Vegan Oatmeal Blueberry Banana Muffins

Today is my  favorite taste-tester’s birthday. My sweet husband. He asks for Oatmeal muffins or banana bread for every birthday breakfast so today I combined the two and made the muffins vegan by using bananas instead of eggs. He ate three so I’m thinking they were a hit. I think they are the tastiest muffins I’ve ever had!

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup coconut milk or soy milk

1 tbs. apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/3 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1 1/2 ripe banana

1 1/3 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350

Add oats, coconut milk, vinegar, and oil and mix well. Then add the dry ingredients; brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Mix and add banana and blueberries. Mix everything till the batter is blended well. Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray and fill 3/4 of the way full in each muffin hole. Bake for 25 minutes. 

Yields: one dozen muffins

Eggless Cornbread

I’m back after a 3 months pregnancy hiatus with a yummy comfort food recipe. It has been cold and stormy in California and whenever it rains I think of my mother making scrumptious soups served with cornbread. Her recipe is delicious but I didn’t have half the ingredients on hand to make it so I decided to come up with my own. One think that really bothers me about other cornbread recipes is that it can easily taste very dry. I’ve  noticed in my years of baking without eggs that the breads and cakes I make come out much more moist than those baked with eggs. So, I decided to substitute eggs with healthy protein packed greek yogurt. The result was amazingly delicious cornbread. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour (or gluten free flour would work)

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup of milk (you can also use non dairy milks)

1/4 cup greek yogurt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup melted butter (you can also use vegan butter)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and add milk, yogurt, oil and butter. Mix together till all lumps have been smoothed. Pour into a baking dish and bake for 23-25 minutes. then it is ready to serve.

Yields: 8-10 slices of cornbread

Vegan Pumpkin French Toast

I see all sorts of pumpkin breakfasts floating around on the web and they always looks delicious but they almost always have eggs. Since I’ve already made vegan pumpkin pancakes I thought I should try pumpkin french toast vegan style and it turned out scrumptious. Pumpkin is a natural binder, I actually use it in quite a few baking dishes to replace eggs. So making this breakfast was kind of a no-brainer. The ingredients are likely found in your pantry and the directions are easy! Happy fall everyone!

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup coconut milk (or soy milk)

2 tsp ground cinnamon (or more to taste)

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

about 6 slices of your favorite bread (I used whole wheat)

1/4-1/2 cup vegetable oil for your griddle

In a bowl combine canned pumpkin, coconut milk, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Wisk together well. Add more milk if your pumpkin seems too thick. Heat your griddle to medium heat and drizzle over oil. Take a piece of bread and dredge it in your pumpkin mixture and lay on the griddle. Cook on both sides for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Continue this until all your bread is gone. Then it is ready to serve.

Yields about 6 slices

Easy Vegan Pad Thai

As I have said before I just love Thai food. I have traveled to Thailand twice. I love the flavors and fresh produce the beautiful land has to offer. Pad Thai is a noodle dish typically served with cooked and fresh ingredients. It is very easy to add and take away ingredients to make it to your liking. I used cilantro in this dish but you can swap it for basil as it is served both ways in Thailand. You may want to use a wok for this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 tsp sesame oil (optional)

1 cup chopped green onion

1 cup chopped cashew or peanuts divided into 3/4 and 1/4 cups

1/2 tbs tamarind paste

2 1/2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs sugar

1 package of rice noodles cooked as instructed on the box

2 cups beans sprouts

1 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1 tomato chopped

1 lime cut into 4-6 slices

Cook rice noodles according to instructions on the package.

Chop tomato, cucumber and lime and arrange on plates.

Heat your wok to med high. Add vegetable and sesame oil and green onion. Cook green onion for 2-3 minutes and add 3/4 cup cashews or peanuts. Add tamarind paste, soy sauce and sugar. Cook together on medium high for another 2-3 minutes. Now add your cooked noodles. Make sure to toss them around into the sauce, green onion and nuts. Continue to cook on medium high for about 2-3 minutes. Add bean sprouts and cilantro and toss together over the heat for about minute. Then turn off heat. Serve noodles on each plate with chopped tomato, cucumber and lime. Sprinkle over remaining 1/4 cup of cashews/peanuts and squeeze lime juice over noodles before eating. 

Yields 4-6 servings

Grilled Asparagus and Nectarines with Balsamic Reduction

If you need a super easy and fancy grilled summer salad this is it! I made this salad in about 20 minutes and it was a huge crowd pleaser even my son ate it up. It only takes a few ingredients and would be great cooked on the outdoor or indoor grill.

Ingredients:
2 cups balsamic vinegar
about 20 asparagus spears
2 ripe nectarines sliced
olive oil or cooking spray to keep produce from sticking to the grill

In a small sauce pan add balsamic vinegar. Bring vinegar to boil on medium high heat. Once boiling reduce to medium and let the vinegar continue to boil and reduce for about 15 minutes stirring ocacsionally. One there is a little more than 1/2 a cup of vinegar left turn off heat and let sit for about 2 minutes to help thicken.

Heat your grill to medium high heat and brush with olive oil or cooking spray. Place asparagus and sliced nectarines on the grill. Let nectarines cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side and asparagus for 5-7 minutes on each side. Once cooked place the grilled asparagus and nectarines on a plate and drizzle over balsamic reduction. Then it is ready to serve.

Yields 4 servings

Baked Mozzarella Sticks without Egg

I have several friends that have kids with allergies to eggs. I love finding new ways of making healthy fun foods without eggs and gluten whenever possible. In this recipe I used panko bread crumbs but you can easily use gluten free bread crumbs witch are available at just about any store. These mozzarella sticks are surprisingly light and delicious.

Ingredients:

5 sting cheese sticks cut in half to equal 10 sticks total

1/4 cup tahini paste

1/4 cup water

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tbs dried oregano

1 tbs olive oil

1 cup of your favorite marinara sauce for dipping

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees

Start by mixing 1/4 cup tahini paste with 1/4 cup water in a bowl. Use a wire wisk and mix together well then set the bowl aside. In another bowl add bread crumbs and sprinkle in salt, pepper and dried oregano. Use your hand to mix all the dried ingredients together then get ready to assemble. 

To assemble you may want to line up your ingredients from left to right. Start with the string cheese sticks, then the bowl of tahini paste, followed by the bread crumbs mix and lastly a baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Take one string cheese stick and dip it the tahini paste until it is coated, then dip it in the bread crumbs till coated and place it on your baking sheet. Continue this process till all 10 string cheese sticks are coated. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each stick to help the bread crumbs brown. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 4 minutes no longer then 5 minutes. Keep an eye on your sticks to make sure they don’t melt. Once baked then they are ready to serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

Yield: 10 mozzarella sticks

Lemony, Garlicy, Cheesy Grilled Artichoke

As I’ve said before Artichokes are a great source of protein and fiber. We eat artichokes once a week in our house and everyone loves them. They are filling, healthy and tasty. Because we eat them so often I am always trying to cook them in a different way. This recipe is easy and extremely tasty, I will definitely be dong this again!

Ingredients:

1 artichoke cut in half

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

3 cloves of garlic minced

the juice of one lemon

a pinch of salt and pepper

Boil the artichoke halves until fully cooked. May take about 45 minutes. Once they are cooked let them cool slightly so you can handle them. Once you can handle them cut out the fuzzy beard in the middle of both halves.

In a bowl combine parmesan cheese, minced garlic, the juice of one lemon and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together.

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Stuff about half of the mixture in between the leaves of the artichoke. (Do not fill the middle space where you removed the beard until you flip the artichokes over on the grill.) Brush the cut side of the artichoke with olive oil and place them cut side down on your grill. Let them grill for about 5-10 minutes till you have nice grill marks then turn them over.

Fill the middle with the rest of your cheese and leave artichokes to continue grilling until cheese has melted. May take 15-20 minutes. Then they are ready to serve.

Yield 2 servings