Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes by VeganDad

These are yummy, especially sprikled with some Bragg's Amino Acids or Soy Sauce. I didn't alter vegandad's recipe...yet!

INGREDIENTS

Makes 12

- 1 tbsp oil

- 1/4 cup diced onion

- 1/4 cup diced green pepper

- 1 celery stalk, diced

- 1 280z can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

- 1 tsp thyme

- 1 tsp paprika

- pinch of cayenne pepper

- 1 tsp hot sauce

- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

- 2 tbsp flour

- 1 tbsp cornstarch

- salt and pepper to taste

- oil for frying

METHOD

1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, and celery for 5-7 mins, until softened. Remove from heat.

2. Place chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture. Pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but dont process them too much. Place chickpeas in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well. Place in the fridge for 30 mins.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over med/med-hi heat (around 350 degrees). Shape chickpea mixture into 12 patties and fry in batches, about 2-3 mins per side, or until crispy and browned. Flip a few times if they are browning too quickly. If you have trouble forming the patties, add some more cornstarch to hold it all together.

Tofu McMuffin

This recipe is yummy - we eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinners and tastes just like an egg mcmuffin of sorts. Vegandad's scrambled egg recipe that he modified, and I modified more!

• Slice a block of extra firm tofu into 8-10 slices
• Grill on each side until golden brown
• Remove tofu from pan and set aside
• In the same pan mix the following ingredients (you have to do it fast since the pan is hot - if this freaks you out, you can mix the ingredients ahead of time then pour into the pan)
• - 1 tsp onion powder
  - 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  - 1/2 tsp tumeric
  - 1/2 tsp salt
  - freshly ground white pepper
  - 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  - 3-4 tbsp rice milk
• You may need to double the ingredients if you like more of a saucy result, like I do!
  
• Put the slices back into the pan and saute them in the sauce flipping and covering. If your sauce starts drying out on you, add a little more milk.
• Once your "egg slices" are done, take them out of the pan. I then rinse the same pan out again (I try to not to dirty too many dishes at once) and fry up a few slices of smoked turkey Tofurky sandwich "meat". THEN you put a slice or two "egg slices" on your bread of choice - I prefer English Muffins - a slice of the Turkey Tofurky, some diaya cheese, avocado if you have it, and "grill it up" in your pan. Basically get the bread cripsy and melt the cheese but covering them in your pan on medium heat for a few minute and VOILA!!
  

Vegan Pizza to the MAX!

It's been awhile...I HAVE been cooking TONS of new recipes and so I'm going to try to catch up and be better with posting.

Delish Pizza! It's real easy - make my foccacia bread recipe and 1/2 it (unless you want TWO pizzas!) This will be your pizza dough.

On the last 15 min rise, get your ingredients ready.

• Pizza sauce (I use Costco's basil spaghetti sauce)
• Diaya Cheese (most delish vegan cheese) OR the Basil Tofu Ricotta recipe I posted previously
• Saute peppers, onions, artichoke hearts, broccoli, whatever gets you hot!

Then layer away! And cook for the same time and temp as the focaccia recipe!

ENJOY!

Tofu Basil Ricotta - Vegan Dad

Tofu Basil Ricotta

prep time: 10 minutes | cooking time: none | makes About 2 cups

Use as a filling for stuffed shells, mixed with tomato sauce in pasta or as a topping for pizza. By popular demand I edited this to say that you should press the tofu before preparing.

Equipment: Tireless hands, a bowl Ingredients 1 pound firm tofu, pressed 2 tsp lemon juice 2 tsp olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes handful fresh basil leaves, chopped fine (ten leaves or so) dash fresh black pepper Directions In a large bowl, mush the tofu up with your hands, till it's crumbly. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and basil. Mush with hands again, this time you want it to get very mushy so squeeze through your fingers and mush until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese. May take 2-5 minutes. Add olive oil, stir with fork. Add nutritional yeast and combine all ingredients well. Use a fork now, because the oil will make it sticky. Cover and refigerate until ready to use.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pudding Bake

This recipe, again from vegandad was rock your socks delicious! My husband, Micah ate 1/4 of it the first night, then all the left overs the next day. It was quick and easy and so yummy. However, it is quite sugary so if you aren't a huge sugar fan this may not be for you. I however sometimes need to fill my sugar urges and this hit the spot.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 cup flour

- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup soy milk

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar

- 1/4 cup cocoa powder

- 1 1/2 cup boiling water

- 1 tbsp vanilla

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get a few cups of water boiling in your kettle.

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together milk and oil. Add to flour and mix with a spoon. Stir in chocolate chips, then spread into a 8x8 pan.

2. Whisk together white and brown sugar with cocoa powder and sprinkle evenly over batter. Gently pour boiling water over top (do not mix) and then add vanilla. (this makes the pudding)

3. Bake for 40-45 mins, until top is dry and firm. Let cool a bit before serving. Cut into pieces and spoon pudding over top.

The finished product is like a cookie on top, and hot chocolate pudding on the bottom. No joke, AMAZING!

Sweet & Sour Tofu - for Tofu Virgins

I have always wanted to find to recipe for semi breaded tofu because it gets so much more brown and crispy and tastes better that way than just plain 'ol tofu. So last week I went to vegandad's blog: vegandad.blogspot.com
- one of my favorite vegan blogs out there, and found this recipe that turned out suburb!

You will find his recipe below with my notes for you - you virgin tofu cookers out there!!

And note: start rice before you start this recipe. We have a rice cooker at home, but any style of cooking is great - just start it before. Or else you will have topping and nothing to put in on.

INGREDIENTS -

Marinade

- 1 pkg tofu, cubed (I'd recommend the refrigerated very firm kind. It won't fall apart on you. When you slice open the tofu package, drain off all the liquid and then press it between paper towels to get as much of the liquid out as you can. Then proceed to cube.)

- 6 tsp soy sauce

- (2 tsp cooking sherry - I omitted this, I didn't have it so increased the soy sauce to 6 t, like above, if you do have it, cut the soy sauce down to 4 tsp.)

- 1 tsp ground ginger

*You will mix the soy sauce and ground ginger together in a medium bowl, then let the tofu marinade in it. It won't look like enough to cover it all, but it is - just toss it around a bit. You just need the marinade to cover the tofu.

Batter

- Ener-G egg replacer for 4 eggs

- 2 tbsp flour

- 2 tbsp cornstarch

- 1 tsp salt

- oil for frying - I love sesame for asian cooking

*Mix these all up in another medium bowl. Then heat up about 2-3 T of oil (I used sesame oil, always great for Asian cooking) on medium heat in a wok. Wok's are just easier for this kind of recipe. Take about 1/3 of the marinaded tofu and toss them in the batter bowl - gently mix it around to get them covered, and then throw them in the pan with the heated oil. Repeat this until all the tofu is browning in the wok. Once browned take off the heat and dump the now crispy tofu into a bowl and set aside. Then rinse out the wok for the next step.

Sauce

- 1 cup water

- 2 tbsp cornstarch

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup white vinegar

- 2 tsp soy sauce

- 4 tbsp ketchup

- 1 tomato, cut into wedges - I didn't have this, so I upped the ketchup to 4 T. If you have this, cut the ketchup back to 2 T.)

Vegan Dad recommends the following to add:

- thinly sliced red pepper

- thinly sliced cucumber

*I wanted it more like sweet and sour stir fry, so I steamed coined carrots (about 3 chopped), broccoli (about one head chopped up), and diced green pepper (1 medium pepper). You'll want to start steaming the veggies before making the sauce. I'm sure any steamed veggies would rock in this.

You can make the sauce in the wok. Mix water and starch first. Then add in all other ingredients and bring to bubbling. The sauce should go from a light pinkish color to more red. Once thick and ready, add in steamed veggies and tofu and cover them all with the sauce. Dish over rice and voila! Amazing sweet & sour tofu!

Below are vegandad's method. :)

If you have any questions about the tofu or the recipe in general, shoot me an email @ jenniferalene(at)gmail(dot)com. Enjoy! This recipe really kicks butt!

METHOD

1. Mix together marinade ingredients and toss tofu in marinade until coated.

2. Mix together batter ingredients and toss tofu in batter until coated. Fry in 350 degree oil until golden on all sides. Drain.

3. Mix water and cornstarch together and pour into a saucepan. Add sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup and tomato, and bring to bubbling. Add tofu and mix to coat.

4. Garnish with red pepper and cucumber (I didn't have any on hand as you can see) and serve with rice.

Vegan Breakfast Scramble

This morning I felt like something hearty and delicious like hash browns, with a healthy twist. This is what I came up with:

Serves about 4

4 medium red potatoes cubed
1/2 sweet onion diced
1 medium green pepper diced
1 box of firm Silken tofu drained and mashed up with a fork (will look like scrambled eggs)
salt & pepper to taste
about 1 T steak seasoning

Cube potatoes and throw them in a pan (with a lid) with about 2 T of olive oil on medium to medium low heat. Get them nice and brown, about 5-10 min. Meanwhile chop up onion and green pepper (and/or anything else you'd like to add veggie wise) and toss in to saute. (May need to add a little more oil.) When veggies are getting tender, add in the tofu. Turn up to medium high and brown all contents. Serve up once browned with some ketchup and enjoy!

The thing I loved about this breakfast was the combination of great protein, some carbs, healthy fat, and veggies all for breakfast! It was a great way to start my day.

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Cake

2 c. soymilk
2 t. apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
4 T. cocoa powder
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2/3 c. vegetable oil
red food coloring
4 t. vanilla extract

• Add vinegar to soy milk in small bowl and set aside to curdle.
• Sift flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
• Add vegeatable oil, food coloring, and vanilla to the curdled milk and mix.
• Pour liquid into dry and mix.
• Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 to 3/4 full.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min or until done (I ended up doing mine for 22-23 min)

Frosting

1/2 c. margarine (vegan butter), room tempurature

1/2 c. Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, room tempurature

2 t. vanilla extract

2-3 T. vanilla soy milk

4 c. of powdered sugar (I didn't measure this, I just kept adding it to all the wet ingredients until I achecived the right consistency.)

• Cream the margarine, cream cheese, soy milk, and vanilla.
• Add powdered sugar until meet desired consistency.
• Dye if you want.

Frost cooled cupcakes!

Balsamic Cilantro Dressing

I took this recipe from online and adapted it to my liking. It was YUMMY!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2-3 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
• Small bunch of cilantro
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. 
   

   Mix all ingredients EXCEPT oil together in blender or food processor.

2. 
   

   Add oil to mixture and mix well. Taste, and adjust if necessary.
   

Grilled Mexican Tofu

No joke, this was INCREDIBLE. It's like a tostada but instead of on a corn shell, it's sitting on grilled BBQ tofu. (I can't wait to eat my leftovers!!!)

This also deserves a shout out to vegandad @ (vegandad.blogspot.com) - his recipes are vast and diverse and always delicious.

*Warning: this is labor intensive. It took me maybe 90 min from start to finish, but you could shave off time if A - you used canned re-fried beans, I made mine, and B - used bottled salsa, I made fresh too. But making this the way it should be (with the fresh salsa and beans) I think made it just absolutely superb. I would recommend making a double batch for leftovers since it takes so much time.

This easily would serve 4.

The recipe is below, how I altered it is in pink next to it. ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS

Dry Rub
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (I just had regular paprika and used that.)
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin

- 1 pkg tofu, cut into 8 slices (I got 10 out of mine - and I enjoyed having more slices.)

Mexican BBQ Sauce
- 4 tbsp margarine
- 1 medium onion, small dice - (used my food processor to speed this up!)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced - (used my food processor to speed this up!)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup tequila (omitted, I didn't have any)
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 tsp chipotle powder (or more) (didn't have this either, so I used 1 t. cayenne pepper + about 3 T. liquid smoke. I LOVE the taste of liquid smoke, so you may want to start with less and add slowly to taste)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- salt, if desired

Refried Beans
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, diced - (used my food processor to speed this up!)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped - (used my food processor to speed this up!)
- 2 cups cooked pinto beans (I used canned)
- 1/2 cup salsa verde (didn't have this so I used red enchilada sauce instead)
- 1/2 (approx.) veggie broth
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- salt and pepper to taste

- sliced avocado
- chiffonaded romaine lettuce
- salsa (preferably freshly made)

METHOD
1. Mix together the dry rub ingredients and rub onto all sides of the tofu slices. Set aside.

2. Make the BBQ sauce: heat margarine over medium heat in a saucepan, then saute onions and garlic of 8-10 mins, until nice and soft. Add sugar, tequila, and lime juice and mix well. Add ketchup and spices and bring to bubbling. Remove from heat.

3. Make the refried beans: Heat oil over medium heat, then saute onions and garlic for 10-12 mins, until soft and starting to brown. Add beans and salsa (enchilada sauce) and mix well. Cook for a few mins then begin mashing beans with a fork. As beans cook (about 15 mins), thin out with veggie broth to keep them moist, but not too goopy. When desired consistency is reached, add spices and season to taste. Keep warm over low heat.

4. BBQ tofu. If you have a grill, place dry rubbed tofu pieces on grill for a few minutes on each side. Then slather with 1/2 the Mexican BBQ sauce and let sit for 5 minutes, then flip and repeat. (I don't have a grill, so I used a large pan and heated up the tofu for 3-5 minutes on each side, then added 1/2 the Mexican BBQ Sauce and let sit for 5 min, then flipped and used other 1/2 of sauce. They turned out bomb diggity awesome.)

5. Assemble the dish: place a piece of tofu on a plate and top with a layer of refried beans. Top that with 2 avocado slices, and then some of the romaine. Top that with a generous spoonful of salsa.

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

This was SO yummy - very "fall" like soup with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Made the quick vegan rolls to go with this.

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 T. butter
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped (I used about 3/4 of my squash, it was big)
1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, chopped, (squash and apple should be at a 3 to 1 ratio - I added a second apple since I had so much squash, and about a 1/2 c. of extra veggie broth)
3 c. veggie broth
pinches of nutmeg, cinnamon, salt & pepper

Directions:

Combine butter, onion, celery, and carrot in large pot. Cook for 5 min. Add squash, apple, and broth. Bring to boil. Simmer for 10 min or until squash is soft. Puree. Add spices to taste.

Serves 4-6

Creamy Potato & Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 T. oil
• 1 large sweet onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 clove garlic
• 4-5 medium red potatoes skins on, small dice (I didn't have that many so I threw one regular skinned bakers potato in there)
• 1 c. water
• 3 c. plain soy or rice milk
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets (This is important! I kept mine big and they took WAY too long to cook. If you want them bigger, I suggest steaming them a bit first.)
• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 c. soy creamer or coconut milk cream (i.e. place a can of coconut milk in the fridge and let the fat separate from the water)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onions, celery, and garlic for about 5 minutes until softened, Add potatoes and saute for 2 minutes.

2. Add water and soy milk to the pot (should cover most of the potatoes - add more if needed). Bring to bubbling, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft.

3. Remove half the soup (I did more, like 3/4) from the pot and blend until smooth. Return to pot along with the broccoli florets. Return to bubbling, and cook for 5-7 minutes, until broccoli is cooked (soft, but not mushy).

4. Add nutritional yeast creamer, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Quick Vegan Rolls

* These are way easy, quick, and delicious! I served these last night with the Cauliflower soup recipe below. Oh, I also doubled this because we eat fresh bread like we haven't eaten in days.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 c flour
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 package (or 2 1/4 t.) yeast
1 c. very warm water
2 T. vegan butter
1/4 of a block of Silken Tofu, mashed up or pureed to an egg-like consistency

Directions:

Mix 1 1/4 c. of flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl. Add the water, vegan butter, and tofu: beat with spoon until smooth. Then add in remaining flour and stir til smooth. Scrape the batter from the sides of the bowl and cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30 min or until doubled in size.

Grease a muffin pan (each recipes makes about 12 rolls). Stir down the batter then spoon (or I always like to get messy and use my hands) the batter into the tin. Fill cups about 3/4 of the way. Let rise for another 15-20 min or until it rises over the tops of the cups.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 min, or until golden brown.

Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

2 T. oil
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 leeks, thinly sliced (just the white parts)
2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
water
1 head of garlic
1 c. nutritional yeast
plain soy milk
salt and pepper to taste
dried herbs (anything from chili powder, parsley, chives, etc)

Directions:

1. Saute onions, celery, and leeks for 15 min of med-hi in a BIG stockpot. This makes a lot.
2. Meanwhile peel the cloves of garlic. Place in a pouch of aluminum with a splash of oil and roast on med-hi BBQ for about 15 min. (I didn't have the time so I just used minced garlic from a jar and it was still yummy)
3. Add in cauliflower florets. Add in water until it sits just under the veggies, you don't want them completely covered, and simmer until cauliflower gets really soft.
4. Add in garlic and blend (either with a hand mixer in the pot or in a blender). Blend in soy milk until desired consistency is reached. Blend in nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with dried herbs.

Healthy Eating Pyramid

You all need to take a look at this food guide pyramid published by Harvard. It is not funded by the milk and meat industries, unlike the USDA's pyramid. So, it's actually backed by facts and studies and not money. Go figure.





http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/





You can go to the above link to download the full pdf file where it mentions to eat sparingly the following: red meat and butter, refined grains: white rice, bread, and potatoes as well as sugary drinks and sweets and salt. It also talks about including healthy fats and oils and transfat free margarine. I love this chart!

Apple Waffles

These are yummy any time of year, but especially good during the fall when you can feel at one with the foliage. It's like Apple Pie without all tha hassle. Roll out of bed, invite your friends over and make them feel loved.

Equipment:
Waffle iron, wisk or strong fork, 2 mixing bowls

Ingredients
1 large or two small apples (I use granny smith), grated

Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Wet ingredients:
1 cup applejuice
3/4 cup soymilk
1/3 cup applesauce
2 tablepoons corn oil (canola or veg oil will do)
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Preheat waffle iron.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl, mix together all the wet

ingredients (including sugar) until well combined. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and slowly blend in the wet ingredients until combined. Fold in the grated apple.

Make your waffles according to manufacturers directions. I use a belgian waffle iron and 1 cup of batter per waffle works for me, but you should consult your directions. For crispier waffles, let cook 30 seconds to a minute longer than the directions suggest.

Avocado Eggrolls (like Cheesecake Factory!)

These are incredibly delicious!! Just like the ones at Cheesecake Factory! For a low fat version, drizzle them with a little bit of olive oil and bake them in a 400 degree oven.

2-4 servings

30 mins prep time

Egg Rolls
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, & diced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onions
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 dash salt
4 egg roll wraps (can also use won ton wraps)
1 egg, beaten (I omit this and just use water to seal the wrapper)
Oil for deep-frying

Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon tamarind pulp
1/2 cup honey (I use slightly less)
1 pinch turmeric
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dipping Sauce - **if you are missing some of the spices no worries, I made this last night just with vinegar, honey, cashews, cilanto, sugar, pepper, cumin, and olive oil and it was delish.

1. Combine all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.
2. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Egg Rolls
1. Stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and salt.
2. Distribute filling evenly on the center of each egg roll wrapper.
3. Fold one corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling.
4. Brush the remaining corners and edges with beaten egg (this is where I just use water), roll up the left and right side, then fold top corner over all and press to seal.
5. Repeat with the remaining wrappers.
6. Deep-fry the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, or until browned.
7. Drain on paper towels.
8. Slice egg rolls diagonally in half and serve with the prepared dipping sauce.

Focaccia Bread

This bread was so delish - especially dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients:

6 c. unbleached white flour + 2 T gluten
Or just 6 c. unbleached white bread flour
1/3 c. olive oil
1 T. dried basil
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried majoram (didn't have this so I substituted with rosemary)
4-6 cloves of garlic (I just use the bottled already minced garlic and eye ball it)
1 1/2 t. salt
2 1/3 c. warm water
1 T. sugar
2 envelopes dry yeast

Directions:
1. Heat 1/2 the olive oil on low
2. Add 1/2 the garlic and 1/2 the herbs in the olive oil
3. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water, set aside until it foams
4. Put flour and salt in large mixing bowl and stir in the heated olive oil and herbs
5. Then add the yeast/water mixture and mix together.
6. Add more water as needed to make a flexible dough.
7. Knead for about 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface until smooth
8. Oil the dough slightly and rinse out the bowl you used to mix in and oil that slightly. Then return dough back to the oiled bowl.
9. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in size (about one hour). I set my dough on top of my fridge, it emits some warm heat so it helps is raise.
10. When the hour is almost up start heating up the remaining oil and herbs.
11. Remove dough and punch down and knead slightly. Divide into two balls of dough. With hangs or rolling pin flatten the dough to 10-12" rounds or rectangles that are about 1/2" thick.
12. Use the tip of your finger and make indentations in the top of the bread.
13. Spread oil and herbs evenly over the bread, then sprinkle with salt. (my fav is Kosher salt)
14. Place on baking sheets, cover, and let rest for 15 min.
15. Preheat oven to 450 degrees during this 15 min.
16. Bake for 10-15 min, until slightly browned on top.
17. Remove and let cool!

Now, enjoy!
12.

Vegan Corn Bread

Ingredients
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350, line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper or spray the bottom lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, wisk together the soymilk and the vinegar and set aside. (*Note - I didn't have soy milk so I used rice milk. The corn bread turned out ok - but i know soy milk + vinegar = buttermilk substitute, so I would recommend soy milk if you have it.)

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt).
Add the oil and maple syrup to the soymilk mixture. Wisk with a wire wisk or a fork until it is foamy and bubbly, about 2 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix together using a large wooden spoon or a firm spatula. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Slice into squares and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

I served these with my BBQ Chili. It was a great combo!

Black Bean Brownies

I tried these suckers tonight and they were de-lish! The beans gave them a very rich flavor. Will def make them again!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 "eggs" (egg replacer)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional) - I used about 1/2 t and they turned out wonderful
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional) - I used about 1/4 c.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.