Zucchini Bread Oatmeal

Ok, so I fully admit to being skeptical when I first saw the recipe - zucchini and oatmeal are two things I'd never expect to be in my mouth at the same time. But we've been so overwhelmed with zucchini this season that I've been putting it in just about everything. If you liked the Cherry-Zucchini Bread (we can't stop eating it), trust me when I say, you MUST try this!

It's the absolute most perfect warm-up for these unseasonably chilly fall-ish mornings. I'm not quite ready to let go of summer yet, but alas, if I must, this little bowl of heaven is going to make it a lot easier.

Buon appetito!

Zucchini Bread Oatmeal
Recipe courtesy of Oh She Glows
Serves 1

1/3 cup rolled oats
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt & nutmeg, to taste
1/2 cup finely grated zucchini (packed)
1 tablespoon chia seeds or ground flax
1 tablespoon raisins, cranberries or the dried fruit of your choice
2 tablespoons chopped pecans (walnuts are good too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon Earth Balance (optional)

In a medium sized pot combine oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. Add milk and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes.

Stir in the grated zucchini, chia or flax seeds, dried fruit, brown sugar, and half the nuts. Cook over medium heat, adding more milk if/when necessary, for another 5-6 minutes. Reduce heat to low. When cooked, remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour into bowl and top with remaining nuts and butter. YUM!

Blackberry Peach Crepes

I could eat breakfast all day, every day.

I always thought pancakes, crepes and other decadent delights were for people who had the luxury of time to spend hours preparing. Very happy to say that these are not only delicious, but super quick to whip up and pretty healthy as breakfasts go so they're guilt-free all the way around. Like most Italians, The Bear isn't a big breakfast eater - cappuccino and biscotti is his "sit-down" version of the first meal of the day - so I was super psyched to see him scraping the bowl before I even started cooking!

Blackberry Peach Crepes
makes six 6" crepes

1/2 cup soymilk
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, melted
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water (to thin if needed)

Garnishes
a handful of fresh blackberries
one peach, sliced
powdered sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth and thin. If it gets clumpy or doesn't drip easily off the whisk, add a couple tablespoons of water. Transfer to a 2-cup measuring cup (for easy pouring) and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the batter is refrigerating, have some coffee and prepare your fillings.

Melt a small pat of vegan butter in a skillet on medium heat. Pour out a small amount of batter and either swirls the skillet to create a nice, thin, round layer or use the backside of a ladle to lightly spread it into a circle. They should be thin enough to cook through.

Flip carefully when the top is covered with bubbles and starts to look set. Cook until lightly browned on each side.

Top with berries and peaches (or any other fruit you happen to have around) and a sprinkling of powdered sugar and serve with fresh-squeezed OJ - a beautifully bright way to start your day!

Tomato-Spinach Tofu Skillet

The Bear was out of town for a couple of days so I took this opportunity to play with some of my vegan cookbooks.

My advice to Sneaky Vegans who want to encourage others to eat more vegan meals has always been this: test recipes that feature any kind of food substitute - soy, seitan, tofu, etc - and make sure it actually tastes good (and not just "good-for-vegan-food" good, I mean the "so-gobsmacking-good-you-want-to-stick-your-head-in-the-bowl-and-bathe-in-it" kind of good) before you try to sneak it past an omni. Sure non-vegan recipes can suck sometimes too, but those seem to be more easily forgiven and quickly forgotten.

Another thing I do when the Bear isn't home is work ridiculously long hours. So the other night I found myself starving to death after realizing that I hadn't eaten since the night before. I had pre-emptively purchased a block of tofu at the beginning of my little husband-holiday so I immediately pounced on this opportunity to use it. I don't use it a lot as I'm not a fan of processed food but the truth is, I actually like tofu. At least when it's in a recipe that's built around it rather than thrown in as a placeholder for something else. It's all about expectations folks.

This is one of the easiest dishes to make and it's wonderfully versatile as you can substitute all kinds of spice blends to vary the flavor. This is one I tried.

Scrambled Tofu
adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance
Serves 2 as a stand-alone meal or 4 for brekkie served with potatoes and toast

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped in 1/2" chunks
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained but not necessarily dry
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional, as I didn't have any but it was still good!)
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 handfuls of freshly washed spinach

Spice Blend
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (you can also substitute curry powder)
1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions for about 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Then add the spice blend and mix it all up for another minute. Add 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pan. Be sure to scrape up all the garlic and spices. Yum.

Crumble the tofu and mix it in well. Don't crush or mash it, just fold it in until everything is well combined. Let it cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat a bit if you find the tofu is sticking. If you happen to have nutritional yeast (this is still on my list of things to get) this is where you'd mix it in. I'm told it's delicious, but I didn't miss not having it so up to you.

Throw in the chopped tomato and spinach, mixing well to get the spinach cooked down. I realize it's probably easier to saute the spinach first, but doing it at the end keeps it from shrinking into nothingness. Same for the tomatoes, to keep them somewhat in tact rather than reducing them to mush.

Depending on how much water the tofu was retaining, you may need to add splashes of water here and there if it gets sticky. When the veggies are cooked to your liking, serve it up and enjoy.

The bear saw this photo when he came home and wants me to make it for him. So for all the folks out there who think vegan food doesn't look appetizing...eat THAT!

Banana-Nut Waffles

This was my first-ever shot at making waffles. Yum!

If you don't happen to have a waffle iron, this would probably make great pancakes.

Banana Nut Waffles
Adapted from Veganomicon: the Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
Makes 14-16

1-3/4 cups soy milk
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 bananas
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons maple or agave syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
nonstick cooking spray

Preheat your waffle iron. Combine the soy milk, water and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside to curdle.

Mash the bananas well in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the soy milk mixture, oil, syrup and vanilla.

Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg first. Then add the flour, using a fork to combine, and be careful not to overmix. I'd also suggest adding the flour in thirds - I followed the recipe exactly and my batter came out too thick to pour. I loosened it up by adding more soy milk but next time I would add the flour more gradually until achieving the desired consistency. Mix until there are minimal lumps and fold in the walnuts.

Spray the cooking surfaces of the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and cook the waffles according to the manufacturer's directions.

Serve with sliced bananas, walnuts and maple syrup. A sprinkle of powdered sugar and some strawberries would be lovely as well.

Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Pancakes

Not to be confused with Larry's Sunday Buckwheat Pancakes, these yummy little suckers have the berries built in! (there are actually two pancakes in this photo - in case anyone was wondering...)

Blueberry Corn Pancakes
Adapted from Veganomicon
makes 8-10 pancakes

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons canola oil (I left it out for a lower-fat version and they were fine)
1-1/4 cup plain soy milk (I used vanilla - yum!)
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (optional - but only because I didn't have any!)

1 cup fresh berries (I used blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries)
canola (or some other light oil) cooking spray

Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, add them to the dry until combined and fold in the berries.  A couple of lumps are fine. Overmixing yields tougher pancakes.

Preheat a non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan. Cook till bubbly and brown on bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook until browned. Pancakes should be firm but not hard.

Top with fresh berries, bananas, powdered sugar, nuts or whatever your little hearts desire.

Vanilla Lavender Oatmeal

Photo and recipe courtesy of Healthy Slow Cooking

Perhaps this is just a futile attempt to push Spring along, but I seem to be on some kind of bizarre lavender kick. In any case, I can't wait to try this!

This recipe uses a smaller slow cooker that’s 1-1/2 to 2 quarts and makes 2-3 servings.

1/2 cup steel-cut oats (they have a gluten-free one as well)
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon culinary lavender (food grade)
1 – 2 tablespoons sweetener (vanilla sugar would be lovely)

Vanilla Creme Topping (optional)
3 tablespoons vanilla coconut yogurt mixed with the paste scraped out of 1/2 vanilla bean

The night before: Spray your crock with some oil to help with clean up later. Add oats, milk, lavender and vanilla extracts. Cook on low over night (7 to 9 hours).

In the morning: Stir your oatmeal well. It may seem watery at the top but if stirred it should become a more uniform consistency. Stir in sweetener. Top each serving with the vanilla creme topping. It will add sweetness and extra vanilla flavor. What a delicious way to start the day!

NOTE: whilst fresh lavender always looks lovely in a photo, personally I don't recommend it as an edible garnish. The flavor is a little too fresh and can taste a bit "soapy" if it doesn't have time to marinate a bit.

Larry's Sunday Buckwheat Pancakes

Yay! Mom is getting on board - look what SHE made me for breakfast yesterday!

She found this recipe in her new favorite book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (yes! the same one from Forks Over Knives) and wouldn't you know: it's from Larry & Ann Wheat who own the famous vegan Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco.

I love how small the world can be.

Enjoy!

Larry's Sunday Buckwheat Pancakes
makes 12 medium pancakes

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 ripe banana
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)
2 cups oat, almond or non-fat soy milk

Mix buckwheat flour, outs, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Mash the banana in another bowl and add vinegar, maple syrup and milk. Stir and add to the flour mixture.

Heat a nonstick pan on medium high. When water sizzles on the pan, it's ready! Pour out the pancakes and cook until bubbles form. Flip and cook for a few minutes on the other side.

Enjoy them plain, with maple syrup or fruit.

Note: If you like thicker pancakes, use less milk.

Bonus: You can also make these into muffins! Just add raisins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Haven't tried this yet but if anyone does please let me know how they turn out!

Sunday Funday: Orange French Toast

Mmmmm...breakfast in the bed for the Bear.

1/4 lb soft tofu
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 slices of French bread
1 dab of soy butter or margarine
Optional: 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar & 3 springs of fresh mint

In a blender, puree the tofu, orange juice and sugar. Pour into a shallow bowl and dip (but don't soak) each slice of bread in to coat on both sides. Melt a dab of soy butter in a frying pan. Cook until each side is golden brown.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and a pinch of nutmeg. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a few good-morning kisses.

Happy Sunday =)