Sweet 'N Easy Vegan Crepes

Vegan crepes. The combination of these two words translates to me as just "Mmm." I've always loved pancakes and waffles, covered in real maples syrup or my mom's homemade strawberry syrup, but only recently have I decided that I love crepes even more. The light, delicate texture of these crepes makes the subtle flavors of coconut, cinnamon and vanilla even more noticeable. I enjoy eating these plain, filled with fruit, topped with vegan yogurt, or—my personal favorite combination—filled with chopped bananas and pecans with a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

Without further ado, here's the recipe!

Vegan Crepes

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. coconut oil (melted)

3 Tbs. honey, agave nectar, or other liquid sweetener

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup soy or almond milk

1/2 cup water

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Whisk together the coconut oil and honey, then add in the other wet ingredients one at a time. You can combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them to the liquid ingredients, or you can simply whisk them in, being sure to mix well enough to eliminate any salt lumps.

Preheat a nonstick or seasoned skillet to a medium-low heat. For each crepe, pour about three tablespoons of the batter on the skillet and cook for several minutes on each side. This recipe makes 9 to 10 crepes.

When the crepes are done, roll them up with chopped fruit on the inside or cover with your favorite syrup or vegan yogurt. Enjoy!

The Vegan Omelette: Chickpea-Tofu Style

Since my last post in February, life has been crazy! I got engaged to my then-boyfriend of 2.5 years in March and married in May! Now that I'm no longer planning a wedding, I promise to be a lot more regular with the posts. Especially since I received so many wonderful gifts of cookware, bakeware and appliances that have motivated me to spend even more time on my experiments in the kitchen.

Well, to start this one off, I'll just tell you that if there's one thing I enjoy, it's a good breakfast. Though, I don't always eat breakfast in the morning. I often find myself eating the delicious breakfast foods I crave for lunch or dinner. So it was today. After deciding to make a standard tofu scramble (which I can't believe I haven't posted on this blog yet, oh well), I saw some leftover chickpeas in my fridge and I thought to myself, "I wonder what I could do with those." As my mind became busy trying to find a way to add chickpeas to my breakfast-lunch, I was struck with the idea of adding chickpeas to a standard vegan tofu omelette (which I've experimented with before).

The result was thoroughly pleasing. Though, I wish that I'd had some nutritional yeast on hand to add to the mix. Despite that, I felt that the flavor of the tofu and chickpeas, combined with the seasonings, made for a very delicious, though time consuming, breakfast item.

To start off, I seasoned my stainless steel skillet, thinking that cooking omelettes would be the ultimate test to see if seasoning a skillet would really make it "non-stick." Thankfully, it worked! There was no sticking and I only used paltry amounts of oil with a few spritzes of my Misto sprayer (which I highly recommend).

Vegan Chickpea-Tofu Omelette

Ingredients:

14 oz. silken tofu
1 cup chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
(Note: I imagine that this would also work great with a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast!)
Sliced mushrooms, bell peppers and onions, or vegetables of choice, for filling.

I began by slicing up a few veggies—mushrooms, mini bell peppers and part of an onion—and throwing them in a skillet. You can also throw some vegan sausage in if that's your thing. I added a little because the hubs really likes the stuff.

Next, while preheating your pan on a medium-low heat (though, how high of a heat you need can vary greatly depending on what kind of pan you're using), add the rest of the ingredients to a boss food processor or blender. If your appliance isn't super heavy duty, you can add a little plain soymilk or water to help it blend. But don't put too much extra liquid or it might not be thick enough to solidify into a beautiful omelette. And that would be a real shame.

Then, scoop some of this mixture onto your heated skillet (I put about 3/8 cup per omelette).

Now comes the waiting game. While your omelette is cooking, cover it for a few minutes to help cook the omelette all the way through. If it starts to seem like it's steaming it too much and making it soggy, though, remove the cover. Cook until it is pretty solid, about 10 minutes.

Then, place your filling of veggies and/or veg sausage on the omelette.

Use your spatula to fold the omelette over the filling.

Cook for a minute or two more and voila! A delicious omelette! Repeat these steps for more delicious omelettes! This recipe makes 5-6 omelettes. Enjoy!

Banana Bread + Baby Muffins

Tonight something happened in my household that rarely occurs: a surplus of ripe bananas. Normally, we go through bananas like water thanks to my brother, N. I decided to take advantage of this unprecedented plethora of bananas and bake a banana-themed dessert. This recipe is one of my favorites because of its simplicity, and because it lends itself so well to vegan baking. Bananas are a natural binder, which makes them an ideal replacement for eggs in baking. Also, the bananas add a really nice level of sweetness so you don't have to go overboard with the sweetener. Oh, and did I mention that the finished product tastes fantastic? I hope you enjoy this incredibly simple recipe for healthy, delicious banana bread or muffins. (All photo credit goes to the amazing Tori Johnson).

Banana Bread or Muffins
Ingredients:

Wet:
4 ripe bananas
1 to 1 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
1 Tbs. applesauce
1 Tbs. coconut oil
1 Tbs. vanilla

Dry:
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. cinnamon

Optional: blueberries or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350. Mash the bananas in a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir together the dry ingredients in a separate, smaller bowl. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Add blueberries or walnuts, if desired. Measure into bread pans or muffin pans and bake until done (the time varies greatly depending on whether you are baking muffins or bread).

I've found that this recipe works best in mini bread pans or a muffin pan so the inside can bake thoroughly without the outside getting too brown. My absolute favorite thing to make with this recipe? Baby muffins. As Jim Gaffigan would say: "I'll just have one or twelve."

Beginning With Granola

What is this blog all about? It's essentially about healthy eating. Over the years, I've been asked many times why I'm a vegetarian and eventually, a vegan. There are a wide variety of reasons, ranging from ethical to the fact that I was raised a vegetarian (that's right, all you parents out there raising veg kids, I'm living proof that your children won't grow up into adults and resent you for all those hamburgers they missed out on), but my main goal is to lead a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle, one that I feel good about. Because of that, most of my recipes are not only free of major animal products, but they are free of most heavily processed foods (such as white flour and sugar) and many of them are low in added oils.

I decided to start writing down and sharing these recipes because I've had a number of friends and acquaintances request some of them, and I frequently find myself making promises to email recipes. Promises that I typically don't keep. Though I enjoy cooking and baking, and doing so in a healthy way, I've been terrible at helping others to create satisfying, healthy foods.

I have one close friend in particular who made up his own holidays for each day of the week (like Mixed-Message Monday and Romantic Walk Wednesday) including Vegan Friday. He asked me for some healthy vegan recipes to try out on Fridays, but I never got around to giving him any. That's where this blog comes in. I'm not an amazing chef who's going to introduce you to the most exotic, gourmet vegan recipes you've ever seen, but I am someone who knows what it's like to cook healthy on a limited budget, with limited time, who just wants a simple, healthy, satisfying recipe.

So whether you're a seasoned vegan, considering making some lifestyle changes, or just wanting to celebrate Vegan Friday, I hope that you can benefit from my experiments in healthy cooking. And it really can be delicious. I promise.

To begin, I'll share with you a recipe that's been in demand lately among a few of my friends wanting a cheap, healthy cereal option. I give you: granola.

Hannah's Granola for Attractive People*

Dry Ingredients:
10 cups oats (I typically use 5 cups of old-fashioned oats and 5 cups of quick oats for a more dynamic texture, but 10 cups of any kind will do)
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 Tbs. cinnamon
2-3 tsp. salt
1-3 cups raisins/walnuts/pecans/dry fruit of your choosing (if you like granola with "things" in it)

Wet Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 cups honey** (depending on desired sweetness, I tend to like mine on the sweeter end of the spectrum)
1 cup frozen juice concentrate (I've used apple, apple-raspberry and cherry-pomegranate)
1-2 Tbs. Earth Balance (buttery spread) or oil (I frequently omit for a more low-fat granola)

Directions:
Preheat oven to a heat between 300° and 325°.
Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, boil the wet ingredients, stirring frequently. Pour the wet, sweet and delicious mixture over the dry ingredients and stir. From there, taste it. If you think the flavor is lacking, add some cinnamon, salt or coconut. If you want it sweeter, add some more honey or juice concentrate. Have fun adapting it to your flavor preferences.
Pour granola into two large rectangular baking pans and bake for 15-30 minutes (depending on how hot your oven is). Stir the granola after 10 minutes to promote an evenly delicious consistency. Remove the granola when it is very light brown, being sure not to overcook (the granola may seem soft when you remove it, but it will become a little more chewy/crunchy as it cools).
Voila! Eat, share and store.


*The title my brother, N, came up with when I asked him what I should name my granola recipe.
**I know that honey isn't technically a vegan food. I also kill spiders. And growing up as a Texas girl, I tried quite a few ways to eliminate the fire-ants creating a dozen or more mounds in my childhood backyard. For any hardcore vegans reading this, please substitute agave nectar.