Slow Cooker Baked Beans

It's lazy Sunday/Football day. Time for some comfort food!

INGREDIENTS
2 15oz. canned navy beans
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
4 tbsp. barbeque sauce
3 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt or to taste
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1 tsp. dried thyme
5 cloves of garlic
1 bottle of beer (I used Spaten)
2 tbsp. cornstrach
1/4 cup water


1. Place the maple syrup, dijon mustard, ketchup, barbeque sauce, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, liquid smoke and thyme in a sauce pan. Grate the cloves of garlic and stir to combine.

2. Pour in the bottle of beer and bring to a boil.

3. Mix together the cornstarch and water. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and pour in the cornstarch/water. This will thicken your sauce. Let this cook for about 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently so that the sugars do not burn on the bottom of the pan.

4. Stain and rinse your beans and then place in the sauce. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer for another 10 minutes. Again, stir every once and a while to eliminate burning.

5. Place everything in the slow cooker on low for 1 hour. You can then eat the beans, or turn the settings on warm to keep marinating until company arrives or until it's dinner time.

Faux Egg Drop Soup

I loved Egg Drop soup and it is one of the things I miss from my non-vegan days. This recipe is a very close imitation and it is adapted from VegWeb. The key to this recipe is the Indian Black Salt. It gives it the sulfuric smell and taste that eggs have. You can find it at Vegan Essentials online store or Amazon. My next goal is to recreate the bits of egg found in real egg drop soup with silken tofu in the future :)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup rolled oats
5 cups water
2-3 cups No Chicken broth
2-3 green onions, minced
Indian black salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

METHOD
1. In a pot, combine the rolled oats and water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour.

2. Remove from the heat and let the oats cool. In a separate sauce pan, heat the No Chicken broth until it is hot and add it to the pot of oats. Stir until well combined, then strain out the oats. Reserve the gelatinous mixture and put it in the sauce pan that was used to heat the No Chicken broth.

3. Reheat the soup and add the indian black salt, white pepper and green onions.

Fabulous Blueberry Muffins

Happy Earth Day! I was craving blueberry muffins on this lovely spring morning!
This recipe makes about 16-18 muffins

INGREDIENTS:
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 cup soy milk plus 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Ener-G egg (you can find Ener-G in the gluten free isle of your supermarket. The directions to make 1 egg equivalent are on the box)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 generous cup of plain soy yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries
turbinado sugar, optional

METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a muffin tin with liners. You can also just grease the pan with some cooking spray or shortening.

3. Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and let this curdle together while you get your other ingredients mixed up.

4. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and sugar.

5. In a medium bowl, mix the Ener-G egg together. Then add in the canola oil, yogurt, vanilla extract, and the soy milk/apple cider mixture.

6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir with a wooden spoon. Make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated, but don't over mix the batter.

7. Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries.

8. Add the muffin batter to the muffin tin, filling almost up to the top.

9. Sprinkle the remaining berries where you think the muffin looks sparse and press down lightly into the batter. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.

10. Bake 35 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Strawberries N' Cream Popsicles

It's strawberry season! Here is a simple and tasty way to freeze all of those strawberries you have picked and beat the heat.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup of Vanilla Oreos, crushed (yes, oreos are vegan!)
1 cup strawberries, pureed
1/8 - 1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
2 cups of vanilla soy yogurt

METHOD:
1. Crush your vanilla Oreos. I like my Oreo consistency very fine, so I used a food processor. If you are not too picky, you can crush the cookies by using a ziplock bag and mash them with a rolling pin.

2. Combine the Oreos and vanilla yogurt in a small bowl.

3. Puree the strawberries and sugar together in a food processor. Start with a small amount of sugar and add more depending on how sweet the strawberries are already.

4. Take your popsicle mold and start with the cookie/yogurt mixture first at the bottom, then add the strawberry puree, then a final layer of the cookie/yogurt mixture. Use a knife or a skewer or swirl the three layers together.

5. Freeze overnight and enjoy the next day.

NOTE:
Let the popsicles sit for a bit to melt slightly or run them under hot water to easily remove them from their mold.

You can find popsicle molds easily in your nearest grocery store. I found my mold at Wegman's for $2.99. Here is a link to amazon for one of their popular molds.

Alternatively, you can use dixie cups and popsicle sticks. The trick is to wait 30 minutes before adding the sticks to the cups. Place tin foil or plastic wrap over the cup to prevent freezer burn.

If you really want to be green, reuse those 6 oz. yogurt containers you pack in your lunch box!

No Chicken Noodle Soup

I made this soup for my cross country team to eat for lunch before their meet later that afternoon. It is great for getting in your carbs and protein at the same time. For this recipe, I used chicken-style seitan which I shredded and diced up to look like real chicken.

INGREDIENTS
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
3 stalks celery
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package chicken-style seitan, shredded and/or roughly chopped (or any other imitation chicken you prefer)
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
2 tsp. fresh parsley leaves, chopped
2 quarts (2 boxes) Imagine No Chicken Broth
8 oz. dried pasta (see note below)

METHOD:
1. Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion and saute until soften (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and seitan and cook for two more minutes. Keep stirring the ingredients so that the garlic doesn't brown and stick.

2. Add the salt, pepper, and herbs. Cook for an additional minute.

3. Add the 2 boxes of broth and bring to a boil.

4. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in the noodles and serve when the noodles are cooked to desire.


NOTE:
For the pasta in the picture, I have found wavy noodles that look like egg noodles without the egg at my local co-op store. You can also use any desired pasta such as alphabets or stars for kids, regular spaghetti noodles broken into smaller pieces, or No Yolk Egg Noodles.

This soup will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. When you heat up the leftovers, make sure you add more water because the noodles soak up a lot of the broth. You will also need to add more salt to taste after reheating.

Smokey Split Pea Soup

A smokey flavored Split Pea soup without the ham bone!

INGREDIENTS:
14 cups water
2 medium onions, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/8 cup dried parsley
1/8 cup dried basil
3/4 cup green split peas
3/4 cup yellow split peas
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 dried chipotle pepper
1/2 tbsp. liquid smoke (or to taste)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

METHOD:
1. Bring water to a boil in a large soup pot. Add all ingredients (except the salt, pepper, and liquid smoke) to the pot and stir around a bit. Cover and gently simmer for about an hour.

2. Remove the dried chipotle pepper and discard. Transfer 2/3 of the soup to a blender in batches. Blend into a nice puree, and mix back in with the remaining 1/3 of the soup that was not blended. (If you are lucky enough to have an immersion blender, this would be the best tool for this process).

3. Cover and gently simmer for about 30 minutes. You might need to add a bit of water depending on how thick you like your soup. Make sure that the soup does not come to a boil.

4. Season with salt and pepper and desired amount of liquid smoke. Serve and enjoy!

Makes six large servings.

"Eggs" Benedict

Before turning vegan, oh how I loved eggs benedict! Now, a version for vegans to enjoy as well :)

INGREDIENTS
2 English muffins, sliced and warmed in the oven (so you have 4 halves)
2 block of firm or extra firm tofu, drained and pressed (see method below if unsure how)
olive oil, for frying
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. onion powder (or to taste)
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
hot sauce, to taste
2 cups baby spinach
1 tomato, cut into thin circles
vegan hollandaise sauce, recipe below

METHOD:
1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees F - the oven will be used to keep all the ingredients warm. Place your english muffins on a baking sheet and in the oven.

1. Take a water glass or a biscuit cutter (something circular that will cut through the tofu) and press into each slab, cutting out two circles per tofu block. Now take both circles, and cut them in half so that you have four tofu circles. You can take the excess tofu and put it in a tupperware and save it in the fridge for later use. (I usually give it to the dog along with her dog food for breakfast)

2. Sprinkle each tofu circle with salt, pepper, and onion powder.

3. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan on a medium-high setting. Saute the garlic for about 1 minute, stirring and moving it in the pan so that it doesn't burn. Add a desired amount of hot sauce to the pan and the turmeric, cook for an additional minute. Place the tofu circles in the pan and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes or until light brown and crispy. When they are finished cooking, place them on a baking sheet and into the oven where they will stay warm until the assembling begins.

4. In the same pan, saute the baby spinach with a pinch of salt (saves on dishes!). You might want to add more olive oil if your pan is looking a bit dry. Make sure that you keep stirring the spinach so that it doesn't stick together and get brown - you want the spinach to become just a little soft and wilted, but also retain shape and color.

5. Take out the warm ingredients from the oven. On the english muffins, lay a slice of tomato, spinach, a slab of the tofu and top with the hollandaise.



HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
1/2 cup Vegenaise
2 tsp dijon mustard
lemon juice from 1 small lemon
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
approx 1/4 tsp turmeric (for color)

Whisk all the ingredients until combined.



TO PRESS TOFU:
Tofu has a good amount of liquid in it. Pressing out that water will make it easier to retain a marinade, and hold its shape. Cut the tofu out of the vacuumed sealed container and drain the water. Place tofu block on a clean kitchen towel and fold the cloth over to cover the tofu. Place a flat object, such as a heavy skillet or cutting board, on top of the covered tofu for 20-30 minutes. Be careful that the object is not too heavy, or it will squish and smash the tofu.