Albers® Corn Bread - Veganized!

This is the recipe off the box with substitutions made so it's vegan. I made muffins out of the batter. Excellent served with my Spicy Chili with Pintos and Veggies (see previous post).

• 1 cup Albers® White or Yellow Corn Meal OR any other cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill organic medium grain cornmeal)
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup oat milk or other non-dairy milk
  
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 Ener-G egg replacer
  

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan or prepare muffin tin.

COMBINE meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Mix 1-1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer with 2 TB water, mix well and set aside. Combine milk and oil in small bowl; mix well. Add milk mixture, and Ener-G egg replacer to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared pan OR spoon into muffin tin.

BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

NOTE Recipe may be doubled. Use greased 13x9-inch baking pan; bake as above.

Makes 10-12 muffins

Spicy Vegan Chili with pintos and veggies

This chili has no tofu or TVP. What there IS, is lots of spices and vegetables and a few beans. This is more spicy than “hot.” If you want to dial it down a bit, just use 1/2 of the fresh jalapeno and cut the chili powder quantity in half.

Ingredients
1 TB olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, sliced
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 large mushrooms, chopped
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1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 TB chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
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1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 14 oz can of pinto beans
2 TB tomato paste

Directions
Heat olive oil in large pot. Add onion and saute a couple minutes, add celery, carrots, minced garlic and saute until onions are getting translucent. Add jalapeno, bell pepper and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms start to extrude moisture. Add spices and stir for a minute or two. Add rest of ingredients and cook until vegetables are just al dente.

Garnish with vegan sour cream, shredded cheese or avocado.

Pear Sauce for Pancakes or whatever!

I like to have pancakes for breakfast a couple times a month. In an effort to avoid processed foods, I usually just top my pancakes with pure maple syrup. Quite frankly, the sugar rush just doesn't agree with me so I thought I'd try something less sweet like a fruit topping. This pear sauce is not too sweet and the consistency is similar to applesauce but not so thick. Maple syrup is used to sweeten the sauce. I was pleased with the results.

Ingredients
2 fresh pears
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 TB maple syrup, to taste

Directions
Peel pear and cut fruit away from stem and core and put in small saucepan with lemon, apple juice, and cinnamon. Mash up and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 TB of the maple syrup. Take off heat and blend with immersion blender. Taste. If not sweet enough add another tablespoon of maple syrup.

Vegan Cookie Exchange

The local meet up group for vegans had a cookie exchange last week. I brought two different cookies, both from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats. If you only have one vegan cookie bookbook, this is the one to get. All of the recipes I've made have turned very well.

One of the recipes was for Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. A video with Isa and the recipe is posted on http://www.theppk.com/blog/2009/09/16/mexican-hot-chocolate-snickerdoodles/. This was the recipe that convinced me to buy the cookbook. The only thing you might think about changing in the recipe is the amount of cayenne. It called for 1/2 teaspoon which may be too much for some people or kids. If you're "hot spicy" adverse, cut it to 1/4 teaspoon. If baked the full 12 minutes, these cookies are crispy. If you prefer a softer cookie, bake the shorter time.

Linzertorte Thumbprint Cookies

My other contribution to the cookie excahnge was Linzertorte Thumbprint Cookies. These were awesome little fat bombs! The ingredients called for hazelnut butter which I've never seen, let alone keep in my cupboard, so I substituted cashew butter. In my quest for perfection, next time I'll make the cookies flatter and the indent deeper so I can put more jam in cookie.

Both of these cookies will be on my Christmas cookie bake list this year.

Cake Pan Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

What a fun, silly recipe! You mix all the dry ingredients in your cake pan, make several holes for the liquids, mix and bake. Personally, I sifted the dry ingredients into a bowl and mixed together so the cocoa wouldn't be lumpy. But that's just me. I used soy milk for the liquid and canola oil for the oil. The cake was tasty and moist but not a deep rich chocolate bomb. Fun to make! This recipe comes courtesy of the fine folks at King Arthur Flour website:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/king-arthur-flours-original-cake-pan-cake-recipe

Next time I make this, I'm going to use whole wheat pastry flour. Also, this cake really needs frosting. I considered just dusting it with powdered sugar but it's a little bland without it. The frosting "makes it." The recipe below for frosting is super quick and super tasty.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water, coffee, soy or almond milk, or 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup rum

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8" or 9" round or square cake pan; if you use an 8" pan, make sure it's at least 2" deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the vegetable oil into the third.

Take the cup of cold liquid (water, coffee, milk, etc.) and pour it directly over everything in the pan. Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Yield: 12 to 16 servings.

Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
1/4 cup soy milk
4 ounces of semi sweet chocolate (chips ok)
2 TB maple syrup

Directions
Heat soy milk to boiling; take off heat, add chocolate and maple and stir with spatula until combined.

Warm German Potato Salad

A variation of the recipe on Vegetarian Times website. Lip-smacking tasty potatoes on a bed of spinach. Serves 2. Four Stars.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. baby red potatoes, cut into 1- x 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 oz. green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2-3 green onions, white and pale-green parts chopped (1/4 cup)
• 2 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
• 4 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves

Directions

1. Cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water 8 minutes, or until tender. Add green beans during last minute or so of cooking.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until tender but not browned. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar.

3. Drain potatoes and green beans. Toss with olive oil mixture and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm on bed of spinach.