake. I had a hard time finding a vegan Mohnkuchen recipe in English, so I went ahead and adapted this recipe from Cookpad. It called for one egg in the poppyseed layer, which turned out to be very easy to substitute with chia seeds. After all, when you’re using over a cup of black poppyseeds in something, a few chia seeds will blend right in! Other than that, I mostly just switched out dairy products for their nondairy counterparts and made a few tweaks here and there (such as making the poppyseed layer larger at my husband’s request, which I think was a very good call).

I didn’t completely know what to expect with this cake. I haven’t baked with poppyseeds very much before and certainly never in this quantity. The finished product was extremely delicious! Each layer of the cake complements the others so well, and the subtle cinnamon and vanilla flavors blend with the poppyseed taste so harmoniously that the final result is beyond scrumptious. I seriously cannot believe how good it is. It’s a truly unique flavor profile for someone who’s used to the typical cake flavors common in America. Who would have thought that that many poppyseeds could be delicious in a cake? The people who invented Mohnkuchen, I guess! Good job, Germany.

I would also like to point out briefly just how beautiful this cake is. The stark contrast between the dark poppyseed layer and the light bottom layer is striking and visually appealing. So without further ado, here is the recipe.

Vegan Mohnkuchen Recipe

Ingredients:Mohnkuchen 2

  • 1 greased or parchment-lined 7-inch round cake pan, preferably with removable bottom. I used Fat Daddio’s.

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons organic raw cane sugar
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery spread

Cake layer:

  • 1 heaping cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/4 cup Silk vanilla soy yogurt or other nondairy yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened nondairy milk (I used Good Karma flaxmilk)
  • 3 tablespoons Earth Balance
  • 3 tablespoons organic raw cane sugar

Poppyseed Filling:

  • 1 cup + 1/8 cup poppyseeds (approximately 140 grams)
  • 1 “chia egg” (1 tablespoon chia seeds soaked in 3 tablespoons water and 4 tablespoons nondairy milk)
  • 2.5 tablespoons Earth Balance
  • 1 cup nondairy milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons organic raw cane sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Begin by mixing together the chia seeds, water and nondairy milk for your “chia egg” to be used later in the poppyseed layer and allowing them to soak.

Next, mix the flour, sugars and cinnamon for your topping. Add cold Earth Balance in chunks to the dry ingredients and crumble it all together using your hands or a fork. Once you have some nice crumbles, chill the topping mixture in the refrigerator until you are ready to top the other layers.

At this point, preheat your oven to 350°F. For the cake layer, add flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together softened Earth Balance, nondairy yogurt, nondairy milk and sugar until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter comes together into a cakey dough. Roll the dough into a ball with your hands and then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a thick circle the size of your cake pan. Then, place your dough in the bottom of your pan and begin work on the poppyseed layer.

For the poppyseed layer, add nondairy milk and Earth Balance to a saucepan, heating on low until the Earth Balance has just melted. Whisk in the vanilla, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon and sugar. Mix well, whisking out any lumps as you bring to a simmer. Continue to cook for a few minutes until the mixture thickens. Then, let it rest for a few minutes without heat.

For best flavor and texture, roughly grind the poppyseeds in a food processor or mortar and pestle. Add the poppyseeds to the flour and cornstarch mixture and stir well. Next, add the “chia egg” that you mixed together earlier. The chia mixture should be nice and gelatinous after soaking. Once you’ve mixed it well, the poppyseed filling should be fairly thick and gooey.

Spread the poppyseed layer out over the cake layer. Finally, add the crumble topping on top of the poppyseed layer.

Bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes, until the crumble topping has browned and the cake is cooked throughout (although the poppyseed layer will continue to firm up as it cools). While baking, check halfway through to make sure the top layer is not browning too quickly. If so, lightly cover the cake with a piece of aluminum foil. For best results, let the cake cool for about an hour before serving to allow the poppyseed layer to set. Enjoy!

Vegan Mohnkuchen
Vegan Mohnkuchen

 

 

Protein-Packed Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Hannah

Having had somewhat of a love affair with chickpeas my whole life, I find it odd that only relatively recently have I discovered the wonder that is chickpea flour. It’s a protein powerhouse: just one cup has 21 grams of protein. That’s about double the amount of protein found in a cup of all-purpose wheat flour and still five grams more than whole wheat flour. In addition, it also has 10 grams of dietary fiber — three times as much as all-purpose flour and just under the amount in a cup of whole wheat flour.

So when I found myself craving pumpkin and the delightful fall spices that typically accompany said squash, I decided to try adding chickpea flour to the mix. The results did not disappoint. These muffins are flavorful with a delicious, moist interior. And because the other type of flour used in these muffins is oat flour, this recipe is very easy to make gluten free (just use gluten-free oat flour or gluten-free oats to make your own oat flour!).

These muffins are low in added sweeteners, so they certainly aren’t a sickeningly sweet treat. But they make a very satisfying, guilt-free snack or breakfast. And with something this packed full of spices, I find that I like being able to taste the complexity of the flavors rather than just tasting sweetness. But if sweets are your thing, don’t hesitate to make these a little sweeter! They’ll still have all the nutrition that oats, chickpeas, pumpkin, and ginger have to offer!

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Ingredients:

  • 1 flax “egg” (1 tablespoon ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons water)
  • 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 4 tablespoons agave nectar (this recipe is designed to be low in added sweeteners. If you like sweeter muffins, try adding more agave nectar or a few tablespoons of coconut sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup almond or soy milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger (I often add even more than this because of the health benefits of ginger)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 chickpea flour or besan
  • 3/4 cup oat flour (I ground my own by putting rolled oats in the food processor)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Begin by whisking your flax egg together in a small bowl and setting it aside. Next, combine the pumpkin puree, coconut oil, agave nectar and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the almond milk and spices. In a smaller bowl, combine the two flours with the baking powder, baking soda and salt, stirring well to eliminate any lumps.

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Whisk the flax mixture into the wet ingredients. Follow this by slowly adding the bowl of dry ingredients. Whisk to incorporate if there are lumps.

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Once the batter is mixed together, divide it among 10-12 spaces in a muffin tin. Bake 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

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Sundried Tomato & Basil Cheese Ball

Hannah

Tonight is a good night. I’m so ready for the holidays this year. Thanksgiving (a.k.a. pre-Christmas) is just around the corner and I’m getting excited for holiday cheer and of course, food. Lots of it. I pulled out my Christmas decorations tonight and I’ve been wrestling with my kitty, Icarus, whose current goal in life is to tear all of the ornaments off of our tiny, artificial Christmas tree. But the struggle seems to have subsided for the time being, so I’m taking the time to finally post a recipe I’ve wanted to share for a while.

I’ve been up to a lot since the last time I posted. I started a yoga teacher training program at a nearby yoga studio, which has been fantastically fulfilling and rewarding. It’s been great to learn more about yoga history, philosophy, and practice and start to share it with students and community members through the yoga club at the university where I work.

However, I’m ashamed to admit that I have definitely not been keeping up with my goal to post once a week on the blog. I’m hoping to make a fresh start with this fantastic Sundried Tomato and Basil Cheese Ball recipe! After reading Miyoko Schinner’s “Artisan Vegan Cheese,” I’ve been tinkering around with making cheeses, and this is one that I’ve created using the techniques from her book as inspiration. It’s perfect for holiday gatherings and tastes absolutely fantastic on baguette slices or crackers. But seriously, go with the baguette if you can. Nothing beats creamy, flavorful cheese spread over slices of a delicious baguette. Whatever you do, be sure to eat this cheese!

One note for this recipe is that you will need a good food processor or high-power blender to make this cheese. I have an 11-cup Cuisinart food processor.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups raw cashews
  • 1/3 cup rejuvelac (recipe below)
  • 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (oil-packed or dried)
  • 4 cubes Dorot frozen basil, equivalent to 4 teaspoons densely-packed chopped basil (I cannot recommend these fresh frozen basil cubes enough, they have transformed my life. If you don’t have these handy, I would recommend acquiring some fresh or concentrated basil and adding it to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • 1-2 teaspoons + 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup refined coconut oil (optional)

If you have purchased rejuvelac from the store, please skip this step. To make rejuvelac, soak 1/2 cup of whole grains, such as wheat or quinoa overnight. Next, sprout the grains in a sprouter or mason jar (I use this sprouter), rinsing multiple times a day until the grains begin to grow little shoots. At this point, place the sprouted grains in a 1 quart mason jar filled with purified water. Leave the grains soaking for approximately 24 hours, or until the water looks cloudy and smells and tastes tangy. That’s rejuvelac, folks! Put it in the fridge and it will keep for several weeks.

Now, on to the cheese. Begin by soaking the cashews for several hours or overnight. Then, process the cashews with the rejuvelac and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor. At this step, you don’t need to worry about processing the cheese until it’s completely creamy, you’ll be processing it again later, so it’s fine if the texture is slightly grainy. Next, leave the cashew mixture in a covered glass dish in a cupboard or other cool, dry place to culture for 24 to 36 hours, depending on desired sharpness.

After it has finished culturing, proces the cashew cheese with the sundried tomatoes, basil, nutritional yeast, salt and (optional) coconut oil. Be sure to only use refined coconut oil, as virgin coconut oil will impart a coconut flavor to your food. The purpose of the coconut oil is to make the cheese slightly firmer, as coconut oil solidifies nicely, but the cheese is still great without it.

Also, at this step I used the full 2 teaspoons of salt, but you may wish to start with less salt and only add as much as needed to suit your personal preferences.

From here, blend until smooth and creamy, and then form into a ball and place in a glass dish in the refrigerator for several hours, until chilled and slightly firm. If desired, top with fresh or dried basil.
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Sundried Tomato and Basil CheeseFinally, spread and eat!

Sundried Tomato Basil Cheese

The Avocado Tomato Open-Face

Hannah

In case you needed some toast inspiration this week, here’s a delicious open-faced sandwich that involves one of the best foods of all: avocado. Avocado is one of my all-time favorite foods, and not just because you can make guacamole out of it. It’s creamy and just has a fantastic flavor even plain. Toast is also one of my favorite foods, so spreading avocado on it is pretty much a recipe for success in my book.

This delightful little open-faced sandwich is one that my dad taught me how to make. This recipe certainly isn’t rocket science, but I hope that you can enjoy it as much as I have. Or use it as a jumping off point to make your own toasty open-faced masterpieces.

The Avocado Tomato Open-Faced Sandwich

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Ingredients:

  • 2 pieces of bread
  • 1/2 of an avocado
  • 1 small tomato
  • A pinch of salt
  • Several slices of vegan cheese (optional)

 

 

 

First, put two pieces of toast in the toaster. Then, slice your tomato and avocado.

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Then, lay out half of the avocado slices onto a piece of toast.

Sprinkle a pinch of salt onto the avocado slices and spread them across the piece of toast.

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Lay several slices of tomato on top of the toast.

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At this point, you can either dig in, or, if you have it on hand, lay a few slices of vegan cheese on top of the tomato. The cheese adds a little extra deliciousness, but the fresh fruit (it’s weird that both of those are fruits, I know) is fantastic on its own. Enjoy!

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Cookbook Review: ‘Artisan Vegan Cheese’

Hannah

I feel like I talk about my childhood a lot on this blog. The reason for this is that most of my deeply-held food cravings stem from happy childhood experiences. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve discovered some great new tastes in adulthood — like kombucha, for example — but for some reason, I don’t think I could ever go too long without having the need to eat something that reminds me of the great food I had growing up. Many of you, I’m sure, have similar food cravings, the kind that don’t even completely make sense, but you just need that food right now for… the warm fuzzies.

Sadly, I went without my favorite foods for many years. You see, as a child, I was basically a dairy addict. I loved adding a big dollop of sour cream on top of pretty much any and all savory dishes. Cream cheese, cottage cheese — you name it. My brother and sister and I even snuck out of our rooms at night to steal pieces of cheese from the fridge. We would eat them behind the couch. But that’s beside the point. After I eliminated dairy from my diet — both because eating it makes me feel sick and because I wanted to stop eating animal products — there was kind of a big hole in my life. I moved on, I tried not to think about cheese and cream. I tried the substitutes at the grocery stores and was somewhat satisfied. But they were always so expensive and even the best just tasted a little lackluster.

Enter Miyoko Schinner. For my birthday last year, my husband gave me Schinner’s book “Artisan Vegan Cheese.”In the time since then, I feel like my life has been changed. This is truly an incredible book. So far, I’ve tried 8 of the recipes — several of them a number of times — and been very impressed. Out of those 8, only one was a failure. And it wasn’t even a true failure because even though it wouldn’t firm up, it made a delicious cheese sauce. And I’ve seen several Amazon reviewers rave about that specific recipe, so it’s probable that I just did something wrong while making it.

Brie

My absolute favorite recipe in this book is the brie. To me, the cost of the whole book would be worth it for just this one recipe. I think it’s the best recipe for the following reasons:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

  • It doesn’t require any special additives such as carrageenan or agar powder
  • Though it takes some prep work over several days, it’s easy to make
  • There’s nothing like it commercially available at an affordable price.
  • It’s so fancy

The brie tasted delicious. It was what I’d been missing that Daiya and other brands simply didn’t have: a cheese that was so good you wanted to eat it plain or just with crackers. Sure, I had commercial vegan cheeses that I could use for a grilled cheese sandwich just fine. But until recently, I’d never seen a fancy vegan cheese like this at a grocery store (and the one I saw recently deterred me with its huge price tag).

And what did my cheese-loving friends have to say about it? They loved it. They had one of those moments that looked like it was off the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” commercials. Except cheese. The harshest criticism it got was that “It didn’t taste exactly like brie, but it did definitely taste like a fine cheese.” That’s because the cheese was brie-like in that it was rich, flavorful and delicious, but didn’t have the characteristic mold, etc., that people would expect from brie. But honestly I’d rather not try to grow mold at home, thank you. Most of all, people were just stunned that a cheese that good, let alone a vegan cheese, was possible to make at home in a few easy steps.

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Raspberry Cheesecake

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy sister’s favorite food is cheesecake. She loved my vegan cheesecake. I feel successful in life now.

First, I made the cream cheese, which I honestly didn’t like on its own, but that was probably because I didn’t blend it well enough so it was a little grainy. And no one wants that. But when I put it in my food processor with the other cheesecake ingredients, it got creamy and perfect, so my initial blunder didn’t really matter. I did toy with this recipe a little, because it kept not tasting sweet enough. That could be because I used coconut sugar instead of regular sugar, so I’m not blaming it on the recipe. I also used a flaxseed mixture instead of the egg replacer powder. I was a little worried that my modifications would ruin it, but the cheesecake turned out perfect! My sister and I ate slice after slice together, and then we shared the leftovers with some other friends and family. It was a major dessert success.

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American Oat Cheese

This cheese could not be more dissimilar to the brie, but I loved it nonetheless. My reasons for enjoying it so much were that it was quick and easy to make, and also very healthy and can be much lower in fat than the other cheeses. I mean, cheese made out of oats? How healthy can it get? As far as the taste, it works great as a processed cheese substitute. Will it be great on crackers? Eh, not so much. Is it perfect for nachos and grilled cheese? Definitely. It’s way cheaper than buying a commercially available vegan cheese, and I liked it better than those I have tried. After making this cheese several times, I adapted the flavor somewhat to suit my personal taste. I’m not sure if there was something unusual about the miso I used, but I disliked the flavor that miso gave to the cheese, so I began omitting it. I also made several other adaptations to the original recipe and will include my version in a future post.

Cashew Tofu Ricotta

There are no words to describe how happy this recipe made me. I’ve made tofu ricotta many, many times, but the addition of cashews added worlds to the texture. I also tweaked this recipe, adding much more seasoning than called for. This made a wicked good lasagna.

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Muenster

I made a modified version of this because I wanted a cheddar-y cheese but didn’t want to wait for it to culture. So I added some extra seasoning to the muenster recipe to make it taste like a smoked nacho cheese. It was great, but since discovering the oat cheese, I’ve been sticking with that because it seems healthier and is lower in fat.

I also made yogurt and, as mentioned earlier, cream cheese using the recipes in this book and wasn’t particularly wowed by either. I plan on making another attempt at these, though, to see if I can get them to a point where I’d want to eat them on their own and not just use them as ingredients in other recipes. My only big failure was the air-dried camembert, which just never firmed up into a cheese-like texture. I’m not sure what went wrong, as I followed the recipe exactly. My current theory is that perhaps I cooked it on too low a heat. I plan on trying that one again soon, so I’ll keep you posted! I’m dying to make baked brie, so I’ll probably try to keep making this cheese until I succeed!

So yes, overall, I highly recommend this book! I didn’t want to share Schinner’s recipes publicly, but I will share any versions that I adapt or any recipes that I come up with in my newfound endless cheese experimentations.

The Vegan Reuben

Hannah

Hi all! Welcome to the new blog! I’ve been busy working on transitioning my blog from Blogger to this fancy new WordPress site. I hope you like it! I’ve also been busy in the kitchen lately and plan to update the blog regularly — at least once a week, preferably on Fridays — throughout the coming months. This week I’ve got a vegan reuben recipe for ya! I got the idea for a vegan reuben from this delightful little cafe inside a health food co-op where I occasionally get lunch.

For a faster and easier version of this sandwich that doesn’t involve cooking your own tofu, you can also make this using Tofurky deli slices (preferably the Roast Beef style) and a little vegan cheese (my favorite brand is Daiya).

The Vegan Reuben

Makes 6 sandwiches

Ingredients:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

1 14-ounce package firm or extra-firm tofu
12 pieces of bread (traditionally rye, though in these photos I use sprouted-grain bread)
Sauerkraut
Salt
Garlic
Rosemary
Russian Dressing (see below)

Russian Dressing Ingredients:

1/2 cup Just Mayo
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup chopped red onion
3 tablespoons dill relish
2 tablespoons horseradish mustard

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If possible, press your tofu for 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have a tofu press
or you’re short on time, you can also just give the tofu a firm squeeze over the sink to expel as much water as you can without crumbling the tofu. Cut the tofu into slices and line out on a baking sheet.

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Next, top the slices of tofu with salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary.

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Bake the tofu for 15-25 minutes, flipping halfway through. Finished tofu will be golden on both sides.

While the tofu is cooking, heat up a nonstick or lightly-oiled pan to medium or medium low. Spread a hearty amount of dressing on each piece of bread. Place a spoonful or two of sauerkraut on one side of bread. You may want to drain the sauerkraut either in a strainer or just using a fork so that the sandwich doesn’t become mushy. Put both pieces of bread on the pan and cook until each piece is golden brown on the bottom.

Assemble the sandwich by placing two slices of baked tofu on one side and tomato on the other.

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Finally, enjoy!
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Grandma’s Cuban Black Beans

Hannah

Today, I made my favorite food, a dish that stems from my Cuban heritage. From the title, I bet you can guess what my favorite food is. That’s right, Cuban Black Beans. These beans with their unique mix of flavors are right up there with homemade whole wheat bread as one of my ultimate comfort foods. And even if you haven’t been raised eating Cuban Black Beans on a weekly basis, you’re bound to enjoy this delicious recipe that puts other black beans and refried beans to shame.

The recipe for Cuban Black Beans was given to my mom by her mother-in-law: my dear grandma Gloria Maria, who has since passed on. You see, I think my grandma knew that if the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, the quickest way to a Cuban’s heart is through homemade black beans, so knowing how to make black beans when married to a Cuban would be pretty essential.

Over the years, my mom has adapted this recipe somewhat, and you may wish to adapt it to. As my grandma once said, some people like “cumin beans” and some people like “cilantro beans.” I tend to enjoy them most when they’re a little heavy on the cilantro.

When preparing these, you can use my family’s recipe below, or you can adjust the seasonings to suit your personal tastes. That’s one of the best things about these beans, they seem to always come out tasting delicious, no matter how you adjust the proportions of the various ingredients.

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Ingredients:

1 pound dry black beans
1 medium white or yellow onion
1 medium green bell pepper
1 fist-sized bunch of cilantro
2-3 large garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon agave nectar or sugar
1-2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
2 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano

First, soak your black beans overnight. If soaking them that long isn’t a possibility, at least soak them for a few hours. This step is important not only because it makes the beans easier to cook, but because during the soaking process, the beans will lose some oligosaccharides, which will make the beans easier to digest. So, essentially, if you don’t want your dinner guests to experience gas after eating your delicious Cuban Black Beans, please, by all means, take the time to soak them. Trust me, it’s worth it.

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When you have finished soaking your beans, discard the dirty oligosaccharide-ridden water you just soaked them in and give them a good rinse. Then, place them in a pressure cooker or slow cooker, depending on whether you want to eat them soon, or have them cook all day while you’re away. (I use my Instant Pot on the pressure cooker setting). Cover the beans in water, using enough water to just cover the beans.

Next, chop your onion, bell pepper and garlic and throw them in on top of the beans. Then, grab about a fistful of cilantro, chop it loosely, and add it to the top. Finally, toss in your bay leaves.

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In the Instant Pot, select the Manual button and cook for 16-18 minutes (I have used both the quick release and natural pressure release methods when making these and both have worked fine). When your beans have finished cooking, they should resemble bean soup. At this point, you’ll want to find the bay leaves and remove them, as they don’t dissolve. If you have picky eaters, you may want to put the beans in a food processor or blender to get rid of any vegetable lumps and make them more the consistency of refried beans. Some people like to leave them soupy. My favorite is kind of a mixture. You can achieve this by mashing the beans with a potato masher a few times, or by processing or blending part of the beans and mixing them back in with the rest of the batch. Making the beans this way helps them hold together better if you decide to put them in a burrito or a taco, while also keeping some of the whole beans intact. At this point, you’ll add the sweetener and seasonings, as well as the optional olive oil. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to suit your taste buds.

Cuban Black Beans are typically served with rice. In fact, a common nickname for this dish in Spanish is “Moros y Cristianos,” which means, “Moors and Christians” (the “Moors” referring to the beans and the “Christians” to the rice). As you can guess from this name, the rice typically served with black beans is white, though for today, I made a Mexican-style rice because I like the flavor. I also made guacamole to go with the beans and rice, because, really, what could be better?

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You can eat the finished product out of a bowl, or you can use your beans and rice as the primary ingredients in a standout burrito or taco. Enjoy!

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Vegan Coconut Cookie Dough Ice Cream!

Hannah

ice-cream

I had a great Fourth of July last weekend! We got to see a fantastic local firework show and launched some small fireworks off at our place. And we ate our own veg versions of the traditional Independence Day fare: hotdogs and ice cream. We had Yves veggie dogs with chili and pasta salad, and followed it up with some delicious homemade coconut cookie dough ice cream.

This stuff is good. And I mean never-buy-an-overpriced-dairy-free-ice-cream-again good. The coconut ice cream is rich and creamy on its own and with cookie dough chunks, it tastes just like one of the exciting flavors you would buy at the store. When Drew and I got married in May, we received an ice cream maker as a wedding gift. Let me tell you, that thing is worth its weight in gold. In case you’re interested, I have the Cuisinart 2-Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker and it’s worked fabulously for me. I love the fact that I can make ice cream with an ingredients list exactly as long as I want it to be — no unpronounceable ingredients allowed. Not to mention how fun it is to get creative with different ice cream flavors!

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Vegan Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 13-ounce cans full-fat coconut milk
1/2 cup raw sugar and stevia blend
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Dash of salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Whisk over a low to medium heat until the mixture is cooked–the sugar and oil are melted and well combined– but do not bring to a boil. Be sure to taste it to make sure it is as sweet as you would like it to be. Next, take it off of the heat, transfer to a blender and blend thoroughly. This step may seem unnecessary, since you just whisked it and it seemed so well combined, but trust me, you need to blend it. If you don’t, then little lumps of coconut fat will harden in the fridge and you’ll end up with lumpy ice cream. Which is just not ideal.

After blending your creamy coconut liquid, you’ll need to chill it in the fridge for a few hours.
When it is chilled, just follow the instructions on your ice cream maker and add in your cookie dough chunks when your ice cream is still somewhat creamy and soft!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
4 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup white whole wheat flour
Semisweet chocolate chips to taste

Whisk together the wet ingredients. Then, add in the flour, cinnamon and salt and mix well. After that, just add in as many chocolate chips as you want. And if you don’t have maple syrup, don’t sweat it. I really like the flavor maple syrup adds, but the cookie dough will still taste great with a different sweetener as well. Next, just roll the cookie dough into little balls and place in the fridge. As I mentioned above, when the ice cream is out of the ice cream maker and about the consistency of soft serve, stir in the cookie dough chunks and then either serve right away, or place in the freezer to make a firmer ice cream. Enjoy!

Sweet ‘N Easy Vegan Crepes

Hannah

Vegan crepes. The combination of these two words translates to me as just “Mmm.” I’ve always loved pancakes and waffles, covered in real maples syrup or my mom’s homemade strawberry syrup, but only recently have I decided that I love crepes even more. The light, delicate texture of these crepes makes the subtle flavors of coconut, cinnamon and vanilla even more noticeable. I enjoy eating these plain, filled with fruit, topped with vegan yogurt, or—my personal favorite combination—filled with chopped bananas and pecans with a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe!

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Makes 9-10 Crepes

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
3 tablespoons agave nectar or other liquid sweetener
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk together the coconut oil and honey, then add in the other wet ingredients one at a time. You can combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them to the liquid ingredients, or you can simply whisk them in, being sure to mix well enough to eliminate any salt lumps.

Preheat a nonstick or seasoned skillet to a medium-low heat. For each crepe, pour about three tablespoons of the batter on the skillet and cook for several minutes on each side.

When the crepes are done, roll them up with chopped fruit on the inside or cover with your favorite syrup or vegan yogurt. Enjoy!

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The Vegan Omelette: Chickpea-Tofu Style

Hannah

Since my last post in February, life has been crazy! I got engaged to my then-boyfriend of 2.5 years in March and married in May! Now that I’m no longer planning a wedding, I promise to be a lot more regular with the posts. Especially since I received so many wonderful gifts of cookware, bakeware and appliances that have motivated me to spend even more time on my experiments in the kitchen.

Well, to start this one off, I’ll just tell you that if there’s one thing I enjoy, it’s a good breakfast. Though, I don’t always eat breakfast in the morning. I often find myself eating the delicious breakfast foods I crave for lunch or dinner. So it was today. After deciding to make a standard tofu scramble (which I can’t believe I haven’t posted on this blog yet, oh well), I saw some leftover chickpeas in my fridge and I thought to myself, “I wonder what I could do with those.” As my mind became busy trying to find a way to add chickpeas to my breakfast-lunch, I was struck with the idea of adding chickpeas to a standard vegan tofu omelette (which I’ve experimented with before).

The result was thoroughly pleasing. Though, I wish that I’d had some nutritional yeast on hand to add to the mix. Despite that, I felt that the flavor of the tofu and chickpeas, combined with the seasonings, made for a very delicious, though time consuming, breakfast item.

To start off, I seasoned my stainless steel skillet, thinking that cooking omelettes would be the ultimate test to see if seasoning a skillet would really make it “non-stick.” Thankfully, it worked! There was no sticking and I only used paltry amounts of oil with a few spritzes of my Misto sprayer (which I highly recommend).

Vegan Chickpea-Tofu Omelette

Makes 5-6 Omelettes

Ingredients:vegan-omelette-6

1 14-ounce package of silken tofu
1 cup chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
(Note: I imagine that this would also work great with a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast!)
Sliced mushrooms, bell peppers and onions, or vegetables of choice, for filling.

vegan-omelette-2 I began by slicing up a few veggies—mushrooms, mini bell peppers and part of an onion—and throwing them in a skillet. You can also throw some vegan sausage in if that’s your thing. I added a little because the hubs really likes the stuff.

Next, while preheating your pan on a medium-low heat (though, how high of a temperature you need can vary greatly depending on what kind of pan you’re using), add the rest of the ingredients to a boss food processor or blender. If your appliance isn’t super heavy duty, you can add a little plain soymilk or water to help it blend. But don’t put too much extra liquid or it might not be thick enough to solidify into a beautiful omelette. And that would be a real shame.

Then, scoop some of this mixture onto your heated skillet (I put about 3/8 cup per omelette).

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Now comes the waiting game. While your omelette is cooking, cover it for a few minutes to help cook the omelette all the way through. If it starts to seem like it’s steaming it too much and making it soggy, though, remove the cover. Cook until it is pretty solid, about 10 minutes.

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Then, place your filling of veggies and/or veggie sausage on the omelette.

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Use your spatula to fold the omelette over the filling.

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Cook for a minute or two more and voila! A delicious omelette! Repeat these steps for more delicious omelettes! Enjoy!

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