Vegan Blueberry Muffins with Struesel Topping

I found this recipe on the TheDailyGreen website. These are totally awesome – not too heavy, and the cake not too sweet. Of course, I had to fiddle around with the recipe. I used white whole wheat flour, cut the sugar by 1/4 cup and added some vanilla extract. And it was so good! I don't normally bake with Ener-G Egg Replacer but the recipe called for it and so I used it. It was fine. (For some reason I was afraid it would leave a "funny" taste.) I also have to note that with the crumb topping it was a bit too sweet for me. I'll probably leave it off next time and maybe add a couple tablespoons of the sugar back in. The original recipe says 12 servings but I only got 10. Four Stars.

For the original recipe go to TheDailyGreen website:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/cookbook/3378

INGREDIENTS
1- 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
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1 Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/3 cup soy milk
3/4 cup blueberries

Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
2 TB white whole wheat flour
2 TB vgan margarine
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 10-12 muffin cups.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

Make the Ener-G egg.

Pour the vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup, then add the egg and enough soymilk to fill the measuring cup, and then vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.

Fold in blueberries, then place the batter into the greased muffin tin.

Crumb topping: Mix ingredients until any large lumps are worked out. Sprinkle topping over muffin batter before baking.

Bake about 25 minutes, until the topping and the tops of the muffins are golden.

Rainbow Chard Quiche

I've always loved quiche. This one comes pretty close to the "egg" type but without the eggs. You could substitute the vegetables too. Four stars.

Ingredients:
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
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1 large bunch rainbow chard
1/4 cup chopped onions
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
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½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a shallow 9" pie dish and set aside.

For the greens: Cut off bottom 1 inch or so of stems and discard. De-vein each leaf and finely dice the stems and veins. Keep separate from rest of leaves. Chop the rest of the leaves. Saute the stems, veins, onions, and garlic until wilted. Add rest of leaves and saute until wilted. Set aside.

Crumble tofu into bowl with your hands. Add spices, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, mustard, and lemon. Mix well and add cooked chard. Mix in chard and transfer to baking dish. Bake 30-40 minutes, until golden and the center is not still mushy. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Hershey's Chocolate Sauce

A quick, versatile chocolate sauce that's easy to make with ingredients you probably have on hand. This recipe is easily halved. It's my own version of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

Ingredients
1 TB plus 1 tsp cornstarch
2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
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1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Combine cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the milk, stir and set aside. Combine dry ingredients in small saucepan; whisk to mix well. Add milk and stir over medium heat until just coming to a boil. Add cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Take off heat and add vanilla.

Breakfast Tofu and Vegetable Hash

The best of all worlds to start your morning - tofu, potatoes, and peas! Four Stars.

Ingredients
8 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
1 tsp tamari or Shoyu
1/2 tsp curry power*
1/4 tsp dried dill weed
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2 medium red-skinned potatoes, diced
2 tsp olive oil
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1/2 cup diced green peppers
1/4 cup diced red onion
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
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1/3 frozen peas
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1 small tomato, finely diced
fresh parsley to taste
1 TB nutritional yeast
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Crumble the tofu in to small bowl with the first 3 spices. Mix and let sit. Heat olive oil in pan and cook potatoes over medium heat until lightly browned around the edges. Add bell pepper, onions, and garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Add peas and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tofu and the rest of the ingredients and cook for around 2 minutes.

*If you're not too wild about curry powders, substitute with 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp tumeric powder, and 1/4 tsp cayenne powder

Flapjacks!

This recipe makes about 4 pancakes and it's one of the best vegan pancakes I've had. Do not substitute the flour unless you've made this at least once. Five Stars!

Ingredients
2/3 cup non-dairy milk of your choice
1 TB lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
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2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1-1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
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1 TB walnut oil (or oil of your choice)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Mix milk and lemon together and let sit while you mix all of the other ingredients in another small bowl. Add oil and vanilla to liquid ingredients, mix and add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Heat a skillet and lightly oil it; add 1/3 cup pancake mixture for each pancake. Cook until a few bubbles form on top and bottom is browned; flip and cook other side. Serve hot with maple syrup or whatever turns you on.

Thick Gooey Chocolate Sauce

Here is a recipe for a quick, easy chocolate sauce. It's really good on vanilla rice cream! Next time I make it, I will add 1 tsp. of vanilla. Store in the refrigerator in a microwavable container. It's very thick and you may want to heat it a bit so it will scoop out a bit easier. Three Stars.

(Note: This sauce did not grow on me as I ate it. The consistency is too thick and it makes me feel like I'm eating agave syrup flavored with chocolate. Too much sugar. I've scouted around and found another recipe that's much more to my liking, thinner, not so sweet and pours easily. See post for "Hershey's Chocolate Sauce" Sept. 18, 2010.)

Ingredients
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
1 Tb walnut oil

Directions
Combine ingredients into a small blender (I used the mini chopper attachment that came with my immersion blender) and blend until mixed.