Category Archives: Breakfast

Vegan Lox

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat’s better than lox and cream cheese on a warm bagel with onion and tomato on a lazy weekend morning?  Not much I would say.  But since going vegan, there’s been no lox for us.  Until now, that is!!  This recipe makes the most amazing lox.  The taste and the texture are pretty spot on.  Even if you eat it alone, it’s really good.  But if you have it on a bagel with all the trimmings, you will be amazed at how close it is!!  And, if you don’t like peppers, don’t worry.  My husband and all 3 of my kids hate peppers so much that they avoid them at all costs, yet they love this lox!  Let me know what you think!  I’d love to hear!!

 

  • 1 16oz jar roasted red peppers
  • 1 2.4oz jar capers with liquid
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2  T olive oil
  • 1/4 c olive juice (optional)
  • 2 t liquid smoke
  • 1 t kelp granules (I use Maine Coast)
  • 2 t dulce flakes (I use Maine Coast)

Remove the seeds from the peppers and slice into thinner pieces like lox.

Place all other ingredients in a medium sized bowl and combine well.

Add pepper to the bowl and let marinate overnight.

Lasts in fridge for up to a week.

 

 

Bac’n, Cheddar, and Onion Omelette

DSC_0540So – how about a great brunch idea for a holiday weekend?  I know there is a lot of controvesry over even having a holiday named after Columbus, but all that aside, who isn’t happy for a day off and another excuse to have brunch?  I love brunch – it’s my favorite meal!  And I always loved omelettes with all the fixings and oozing with cheese.  Think vegans can’t have that?  Think again!  Enter the chickpea omelette.  There are lots of recipes online for chickpea omelettes and they are all wonderful!  I tweaked them and came up with this recipe that incorporates all of my son’s favorite things.  Since he was home from college for the weekend, I decided to make his idea of a perfect omelette.  You can put anything in the omelette that you like.  Mushrooms, peppers, tomato, capers, spinach – anything really!  While tofu scramble may technically taste more like eggs, because this is so reminiscent of the look and shape and texture of an omelette, it is amazing and it tastes great as well!  It is also so easy and quick to make!!

  • 1/3 cup chickpea flour
  • 1/4 t turmeric
  • 1/2 T nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 t baking powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup + 2 T water
  • 2 t oil for cooking
  • 2 T chopped onions
  • 2 T chopped tempeh bac’n
  • 3 T shredded vegan cheddar, such as daiya

Combine first six ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat oil over medium high heat in an 8″ non-stick pan.

Pour batter into pan.  Sprinkle onions, bac’n, and cheese on top.

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Cook 5 minutes.

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Fold in half and cook another 2 minutes.

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Serve immediately.

Serves 1

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Chunky Monkey Mini Muffins

DSC_0455When I used to work in Manhattan, each morning I would get off the train at Grand Central Station and stop at Zaros to get coffee and the most delicious muffin ever before heading up the escalator to the Pan Am building (now the Met Life building).  Every day I would think about which kind of muffin I was going to get as the train was pulling into the station.  I loved blueberry, apple spice, chocolate chip, and banana.  Each one was practically the size of a baseball and I loved eating them so much until I read that there was over 1,000 calories per muffin.  That was over 20 years ago, and I have not had one since,   To this day, however, one of my favorite breakfast foods is a muffin.  I love them for breakfast and as a snack, and they are so delicious they even serve as dessert!  I also love to make them and keep them in the freezer for my kids to pop in the microwave for a fast and nutritious breakfast on those school days when there is no time to make anything else (just about every day).  I wanted to make a muffin that was not only healthy, but also tasted great.  I think I have accomplished that here.  Honestly, even if  the Zaros muffins magically became vegan, I would choose my muffin instead!

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  • 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 3/4 cup spelt flour
  • 1 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 2 T ground flax mixed with 5 T water.  Combine and let sit 5 minutes.
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2 t vanilla
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips plus optional 1/4 cup extra
  • 2 bananas, mashed

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Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl, combine first five ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine the flaxseed and water mix, agave, oil and vanilla.  Add walnuts, banana and chocolate chips.

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Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just incorporated.

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Lightly grease muffin tins.  Recipe makes 42 mini muffins or 12 muffins.

Spoon batter to fill tins 2/3.   If you really love chocolate, you can sprinkle a couple of extra chips on top of each muffin.

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DSC_0417Bake 10 minutes for minis and 18 minutes for regular sized muffins.

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mini

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Blueberry Tea Bread

DSC_0350My daughter just returned home from a summer program and as usual, even though we were assured that they would provide vegan options in the dining hall, they left much to be desired.  They put cheese on the vegan burgers, honey in the sweet and sour tofu, and while it is vegan, it is still disturbing to me – high fructose corn syrup in the rice.  Yuck!  So, needless to say, she ate most of her meals off campus.  Her favorite vegan find was a blueberry tea bread at Blue State Coffee.  She raved about it and asked me to try to make it as soon as she got home.  This is what I came up with.  Although she said it was not exactly like Blue State’s, I was so thrilled that she really liked it and said she wants me to make it all the time.  I will be more than happy to do so as it is very easy to make and also quite healthy.  To make it even healthier, you can certainly use all whole wheat pastry flour (the end product will just be more dense) and omit the sugar topping (which will not change the taste at all but just leave out the tiny crunch).  I am grateful to Blue State for their vegan options and for helping me to find another quick breakfast for those very early school day mornings.  I plan to bake a bunch of loaves, slice them, and freeze them, so they will be ready all the time for either defrosting the night before or a quick 10 seconds in the microwave that morning!  Yum!

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  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 t baking powder
  • 3/4 t salt
  • 2 T ground flax seed mixed with 5 T water
  • 1/4 c plus 2 T non-dairy milk
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 3 T coconut oil
  • 2 t vanilla
  • 2 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 T sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly grease a loaf pan.

Place first 9 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

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Fold in blueberries.

Spoon into pan and smooth the top.

Sprinkle with sugar.

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Lavender Pancakes

DSC_0352I can’t even begin to tell you how incredibly delicious these pancakes are.  Upon deciding to make pancakes for brunch, it was my daughter who said “let’s use some lavender” and I readily agreed.  It was also my daughter who knew to add vanilla to enhance the lavender flavor and bring it to a new level of deliciousness.  The lavender syrup is so yummy it tastes like vegan caramel with a lavender infusion.  This dish reminds me of sleepy mornings in Provence.  Walking through lavender fields is sensory heaven and this dish evokes that experience!  I know we will be making these again very soon!

  • 1 c flour
  • 1 T baking powder
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 3 T dried lavender buds, divided
  • 3/4 c non-dairy milk
  • 1 c plus 3 T maple syrup, divided
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  • couple of handfuls of frozen blueberries
  • safflower oil for cooking

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In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  In a small saucepan, gently bring 1 1/2 T lavender buds, milk and 3 T maple syrup to a boil over medium heat. 

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Boil for 2 minutes and then strain and let cool. 

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Add vanilla.  Add wet to dry ingredients and stir just to combine.  Add more milk, 1 T at a time, to get the desired consistency (usually takes about 4 T).  In a non-stick pan with a little  oil over medium heat, spoon batter in and add a few blueberries to each.  Cook pancakes until golden on both sides.

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Meanwhile, gently boil remaining 1 c maple syrup with remaining 1 1/2 T lavender and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes.  Strain and then pour over pancakes.

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Makes 8-10 pancakes