Classic, Versatile, Vegan Pancakes

I often mention how much I love pancakes. I also love color of these: purple pancakes!

This may relate to the fact that I loved purple so much as a kid I had a pink and purple themed birthday party. I wouldn't know how to plan such an event: props, mom. These may have been a good breakfast to start such a magnificent purple birthday. 

And I admit...they don't turn out too purple after cooking..more that perfect golden brown. I'm also gonna admit that the purple is really just a side effect of the blueberries I mixed in..but the batter is still fun! No judgement....

Ok, here's how it goes: 

           Serves: 2-3 people

           Total time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients: 

• SO MANY BLUEBERRIES. Frozen btw...to get the purple color. Just add as much as you desire. 
• 1 banana
• 1 cup flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp white vinegar (reacts with the above soda to make it extra fluffy!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup vanilla milk of some kind. I always prefer soy.
• Oil or vegan butter for cooking/ topping

How-to: 

• First, smash the nanner. You should know this by now. 
• Mix together almost all of the remaining ingredients. Leave out the blueberries till the end. Because I said so, that's why.
• Add blueberries. BANG:

I mean really, just look at the mesmerizing marbling of those berries! Mmm.

• Add vegan butter or vegetable oil to a pan, heat to medium or medium-low heat. 
• Scoop batter onto pan into desired size. 
• You know how to cook pancakes! Do it! Wait to flip until you see a lot of bubbles. Trust yourself here. Try try try not to smoosh the cake down with your spatula. They turn out fluffier this way. 
• Ok. Done. Congratulations on the hard work! Top with more butter and more blueberries and eat sooo many! No need to share. I understand. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Chickpea Hash

Hi! All I ever really make for breakfast is pancakes and biscuits (biscuit recipe coming soon!), so I am attempting something different and unique! I've made hash browns before, but not like this. Sweet potatoes were my inspiration (although I actually used yams). I added chickpeas for protein as well as some other secret ingredients!
         Prep time: 60 minutes (15 minutes active prep)
         Cook time: 10 minutes

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams
• Brown sugar
• 1 4 oz can of green chiles*
• Green Tobasco sauce*
• 1/2 red bell pepper (diced)
• 2 leaves of kale (chopped)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

*Trust me. The spicy-sweet combo is AMAZING


And here's what you'll do:

1. Bake sweet potatoes. I do mine at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes (until soft). If you want a more hash-browny dish, cook for half the time so the potatoes are harder. Refrigerate.

2. Roast about 1/3 of the can of chickpeas! I used this recipe for inspiration but turned the temperature down to 400 degrees to get softer peas and used only brown sugar for cooking (Just guess for the amount...you can't really go wrong here, just make sure each pea gets some sugar!). I also added more sugar after flipping the peas over after the first 15 minutes. Set aside until just before serving

3. Pour the rest of the chickpeas into a medium sized bowl and smash them! Make sure to leave some whole or partially whole beans because texture is key! Add green chiles and a few shakes of green Tobasco. Mix.

4. Shred baked taters. Add them to the chic pea mash.
5. Add the diced red pepper, kale, and plenty of brown sugar (to taste) to the mixture and mix well.

6. Add EVOO to a skillet (on medium-high heat) and glob some of your mash onto it. Cook however long it takes for them to turn brown (~10 minutes).

7. Serve with the chickpeas you roasted earlier, and enjoy! You and whoever you share this with will be amazed by how cool this taste! SUPER DELICIOUS.

I served these with some vegan breakfast sausage. They made a great pair!

Awesome Brussel Sprouts

Ok, ok. I know what you're thinking, but hear me out! The way these are done is fantastic. You won't be able to get enough! The secret is popping them into the oven at the end.

Here's what you'll need:

• Fresh (not frozen) brussel sprouts
• Olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• Salt
• Pepper
• Pistachios (optional) -- add in the middle of stove top cooking. 

And here's what you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut the sprouts in half and remove the bases. Peel off outer layer or any layers that have gone bad. 
3. On stovetop, toss sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper in an appropriately sized oven-safe pan (cast iron is best) on and cook on medium-low heat**. 
4. Rotate the sprouts every few minutes until they have started to turn golden-brown- some will be darker than others, but make sure that most sprouts are a little golden. Add pistachios at some point after sprouts begin to brown (timing not crucial here). 
5. Squeeze lemon over sprouts before putting them into the oven for 10 minutes**. 
6. Enjoy them like candy! Seriously, SO GOOD.

**If you don't have an oven safe pan, you can still make this snack, just make sure to cook it only stove a little while longer (until they get crispy!). I still strongly reccomend oven time.

Thanks, Brennan, for teaching Eliot this great recipe!

Super Easy Zucchini-Pepper Pasta

It's college. You move around a lot, are not home very often, and are hungry very often. This is my go-to pasta! It's especially great when you are crunched for time but still want something better than ramen!

Cook time: ~15 minutes

Here's what you'll need for about 2 servings:

• 2 cups of whole grain pasta (I used rotini)
• 1 small or medium zucchini 
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• Oregano (to taste)
• Basil (to taste)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Olive oil
• Nutritional yeast flakes (optional topping) 
• Any variety vegan cheese (optional topping)

Here's what you'll do:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add salt and/or olive oil to water during cooking for taste (Make sure to use a large enough pot to allow for adding of veggies at the end).
2. Meanwhile, add about a tablespoon of oil to a shallow pan, heat to medium. 
3. Slice zucchini into half centimeter thick rounds.
4. Slice bell pepper lengthwise into strips.
5. Mince garlic.
6. Add veggies, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper to hot oil. Sauté until veggies get nice and singed.
7. If your'e good at timing, everything will come out at the same time. Drain pasta and pour the veggies into the pot containing pasta. 
8. Add vegan cheese and nutritional flakes now if you like (totally not necessary, but mixes it up if you make this a lot like me!). Mix. 
9. Serve and enjoy. 

Lion Burgers

Happy 1 month of the Vegan Lion! I've sort of been saving this recipe for a special event and here it is! Enjoy!

Sometimes I find it hard to keep up with friends I used to live with now that we've all moved out of the dorms, but throwing little dinners keeps us in touch! This time I invited two close friends and decided to make them homemade burgers! It was pretty difficult, especially because I've only made burgers once before and they weren't all that tasty...but these...these are SO tasty. The cayenne pepper really gives it a good kick.

May I present a Vegan Lion original: black bean - lentil Lion Burgers!!

     Active prep time: 1-2 hours
     Passive prep time: 24 hours (for soaking the black beans)
     Cook time: 15 minutes
     Makes: 16-20 patties

Ingredients: 

• 1 16oz bag of black beans (soaked/cooked according to directions) 
• 8oz lentils (any color will do, I used green)
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 3-4 medium sized carrots, shredded (small amount finely chopped, instead of shredded OK)
• 1/2 green bell pepper (diced)
• 1 4oz can diced green chile peppers
• ~1/2 medium yellow onion (I used partially fresh onions and partially pre-cooked I had left over from a vegan easter roast)
• 6-7 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts (optional)
• 1/8 cup flour
• 2 egg equivalents (I used flax eggs - click here to learn how to make one!)
• Olive oil for cooking
• Whole wheat hamburger buns

Spices:

• 1 tsp basil
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp tarragon
• 3/8 tsp ginger 
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp of dill
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 10-20 shakes of green Tobasco hot sauce 

Toppings I recommend: 

• sliced cucumbers (I find these 10x better than pickles)
• sliced tomato
• kale
• mushrooms sauteed in red wine or red wine vinegar (make enough for about 5 per burger)

Instructions:

1. Prepare black beans, lentils, and rice. Lentils should be soft, but still hold their shape. I cooked mine (green lentils) for about 40 minutes.

2. Shred carrots, mince garlic, chop onion and pepper. 

 

2. Combine chopped veggies and garlic in a LARGE bowl, add canned green chiles and mix! 

3. Meanwhile, drain the cooked black beans super well and put into a medium sized bowl. Then use potato masher to mash them (see below). You want to leave some whole and half beans intact for texture, but beware: fewer mashed beans = patties more likely to fall apart.

4. Combine lentils and rice and mix them into the vegetables. This will take some muscle, but keep going!

5. Prepare spices in small bowl. Add hemp hearts, then mix into the lentil-veggie bowl. Again, work through the pain to get it well integrated! Taste and make sure its as spicy as you like it!

6. Now, add the flour and the flax eggs (I used flax meal to make these and it still worked fine! Also, refrigeration is key!). Continue mixing VERY well.

7. Form patties. I made 18 but some were really big! Freeze all extras.

8. Heat olive oil on medium heat before adding burgers. Cook time will take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes depending on how hot the pan is and how big the burgers are! General tip: take your time between flips and flatten the patties with the spatula often to ensure they don't fall apart.

9. Prepare mushrooms while waiting on the burgers. I used the same pan! First heat olive oil, then add mushrooms and red wine vinegar. Saute for just a few minutes on medium heat. These are SO perfect with Lion Burgers. Highly recommended.

10. Make a dorky table arrangement for the guests....

11. Build your burger and enjoy!

I had so much fun making these burgers! They are definitely the best burgers I've ever made -- totally worth the effort. And the best part? This recipe makes so many you can have more than one dinner party to show of your cooking skills! 

Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
-Laura

Eliot's Vegan Enchiladas

These enchiladas have it all. The acorn squash subtly remind us of Thanksgiving. Makes one large (9x13) baking dish. 

      Prep-time 0:45-1:15 
       Cook-time  2:00

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion
• 1 head of garlic
• ~18 oz canned crushed roasted tomatoes*
• ~8 oz canned tomato puree*
• 1 large portobello mushroom
• 2 large carrots
• 2 acorn squash
• 3 cups cashew butter**
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can corn***
• 12 small corn tortillas
• Several handfuls of spinach
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 cups crushed tortilla chips****
• 2 tablespoons ground flax
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• chile peppers- I used 2 poblano, 3 serrano, and 2 of a variety i don't remember the name of*****
• Spices: Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Pepper

* The tomatoes, spices, etc, are used to make a sauce. If you wanted to be more ambitious you could stew the tomatoes yourself, and if you"re pressed for time a store bought enchilada sauce would work also

** I had some made beforehand. A good recipe can be found here: http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/raw_vegan_cashew_cheese

*** Roasting the corn would add a lot. I didn't have time. To roast corn, place it in a 425 degree oven, husks on! Turn regularly until the outside of the husk is charred. Even better, do this on a grill 

**** You could equally well just add more flour. I have some chips on hand that were too small already to do much with (the last in the bag), so I tossed them in to the tomato sauce mixture

***** If you have some on hand or easy access to fresh, hatch roasted chiles would be divine


Instructions

1. Roast the peppers, garlic, and squash. To roast, plop them on a baking sheet and turn the oven on to 450. Wrap the garlic and squash in foil. Turn peppers occasionally, the goal is to have nicely charred brown-black skin all around. Garlic and squash should roast for ~45 minutes, until squash is soft and the garlic skin is golden brown.
2. Prep other ingredients. Onions should be diced, carrots sliced, corn and beans drained, portabello thinly sliced.
3. Make the tomato sauce. Mix tomato puree and crushed tomatoes, add herbs, salt and pepper. Add about half of the onion, half of the peppers, and all of the garlic (garlic should be smashable once roasted). Mix in flour, tortilla chips, and flax.*
4. In a large glass baking dish, spread about half of the tomato sauce on the bottom. Smear 6 tortillas with sauce and place them sauce up across the bottom of the dish. 
5. Top with onions, carrots, black beans, corn, portabello, carrots, remainder of peppers, and spinach. 
6. Mash the acorn squash, and add to the cashew butter. Add the remaining tomato sauce to this mixture also. 
7. Smear remaining tortillas with generous portions of cashew mixture, and place sauce-up across the pan. 
8. Drizzle the enchiladas with olive oil. Place in 425 degree oven for ~1 hour, or until they look done (like the picture at the top of this page). 

* The order is not important here. I added chiles and garlic last because they were still roasting

Here's the dish before cooking! Check out the layers in the top picture!

Recipe by: Eliot

Fresh Pico

Happy Easter, everyone! Today I made something really easy - super fresh pico de gallo. I always have fun making it and even more fun eating it! It's a lot cheaper than most salsas you can buy, and you can customize it anyway you like. Heres what I do:

Finely chop and mix together:

• 5-6 fresh tomatoes 
• 1/2 large yellow onion (more or less to taste)
• 2 bell peppers (I usually use green for the color contrast, this time I used red)

Add: 

• Salt (to taste - I used quite a bit!)
• Lime (I used one lime but it could have used another. I've made it before without lime and its still good)

Optional: 

• Cilantro 
• Chopped mango (I cannot wait to try this!)

I love making this. I never thought to make salsa (or pico as this is) before this year, and I will continue to do it! I think chopping all the veggies is very mediative and it's great knowing that you made something yummy and saved money doing it. I also love the creativity you can have with making it. I hope you all make some awesome salsa with your own unique spin to it!

And you're done! Store it in a jar like I did if you can't finish it immediately! Keeps it fresher longer and makes you look professional! Happy eating!

Baked Sweet Potato Wedges

Hey there! I decided to experiment with a sweet potato I had. They may not look too pretty, but these wedges are great!

You will need:

• 1 sweet potato, cut into wedges (I did a pretty bad job at chopping, so no pressure...)
• Olive oil 
• Salt

And here's what to do:

1. Heat oven to about 400ish (At first I had the oven set to 450, but turned it down to 350 after 15 minutes).

2. Arrange taters onto a cookie sheet.

3. Drizzle olive oil on top! Make sure each wedge gets a little bit coated.

4. Add salt! I love salt on sweet potatoes so I added more while flipping them! 

5. Cook for about 30 minutes**. Flip after 15 minutes.
Mmm. Look at these sizzle!

**I guessed on cooking times, the fries looked good after 30 minutes so I took them out! You can experiment to get them more or less crispy. The small wedges I had were very crispy, the larger were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Serve! I served with ketchup, but they were tasty on their own too.

Asparagus

Lemon garlic asparagus is very easy. It's a great side dish to make if you need one. It only takes about 5 minutes!

You'll need:

• 1 bunch of asparagus 
• lemon juice to taste (I used a splash of pre-squeezed lemon juice)
• 1 clove of minced garlic (add more or less to taste)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• salt and pepper

And here's what to do: 

1. Heat a pan to medium-high heat. Add asparagus, garlic, and lemon. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until some of the asparagus has browned. 

2. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve. 

Oatmeal Pancakes

This recipe accomplishes two things. First, it makes a very delicious breakfast, and second, it uses up leftover oatmeal. Eliot thought of this recipe after he made too much oatmeal (he loves oatmeal) that I wouldn't eat (I prefer pancakes!). He decided to simply convert oats into cakes! It was awesome.
Sorry there are no measurements - it was just successful guess work, but here's how we did it:

1. Have left over oatmeal. Make sure to use oatmeal that you have already dressed up**.
2. Add milk (we used vanilla soy milk) to leftover oatmeal until it becomes somewhat soupy. 
3. Stir well to make it smooth.
4. Slowly add flour to this mixture of until the mixture is thicker (as thick as pancake mix usually is). 
5. Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil
6. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

After your batter is well mixed, cook as you normally cook pancakes (medium heat until golden brown.) Top with vegan butter and syrup or honey(if you eat it, I do!).

They were killer! They looked great and tasted better!

** Cinnamon apple, chocolate chip, strawberry, and/or blueberry are all great oatmeal options! This time, we used apple cinnamon oatmeal to make apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes.

Orchids

Last year, I received a gorgeous orchid for my birthday and I couldn't bear to throw it out after the flowers dropped. Instead, I kept watering it! The leaves were still green, after all. A little less than a year had past, my orchid began to bloom again, this time with more flowers! I have had beautiful flowers since December!

Now that a year has passed, it is important to re-pot the flower. This is done by simply changing the medium. Also, you'll need to make sure the medium is always moist so the plant doesn't die between blooming!

Summer Vegetable Soup

Ah, summer. Finally, you can put away the winter coats and break out the sandals. Is there a better way to celebrate than making soup? I think not...but I have a weird thing for soup.

Summer Vegetable Soup is super easy and so fresh! I also love this recipe because it has a creamy feel to it!

Here's what you'll need:

2 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cups of water
1/2 medium yellow onion
4 large cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
3 stalks of fresh celery
1-2 medium carrots
1 cup of chopped cauliflower
1 cup of chopped broccoli
1 bell pepper (any color), cut into strips
1/2 a pound of fresh green beans, chopped
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 10 ounce can of corn (fresh corn works too)
Extra virgin olive oil
Oregano, basil, dill, chives, salt, and pepper to taste.


Instructions: 

1. Brown onion and garlic (both coarsely chopped) in medium sized pot in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add water and chopped potatoes into pot. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer until potatoes are tender. 
3. Break out the blender! Pour water/tater/onion mixture into a blender and puree! After it's creamy enough for you, pour it back into the saucepan, add chopped celery and spices to taste, and set aside. 
4. Steam SOME of the vegetables. I used a microwave because it is 10x easier. Separate the veggies into these combos and steam separately: 
1. Carrot, broccoli and cauliflower 
2. Green beans 
3. Zucchini and bell pepper
5. *Reheat potato base if it has cooled, then stir in all of the steamed vegetables. Also add the corn. 
6. Enjoy!

*You can prepare the vegetables and the potato base the day before. When you're ready to serve, complete step 5.
Adapted from: Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook 2nd ed. 1992

Easy Vegan Banana Cookies

This recipe takes almost no time at all - and will get a ton of compliments! It's basically banana bread in cookie form!

Here's what you'll need to make about 2 dozen cookies: 

         2 ripe bananas

         2/3 cup canola oil 

         2 tsp vanilla

         3/4 cup sugar

         2 cups flour

         2 tsp baking powder

         a pinch or two of salt

And here's what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350º 
2. Mash and beat bananas with a fork until somewhat creamy. Some lumps are ok. 
3. Mix in all other ingredients.
4. Drop 1.5 inch balls onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
5. Press each ball down lightly to flatten (you may want to wet hands first).
6. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until golden-brown.
7. Enjoy