Blueberry cornbread muffins

With a bounty of summer berries at my fingertips, it was about time I baked with them (something besides my famous blueberry cobbler, that is). I turned again to Vegan with a Vengeance, and reduced the fat a little bit in the sunny blueberry-corn muffins. I took these to my friends’ 4th of July cookout, so I made them red-white-and-blue (er, more like pink-yellow-and-blue, but it’s the thought that counts) by crowning each one with a plump little raspberry.

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup soymilk
2T soy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
Zest of one lemon
1 1/4 cups blueberries
12 raspberries, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flours, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, applesauce, soymilk, soy yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest. I also tossed the berries in another bowl with a couple spoonfuls of the dry mixture.



Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring with a wooden spoon until just combined. Carefully fold in the berries. Sorry for the blurry photo here...



Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Gently press a raspberry in the center of each, and sprinkle with a little sugar if desired.



Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.



These muffins are not too sweet on their own, so they’re great with a little Earth Balance or butter for spreading, and/or jam or jelly for smearing, and/or agave nectar or honey for drizzling. They’ve got just the right amount of crumble, and I like how each burst of blueberry complements the coarse, almost crunchy nature of the cornmeal. They’re perfect as handheld snacks, a light dessert, or (my personal choice) breakfast. No matter when or how you eat them, they make a summery, guilt-free treat.



Yield: 12 muffins. Per muffin: 155 calories, 5.4g fat (trace sat), 24.4g carbs, 2g fiber, 2.8g protein.

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Curried tempeh-mango salad

This recipe caught my eye a week or two ago when I was flipping through Vegan with a Vengeance. Normally I’ll disregard anything with "salad" or "sandwich" in the name, since I dislike both (I know, I’m a strange one). This one gave me pause, though. Anything "curried" automatically belongs on my radar, and tempeh and mango are two things I love and don’t get to eat often enough. The fresh mango selection in Kansas is dismal, in my experience, but I had a can of mango slices in my pantry that I picked up a long time ago at World Market. I’m also a mayonnaise hater, but the Vegenaise in this recipe is minimal, and just serves to add a touch of creaminess to the sweet-sour dressing. If you don’t have (or don’t like) tempeh, this would be great with chickpeas.

For the salad:
8-oz. pkg tempeh
1T soy sauce
1 cup fresh or canned mango, chopped
1/4 cup chopped scallions

For the dressing:
3T Vegenaise
2T apple cider vinegar
Juice of 2 limes
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sriracha
1/4 tsp salt



Tear the tempeh into bite-size pieces and place in small saucepan. Cover with water and add the soy sauce.



Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer the tempeh to bowl to cool. Meanwhile, chop the mango and scallions, and whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing.



Add the mango and scallions to the tempeh. Add the dressing...



...and mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour (overnight is best) to allow flavors to meld.



Serve in split pita halves or with pita chips, and feel free to add extras such as lettuce, diced red onion, or additional chopped mango. This was sweeter overall than I expected (I’d probably leave out the sugar next time) but it played well off the tart lime and the pungent curry powder. It’s great for a sack lunch, an afternoon snack, or even (my favorite) a nutritious breakfast. I’m declaring it a keeper.



Yield 4 servings. Per serving (without pita): 235 calories, 9g fat (1.1g sat), 18g carbs, 4.2g fiber, 4.8g protein.

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Coconut heaven cupcakes

I’ve been on a baking bender lately. Hopefully nobody minds. I finally ordered Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World from Amazon last week, so in the meantime, I wanted to make some cupcakes from books I already have, since those recipes are likely to be ignored once I have a whole book of cupcakes to choose from. These are from Vegan with a Vengeance, and they gave me the chance not only to use more of the unsweetened coconut milk I’ve got, but also to break out the unsweetened shredded coconut I bought awhile back. These are pretty caloric, so I made some regular-sized cupcakes for friends and some minis for me. If you don’t have the refrigerated unsweetened coconut milk that I used, you can use canned coconut milk instead, it will just increase the fat and calorie content somewhat.

For the cupcakes:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:
1/4 cup Earth Balance, softened
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin (or a 24-cup mini muffin tin) with paper liners. Spritz with cooking spray and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, coconut milk, sugar, and vanilla.



Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until smooth. Fold in 1 cup of unsweetened coconut. Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full.



Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes (18-20 for minis); the cupcakes should be slightly browned around the edges and spring back when touched. Remove from the muffin tin let cool on a wire rack.



Using an electric mixer or a whisk, cream the Earth Balance until light and fluffy. Add the coconut milk and vanilla and combine. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Fold in the unsweetened coconut, and refrigerate until ready to use.



Frost the cupcakes once they have cooled completely.



You can tell on the first bite that these babies are not "light" in any way. The coconut comes through loud and clear, lending the cake its dense chew. The rich, fluffy frosting is the perfect topper. These make a great (albeit once-in-awhile) treat for the coconut lover in your life.



Go ahead, indulge.



Yield: 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes. Per cupcake (regular): 281 calories, 13.1g fat (5.4g sat), 41.1g carbs, 2.6g fiber, 2.1g protein.
Per cupcake (mini): 141 calories, 6.5g fat (2.7g sat), 20.5g carbs, 1.3g fiber, 1.1g protein.

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Pumpkin oatmeal cookies

Remember when I told you to save the remainder of that can of pumpkin from last entry’s pizza sauce? As promised, here is the perfect solution to not letting that go to waste. These are based on the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, though I only made a half batch (I live alone, and can only eat so much!), and I changed or substituted several ingredients.

I’m not a fan of oatmeal cookies in general; they usually just make me wish I were eating a chocolate chip cookie. I’m also not too much of a fan of wintry-spiced things. The warm scents that make other people melt (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc.) just don’t do it for me. (I especially dislike gingerbread. If you were wondering.) As far as pumpkin goes, I like it ok, but I'm not wild on it. (I always choose pecan pie over pumpkin at Thanksgiving.) There are, however, a few exceptions to my pumpkin apathy, including a delicious pumpkin dip I’ll hopefully make and post sometime this winter, and now, these awesome cookies. They taste like pumpkin pie in chewy cookie form, in a good way. I may turn into a pumpkin lover yet.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cups quick or rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup - 1/2+1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 T molasses
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp ground flaxseed
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and either grease two baking sheets, or cover them with parchment paper (my preferred method; I even have the unbleached kind). Mix together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. (I apologize in advance for the unclear photos...I was experimenting with not using the flash. Oh well.)



Put the sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin, vanilla, and flaxseeds in a separate (bigger) bowl. If you don’t have flaxseeds, that’s ok. The reason I have “3/4 cup - 1/2+1/3 cup sugar” in the recipe is that I used 1/2 cup+1/3 cup, and my cookies were plenty sweet; next time I would use just a little less, 3/4 cup. Your choice.



Whisk those together until very well combined, and the sugar starts to dissolve.



Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three batches, folding to combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.



After you finish adding the dry ingredients, fold in the walnuts. The original recipe also says to add raisins, but my response to that was “Ehh...no.”



Make sure you taste the dough, of course, and then drop it by tablespoons onto the baking sheets. I use an ice cream scoop to make mine uniform. I have two scoops, a 2-tsp one and a 1.5-T one, so I split the difference and made one pan of baby cookies and one pan of big ones. Since these don’t spread much, you’ll want to flatten them out with a fork or your fingers.



Now, the recipe says to bake the 1-T cookies for 16 minutes. I’ll tell you that my small cookies baked in 12 minutes, and my large ones baked in 14, so check on yours before the 16 minutes is up.



They don’t look terribly different, do they? Well, chalk that up to the fact that they remain chewy, moist, and tender, inside just a whisper of a crust. The verdict: sweet, oaty, pumpkiny, scrumptious.



Yield: 2 dozen cookies. Per cookie: 100 calories, 4.8g fat (trace sat), 13.6g carbs, 1.2g fiber, 1.2g protein.

Cherry almond muffins

Yes, more muffins. Sorry for the lack of variety, but read the muffin chapter of Vegan with a Vengeance, and you’ll understand why I’ve had muffins on the brain. (If I ever buy Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, you guys are in trouble.) These muffins are part sweet, part hearty; part fruity, part nutty. I altered the original recipe in quite a few ways, most notably by using dried cherries instead of fresh. My version is chock full of chewy cherry chunks, and the mild accent of the almond extract makes them taste, to me, a little like the holidays.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup soymilk, plain or vanilla
6 oz. (1 container) soy yogurt, plain or vanilla
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2-1 cup sliced almonds, toasted if desired
3/4 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Chop those cherries if you haven’t already, and feel free to munch on some as you do so.



Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the oil, soymilk, yogurt, and extracts.



Mix gently with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the cherries and all but a couple spoonfuls of the almonds...



...and fold those in just till they’re distributed. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Partially crush up the last couple spoonfuls of almonds, and sprinkle them on the tops of the muffins.



Bake for 18-22 minutes (mine were done in 16, though!).



Let them rest for a couple minutes in the pan, then move them to a rack to cool, and admire them prodigiously.



Be sure to eat your first one while it’s still warm – you only get one chance!



Yield: 1 dozen muffins. Per muffin: 221 calories, 8.8g fat (.7g sat), 32.5g carbs, 3g fiber, 4g protein.

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Vegan biscuits and gravy

I am so freaking proud of this one.

I got home from work on Monday thinking I would make the scrambled tofu in Vegan with a Vengeance, but I didn’t have the necessary vegetables. I browsed through the adjacent pages instead, and was hit with a bolt of inspiration when I realized I had tempeh in my fridge. Three recipes, a truckload of dirty dishes, and an hour later, I emerged from my kitchen flour-dusted, sweaty, and triumphant.

As it turns out, making vegan biscuits and gravy is quite an endeavor. But despite the fact that I wrecked my kitchen, and even though some things came out imperfect, this is SO worth making. My modifications were minor, but as always, I’ll show you how I made it. First up: from-scratch vegan baking powder biscuits.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3T shortening
2T Earth Balance
2/3 cup plain soymilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the shortening and Earth Balance into the flour with a pastry blender (or two knives, or your fingers).



Add the soymilk to form a soft dough, and scatter some flour on your countertop. Mix well and pat out until it’s roughly 1/2 inch thick. Flour the rim of a glass (or use a biscuit or round cookie cutter) and cut out 2-inch rounds. Keep smooshing the dough back together to get as many biscuits as you can out of it.



Place the biscuits on your cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.



But hold it right there! Be very, very careful here. Remember how, in my last entry, I told you that I always forget that my oven runs hot? Well, in this case, it ran SUPER hot. I ended up kicking myself for not checking on them at the 10 minute mark. I had them in there for 12 minutes, and they burned :( There’s no getting around it, I have to use a sad face to express how I felt when I pulled them out.



But you know what, not everything always goes according to plan in cooking. Imperfection comes with the territory. So I figured, hey, they’re a little too brown on the outside, but so what? Inside they were still soft, and I’ve never minded my bready foods a little overdone. No use crying over spilled (soy)milk. They were tasty, and that’s all that matters.

Meanwhile, I was making tempeh sausage crumbles.

8-oz. pkg tempeh
1T fennel seeds
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried sage
2 cloves garlic, minced
2T soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil
Splash of lemon juice

In a small saucepan, crumble the tempeh and add enough water to just barely cover it. Over medium-high heat, simmer the tempeh until most of the water is absorbed, about 12-15 minutes. Drain the remaining water, if there is any, and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.



This recipe is incredible. The sausage flavor is duplicated impeccably, and goes amazingly well with the chewy tempeh. The smell will blow you away. It is just too good—and versatile, too. There are so many possibilities for usage: in pasta sauce, on pizza, in casseroles…my head swims. It made quite a bit, so I actually set aside about 1/3 cup to add to my spaghetti the following day.

While that simmered on the stove, and as my biscuits baked, I was ALSO making gravy.

1 can cannellini/navy beans, drained and rinsed
1T olive oil
1/4-1/3 cup water (or vegetable broth)
1/2 tsp salt
A few dashes of black pepper
A dash of dried sage

Puree the beans with the olive oil and water in a blender (or a food processor, which I probably should have used instead) until relatively smooth. I found that I had to add more water to get it liquefied, about 1/3 of a cup total in the end.



Not very appetizing at this point, I gotta tell ya. But it will be: pour the gravy into the saucepan with the tempeh crumbles, and add the salt, pepper, and sage. Heat through on medium-low for a few minutes. At this point I had to add a little extra water again to thin it out. But oh, baby...



Overbrowned biscuits couldn’t ruin this; no way. I gratefully sat down to comfort food at its finest, with that added ray of satisfaction that can only come from toiling in one’s own kitchen.



Healthy, homemade, and vegan—if you ask me, it’s the best triptych in the culinary world.

PS—I'm running my first marathon tomorrow- wish me luck!



Yield: 10 biscuits. Per biscuit: 150 calories, 6.6g fat (2.3g sat), 19g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g protein.
Yield: 4 servings gravy. Per serving: 240 calories, 9.5g fat (1.7g sat), 23.5g carbs, 7.6g fiber, 18g protein.

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White bean garlic soup

Earlier this week, I received in the mail two books which I’d been putting off buying for quite some time. With reason, though—thanks to my Amazon credit card, I get Amazon gift certificates several times a year. The last few I had allotted to other things, but I’ve known for months what I’d be using the next one on: Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomicon.

Ohh, yes. I’ve read recipes from and reviews of both on so many other blogs, and without exception, everyone gushes over these things. And I am here to add my name to the list. I know a cookbook is good when I actually sit down with it and read it like a book. I haven’t even cracked open Veganomicon yet, but I can tell you this: I’m 1/3 of the way through Vegan with a Vengeance and so far, there are only two recipes I don’t want to make. Uh-huh.

Figuring out where to start, though, was easy—the first time I opened Vegan with a Vengeance, I landed on the page for “Roasted Garlic and White Bean Soup.” BINGO. It probably couldn’t have targeted my tastes any better. It’s like it knows me. I made a few adjustments, but not many. I’ll show you the way I did it.

2 heads garlic (you read that right)
2T + 2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp dried sage
2 vegan bouillon cubes
4 cups water
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf
1T lemon juice

Can you believe that before this, I was a garlic-roasting virgin? I know, for shame, and me of all people. But it always seemed like too much trouble, and plus I like fresh garlic just fine as it is. But this recipe simply necessitates roasting. And it really is as simple as they all say it is: Tear off two pieces of foil. Scrape as much of the papery stuff off the garlic as you can. Use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to slice off the tops so that the ends of most of the cloves are exposed. Drizzle each head with 1 tsp olive oil, wrap tight separately in the foil, and put in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Done. There’s almost no way to mess it up—you can really have the oven anywhere between 350 and 400, and you can roast for anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes. And the results?



If only you could have smelled that. After you unwrap them, give them 5-10 minutes to cool off, or you’ll burn your fingers like I did. Then just squeeze those golden babies right out of their nests. And from here, the recipe’s a snap, and I’ll stop being so long-winded.

Heat the other 2T of oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5-7 minutes, until soft. Add in the salt, pepper, and fennel seeds, and stir around for another minute or so.



I microwave the bouillon cubes in the water till they are able to dissolve. (You can also use 4 cups of vegetable broth instead.) Add the broth, beans, sage, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.



Fish out the bay leaf and throw in that gorgeous garlic. At this point you can puree in batches in a blender, or you can go the easy route like me and use an immersion blender. I don’t use it often, but it really is a nice thing to have.



Puree the soup until it’s smooth. Add the lemon juice, more or less as you like.



And there you have it. Simple, pretty, and very tasty. Serve it with some crusty bread to soak it all up. My only warning: you better seriously love garlic.



Yield: 4 servings. Per serving: 323 calories, 9g fat (1.2g sat), 46.7g carbs, 11.4g fiber, 15.9g protein.