Vegan Power Pancakes

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 These pancakes are sweet, spicy and will keep you full until lunch!  If you don’t have all of the spices in this recipe just use what you have, don’t worry they will still taste good.  And feel free to get creative with the add-ins, my favorites are walnut pieces and dried dates but really the base recipe is flexible, you can put bananas, strawberries, really whatever you want in to it.  Have fun and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 c. whole-wheat flour

1 tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar

2 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

1 ¼ c soymilk or almond milk

2 tbsp grape seed oil or vegetable oil

2 tbsp nuts (I like almond slices or walnut pieces)

2 tbsp dried fruit i.e. dates, crasins or raisins

Directions

1.     Combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl

2.     Add in the soymilk and oil.  Watch out because the batter will rise quickly due to all of the baking soda!

3.     Put some oil in a skillet (again I like to use the grape seed oil, but veggie oil or a butter substitute will work just fine) and let heat up

4.     Spoon pancake batter on to skillet, and flip when you can see the edges of the pancake begin to brown

Sweet Potato Chips

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Everybody loves foods that are crunchy and salty.  Crackers, potato chips, pretzels.  Even better if it’s a little bit sweet too.  Like kettle corn.  Or the pretzel m&ms.  But generally, when I think of salty crunchy foods, I think mainly of foods like chips that really aren’t that great for you, are way too easy to overeat (I don’t know about you, but I could easily take down the share size bag of BBQ kettle chips) and lacking in nutritional value.  Sweet potato chips are tasty, nutritious, and if you cut the slices small enough, you feel like you're getting a ton of chips and only eating one potato. It's an easy way to have your cake and eat it too.  Or, I guess, have your chips and eat them too.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. Cut up a sweet potato into thin slices.  If it’s a big potato, I recommend cutting the slices in half.  The more slices you get out of a potato= faster cooking and more pieces to eat!

3. Lay the slices on a baking sheet, then pour about 1- 

2 tbsp olive oil over the potatoes.

4. Mix the oil into the potatoes.  Don’t be afraid to use your hands.

5. Sprinkle salt over the potatoes

6. Bake potatoes 15 minutes and then start checking on them.  Smaller, thinner slices will cook first.  The potatoes are cooked and ready to eat if you can stick a fork in them and they feel soft.  If you want them crispier, you can leave them in the oven for longer. 

Corn Tortillas

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Grocery Store Corn Tortillas vs. Homemade Corn Tortillas

Grocery Store Tortilla Ingredients:  Corn (Ground corn treated with Calcium hydroxide and Water), Water, Sodium propionate, Propionic acid, Sodium hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Gum blend, Sorbic acid, Fumaric acid, Dextrose.

May contain FD&C Yellow #5, Yellow #6 and Red #40.

While the use of preservatives in food has been OK’ed by the FDA, there are a few that are bothersome. Sodium Hydroxide is the chemical name for lye while calcium hydroxide is the chemical name for slake lime.  Dextrose is added sugar, there is some evidence that Methylparaben mimics estrogen and can cause endocrine disruption, and artificial colorings have been linked to hyperactivity in children and cancer in lab rats.  Also, these preservatives are generally tested in isolation (one at a time) over a relatively short period of time, a few weeks to a few months.  What happens with repeated long-term consumption combined with several other preservatives is anyone’s guess.

Furthermore, another area to consider is the environmental safety of using these preservatives en masse.  Calcium hydroxide (slake lime), propionic acid, sodium hydroxide (lye) and sodium hydroxide are all highly caustic materials that can cause chemical burns and are actually poisonous in large quantities. 

Homemade Tortilla Ingredients: Maseca Flour, salt, water   

Directions:

1.     Combine maseca, salt and water per instructions on the back of the flour bag.

2.     Get two pieces of saran wrap (or a plastic bag) and a pie plate, a book, or really anything flat and with some weight to it.

3.     Put a small ball of masa flour in between the two pieces of saran wrap and squish it into a tortilla.

4.     Put the tortilla in a frying pan with some olive oil and cook for a few minutes on each side until it starts to brown.

Enjoy delicious, warm, home-made corn tortillas.

How to Cook Tempeh

So thanks to Health Food stores and Thai restaurants, we all know what tofu is.   Most people think that when you are eating vegan, vegetarian, or just trying to eat a meatless meal, it’s pretty much your only plant protein option.  Fortunately there is another soy protein source out there that is delicious, has a satisfying texture, and is easy to cook…..tempeh!

I have to admit, my introduction to tempeh was not a favorable one.   They would occasionally serve it in my college’s dining hall, and usually it was in giant chunks, pretty much raw and covered in some overly sweet Teriyaki sauce.  When we found it at Ingles and Zach wanted to buy it because it was on sale, I initially demurred. 

“It’s not that great,” I said.

“Yeah, but it’s only $2.89, and the normal price is $3.78.  And it’s way cheaper than tofu.”

He had a point.  For $2.89 and almost a dollar savings with the Ingles Advantage, I figured I could suck it up and try it again. 

Fortunately the pack of tempeh came with directions on the back, and Zach was cooking with me (I grudgingly admit that he is a better cook than I am).  It actually turned out to be pretty good, and is now one of my favorite veggie protein sources.  I think it’s easier to cook than tofu, and I like that it has more texture than tofu does.  So here’s how to cook it:

1.     Open up the package and cut the tempeh into small cubes, maybe about 1 inch cubes.  Since I really like eating, I like to cut it in to small pieces because it feels like I get more that way.

2.     Put some olive oil in a skillet, turn on to medium high heat and wait about 1-2 minutes for the oil to heat up.

3.     Put the tempeh in the skillet, along with a spoonful of minced garlic and a tablespoon or two of soy sauce. 

4.     Let the tempeh sauté in the pan until it starts to brown

This is great to eat on it’s own, or to add as a protein to pasta dishes, tacos or our personal favorite, Pad Thai.  Enjoy!

Vegitas- The truth about vegetables

So I think if you asked anyone in America what they needed to do to be

healthier, they would say, “eat more fruits and vegetables.”  Not rocket science right?

But as many of you produce department cruisers have found, this is much easier

said than done, especially when it comes to the veggies.

Sure, there are some vegetables that taste good raw.  Carrots, celery,

tomatoes and lettuce if you’re going to make a sandwich (though I think tomatoes

are a fruit…) ummm, did I say carrots already?  I guess cucumbers taste OK…

Despite celebrities like Alicia Silverstone toting the values of a raw diet and all those

cleanses that require a $150 juicer to make, the reality is that for a lot of vegetables,

if you’re going to eat them raw you might as well go ahead and eat a handful of

grass.  What in the world am I supposed to do with this bag of Brussels sprouts? 

And what potential taste-good mysteries are concealed inside that acorn squash?

But fortunately, for many vegetables, there is one secret weapon, an easy

culinary code to bring out the taste they were born to have, elevating them from

easier to chew cardboard into healthy taste bud bliss.  And all you need is a cookie

sheet, and oven, olive oil and some salt. 

• Step 1: preheat your oven to somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 degrees.

I usually go with 425, but I think anywhere between 400-450 will do the trick.

• Step 2: Prepare your veggies.  Wash them, and then cut them up.  For

broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and any sort of potato, go with bite sized pieces.  For

asparagus, break off the bottom (fatter) end.  For bigger squash, you can either cut

them in half and lay them face up on the cookie sheet, or remove the rind and cube

them.  For Brussels sprouts, cut off the end, cut in half and lay face down.

• Step 3: place on cookie sheet and coat with a thin layer of olive oil and some

salt.  Don’t be afraid to use your hands to rub that olive oil in.

• Step 4: Put it in the oven.  It’s done when you can easily put a fork into the

veggie and it’s soft  (for smaller things, like broccoli and squash cubes, this can take

between 12-15 minutes).  If you want crispy veggies, leave it in until you see it start

to brown.

• Step 5:  Let it cool down so it doesn’t burn your mouth, and then enjoy

vegetables like you’ve never seen them before!