Easy Vegan Pancakes

Linzjane — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 17:12:29 +0000

We love our lazy Sundays around here and what goes better with sleeping in than a tasty batch of fluffy pancakes! For a long time I thought vegan baking was a hopeless feat without eggs. Substituting dairy is easy but eggs are what is often known as a leavening component giving baked goods their fluffy and light texture. On top of that my husband is gluten-free furthering the restrictions on my ingredient list. I didn’t even bother trying to make pancakes for awhile until I was tasked with creating a vegan cake for a coworker. I read through recipes for hours scrutinizing their leavening choices and weird un-heard of ingredient selections. I just wanted to make a cake without having to use a bunch of fake vegan eggs, gums and weird crap…is that so much to ask? I almost gave up but one of the last recipes I read through used all normal ingredients and relied on a mixture of acid and baking soda to fluff the cake up. It turned out beautifully, had the lightest crumb and rose like any other traditional cake. I couldn’t believe it. You didn’t even need the eggs! The chemical reaction between the acid and the base worked just as well if not better. I have since begun experimenting and applying it to all types of vegan baking including these pancakes. I use lemon juice in this because I like serving them with blueberry sauce. You can substitute apple cider vinegar or white vinegar if you’re not into lemon.

Prep/Cook Time: 30 mins | Serves: 3 (3 five inch pancakes each)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp ground Chia seeds

1 cup flour (all-purpose, gluten free all-purpose, or whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Baking Soda

3 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

3 Tbsp Oil

1 Tbsp Agave or Pure Maple Syrup

3/4 cup Almond milk (any non dairy milk or even water will work)

pinch of salt

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

In a coffee grinder or food processor pulse your chia seeds until finally ground. Chia seeds become gelatinous when combined with wet ingredients which helps keep these pancakes together and holds in the moisture. Grinding them up helps accelerate this process.
Whisk together ground chia seeds, flour, powder, soda and salt. Work out any clumps and make sure your baking soda and powder is well incorporated into the flour.
In a separate bowl whisk together lemon juice, oil, milk, agave and vanilla.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until smooth. You should be able to see and hear the reaction of the acid and soda working to fluff the batter. If the batter looks too dry add a tbsp or 2 of milk and whisk.
Heat and grease a large skillet or griddle on medium heat for 5-10 mins. Drip a bit of your batter on the skillet to test the temperature. It should make a gentle sizzle noise.
Ladle out 1/4 cup portions of batter onto your skillet and let them cook undisturbed for about 90 seconds-2 mins. You should see a couple of bubbles on top. Even if they don’t bubble still flip them shortly after 2 mins. Pancakes get dry fast. Cook another minute on the other side and transfer to a serving dish.

Eat these up quick as they taste best right off the griddle. I love mine with fresh fruit and maple syrup or simple blueberry sauce I make by heating frozen blueberries with a little OJ, agave and thickened with corn starch. My husband prefers almond butter and bananas. You can get creative with toppings baked into these too. Try chocolate chips, nuts, oats…any fun textured or flavored ingredient you have on hand. Happy Breakfasting! -L

Grinding Chia Seeds

Finally ground chia seeds

Gluten free all-purpose flour

Vegan pancake batter

The post Easy Vegan Pancakes appeared first on Miles On Veggies.

Reinventing Tofu Scramble

Linzjane — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 22:32:08 +0000

As an athlete I usually have two breakfasts, one before an early workout, usually a banana and dry cereal, and a second more substantial one after my workout. When I used to eat eggs my favorite post run meal was 2-3 fried eggs or an omelette with some avocado and hot sauce. Nothing beats a salty, spicy, and protein rich recovery meal. After going vegan I experimented a bit before landing on this easy and best tofu scramble recipe. The key to the success of this recipe is the tofu you use and the timing of when to add which veggies during the cooking process. I’ve tried every brand of tofu and have yet to find one better than Central Soyfoods. It’s firm, does not break down during cooking, absorbs flavors beautifully, and adapts itself to any dish.

Ingredients – Serves 2 (very hungry runners)

1 small onion – red, yellow or white will all work

3-5 medium cloves of garlic

2 small yukon gold potatoes or 1 medium sweet potato (any boiling/sweet potato will work)

4-6 medium mushrooms

1 bell pepper – any color

1/2 a zucchini/summer squash

2 cups chopped kale

1 cup chopped spinach

1/2 package of Central Soyfoods Smoked Tofu

1 1/2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil

1 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Sea salt

Fresh cracked pepper

Hot sauce/avocado (optional)

The veggies listed after the first 3 are more of suggestions based on what’s in season. You can get creative with all types of interesting pairings. I’ve done tomato basil, asparagus and wild mushrooms etc. I recommend using the onion, garlic, and potato as your base and getting creative from there.

Directions

Step 1 -Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet on medium-high. I highly recommend Scanpan skillets for their ability to regulate heat and produce an even cook. (www.scanpan.com)

Step 2 – Chop your onion and potato and roughly mince your garlic. Check your pan by dripping water into it..if it sizzles it’s ready to go. Add onion, potato and garlic, stir to even out and let them cook without stirring for 2 mins on medium high. At this phase of the cooking process you’re trying to develop color and flavor on your base veggies the same way you would when searing a steak or pork chop.

Step 3 – After the 2-3 minutes is up and you start seeing nice golden color developing, bring the heat down to medium and continue cooking the onion, garlic, and potato for another 3-4 mins until caramelized and aromatic.

Step 4 – Chop your zucchini and bell pepper and add to pan. You will notice there is a timeline for when you add which veggies. Some veggies take longer to cook or develop flavor but usually are the tastiest so we always start with those and then add other in their cooking order ending with things like kale and spinach the merely need to be wilted for a few moments.

Step 5 – Cube your tofu and add to the vegetables. Continue cooking on medium as the tofu absorbs the onion and garlic flavors.

Step 6 – After you’ve given the tofu a chance to heat up and gently cook, now is the ideal time to season as it will soak up flavor more readily at higher temps. The smokiness of this tofu goes wonderfully with Worcestershire sauce. Add in your Worcestershire, salt and pepper then give it all a good stir.

Step 7 – Mushrooms have a very high water content and a quick cook time so now that we’re approaching the end, we’ll chop them up and add them to the mix. For this version I wanted them mostly for texture but if you’re a mushroom fanatic and want a strong flavor of them, add a variety at the beginning, chopped finally and saute them down to get good color.

Step 8 – Loosely chop your kale and spinach. I like flat leaf (lacinato) kale because of its deep color and mellow flavor. Add the kale on top first and just let it sit for a min or two and be cooked gently by the steam. Then add the spinach on top and wait another minute. Both greens should be wilted down. Stir in and turn off heat.

All done! Serve it up topped with your favorite hot sauce or avocado and enjoy.

Cheers! -L

The post Reinventing Tofu Scramble appeared first on Miles On Veggies.

Breakfast Archives ~ Miles On Veggies

Easy Vegan Pancakes

Ingredients

Directions

Reinventing Tofu Scramble