Vegan Pumpkin Waffles

From Isa at the Post Punk Kitchen
(slightly modified by me)

Yield: 16 waffles

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 Tb soy yogurt
2 cups soymilk
15 oz pureed pumpkin - fresh or canned
1/3 cup safflower oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Sift together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together wet ingredients until well emulsified. Pour wet into dry and combine. Prepare waffles according to manufacturers instructions.

Serve with maple syrup and Earth Balance spread.
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Mmm... pumpkin. Yes, I'm a little obsessed with all things pumpkin. The waffles were tasty, and not too sweet. (Which is good since you know I'm going to be dousing them in syrup either way.) I wasn’t crazy about the texture, but it may have been my lack of skill with the waffle iron (as evidenced in the above picture!) And I actually preferred the pancakes I made with the leftover batter anyway. I’d like to experiment with making them multigrain, or possibly wheat free. Also, next time, unless I’m cooking for vegans I won’t bother to buy soy yogurt, just for 2 Tb, when I already have regular yogurt on hand.

Braised Lima Beans

by Rebecca Edwards
(from basic directions at http://wholehealthmd.com)

Yield: 8 servings

Preparation time: about 5 minutes
Cooking time: about 15 minutes

1 small onion
2 Tb olive oil
10 oz lima beans - (fresh, cooked or frozen, thawed)
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
water or vegetable broth

Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic. Gently sweat onion with a dash of salt and pepper in 1 Tb oil over low heat, until soft. Add the garlic, lima beans, thyme, sage, and additional oil. Stir to coat beans, cook 1-2 minutes. Add water or broth just to cover, simmer about 10 minutes or until tender. Adjust seasoning to taste.

For a creamier sauce without adding butter, puree a small amount of the beans and stir them back in, or use an immersion blender to pulse for just a few seconds.

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This recipe was inspired by my breakfast at Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville! My version isn't quite as tasty, but is probably also about 50000% lower in butter.

Vegan Breakfast Sausage

From "Tofu and Soyfoods Cookery"
via this blog

Yield: 6 patties

8 oz tempeh - fresh or thawed, frozen
1/3 cup water
2 Tb whole wheat flour
1 Tb olive oil
1 Tb dark miso
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of salt

1. Steam the tempeh for 10 minutes; then cool and grate on the course side of a grater.
2. Combine the tempeh with the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and shape into 6 flat cakes, pressing together firmly. (Add a little flour if the mixture is too moist.)
3. Fry in a hot skillet until browned in just enough oil to keep the patties from sticking to the pan.
4. Drain on a paper towel. The patties can be made ahead and frozen. Separate each patty with waxed paper before placing in the freezer.


Nutritional facts per serving (daily value): Calories 106kcal; Protein 8g (15%); Total Fat 7g (10%)(Sat. 1g (6%)); Chol. 0mg (0%); Carb. 6g (2%); Fiber 0g (2%); Sugars 0g; Calcium 44mg (4%); Iron 1mg (7%)

Miso – All the health benefits of soy. Rich source of nutrients for a flavoring agent. (whfoods.org) High in B vitamins and protein. The live cultures aid in digestion. Antioxidants are more easily absorbed from fermented soy. (Balch 86) Has been shown to protect against breast cancer. (Murray 376)

Tempeh – All the health benefits of soy. Higher in fiber than other soy products, as it is made from the whole soybean. (Balch 187) Source of manganese and phosphorus. (Murray 378) Like miso, provides the benefits of fermented soy.

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This homework assignment was supposed to feature fermented foods and alternate ingredients - so tempeh and miso were obvious choices. This is just a recipe I stole from someone's blog, but we ended up making a similar recipe in class later on. The class recipe was actually more complicated with more elaborate seasoning, and it pretty much tasted exactly the same! I thought it came out well - it really looks just like breakfast sausages! It didn't taste like sausage, or even like "fake" packaged sausage, but I really liked it - and I'm NOT a fan of tempeh usually. I was wary of burning the patties, but actually the more I browned them the more sausagey flavor they got. Froze and reheated in the toaster really well. My only complaint was that the flavor was not very strong. Seeing as how the class recipe had more spices with little effect, the next time I make this I will throw in tons of fresh sage and garlic and see if that kicks it up a notch.

Easy to make and a little cheaper than storebought.

I actually did a cost analysis on this recipe:
8 oz Tempeh - $2.59
2 Tb whole wheat flour - $0.02
1 Tb olive oil - $0.35
1 Tb dark miso - $0.24
1/2 tsp sage - $0.02
Other spices – estimated - $0.05
TOTAL RECIPE COST: $3.27
Price per serving: $0.55

Spicy Herb and Tomato Cheez Spread

From The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak

Makes 1 cup

1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup oat flour
1 cup water
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Pinch of cayenne

Place the nutritional yeast flakes and flour in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the water, taking care to avoid lumps. Whisk in remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly until very thick and smooth. Serve hot, warm, or thoroughly chilled. Keeps about 5 to 7 days in the refrigerator.

Nutrition information per 1/4 cup: 110 calories – 10 g protein, 5 g fat, 12 g carbohydrate, 15 mg calcium, 227 mg sodium.

Nutritional Yeast Flakes
A very concentrated source of complete protein. It is also a rich source of vitamin B12 – a tablespoon provides more than 100% of the RDA of B12 and of pantothenic acid. Also rich in thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and folate. It is one of the few non-animal sources of complete protein or B12, so it's a great supplement for vegetarians. Helps to lower cholesterol and its high chromium content has health benefits for diabetics. In clinical trials, was effective in reducing acne.
** Not recommended in doses above 3 tablespoons daily, or for people with gout, kidney disease, or arthritis, due to the high purine content. May contribute to migraines for some people.
(Murray 631-633, Vegetarian Resource Group - vrg.org)

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The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook was the only thing my vegan boss asked me to bring back to Ecuador, and I've seen Jen at veganlunchbox use recipes from it too. And then we were given a copy as one of our class textbooks. So even though I'm a real-cheese kind of gal, I thought I'd try a recipe for my class demo. I got 9 thumbs up, even though most of my classmates are far from vegetarian.

It was really cheap, easy to make, and came out a great gooey consistency. It didn't taste like cheese, but it also didn't taste like plastic (or soy, or chickpeas...) It was herby, but not very tomatoey, so I might try adding tomato paste the next time, or even subbing that for the ketchup. You could play around a little with the spices, but the author warns that since there are so few ingredients, a little change makes a huge difference in flavor. I made the second batch with a smaller pinch of cayenne and used smoked paprika, and you could definitely tell the difference - a mellower and smoky flavor. You can put this on anything. Hot it would be great on broccoli, and cold it's a perfect dip.