Burgers and Blinzes

Lots of delicious cooking going on!  I guess that’s what happens when you actually have days off! Last night I had some mishaps with dinner, but it still got on the table one way or another!  And it was really, really good.  I was spurred to make my own veggie burgers upon realizing how bad the store-bought ones are!  Most of them don’t use organic soy, which means its processed with Hexane.  Scary stuff.  Also, Morningstar puts egg whites in many of their products, and Boca is owned by Phillip-Morris! This is not okay.  So what’s a smart vegan to do?  Only one thing came to mind, and I’m glad it did because these were so good!  This recipe is modified from one on Eatingwell.com and also one from Veganomicon.  To accompany I made OMG Oven Baked Onion Rings from Post Punk Kitchen.  I had trouble with these, but hey they were still good on top of the burgers.  The man and I ate two, so they couldn’t be too terrible, huh?

Then we woke up this morning and I felt ambitious, so I decided to tackle crepes. For the first time. Ever.  At 9:30 in the morning.  Weird.  Interestingly enough, though, these turned out nearly perfect.  I had been preparing for this day, because I had an irrational fear of crepes, and so bought a silicon brush and an offset spatula to perfect them.  I found, though, that a rubber spatula was just as useful.  I wish I could tell you some sort of helpful tip but I followed the recipe from Veganomicon exactly and they turned out great.  Have I mentioned Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero are kind of my heroes?  I actually made blinzes, making up a filling based on what I had and when combined, they were kind of okay.  Adam said I should make them every day for the rest of our lives.  They weren’t that easy!  Anyway here’s some pictures of them and me.  Next time I’m making vegan nutella to go in them.  These are very flexible, so good luck with your crepe adventures!

Recipes:

Whole Wheat Crepes:

1 1/2 cups soy or rice milk (I used a combo of soy creme and almond milk, worked fine!)
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 tablespoon arrowroot flour (I used cornstarch, didn’t have any arrowroot)
1/2 teaspoon salt
nonstick cooking spray
melted vegan margarine

Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor and pulse until combined.  Put in the fridge for at least an hour (or the freezer for 15 minutes, haha).  Meanwhile prepare filling (see recipe below).  When ready, spray 9 to 10 inch pan and then heat to medium high heat.  Brush on melted margarine to pan with a silicon brush that can withstand high heat.  Ladle on  1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter (I found 1/3 made thin, delicate crepes, 1/2 made thicker ones).  Lift the pan and tilt to coat until batter is set.  Cook until top of crepe is dry and it bubbles a bit beneath.  (My first few were overcooked, it takes a few to get the hang of it).  Use the rubber spatula to lift edges and either use this to flip as well, or use offset spatula.  I also used by fingers a bit too.  Stack on a plate as you finish them, and brush on more margarine between each crepe.  If keeping, cover in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

Potato Tofu Scramble with Carmelized Onions and Soy Sausage:

2 potatoes (I used yukon gold because they’re yummy)
1 onion
1/2 container of firm tofu
2 links sausage, sliced (I used Field Roast, highly recommend!!)
1/2 tablespoon tumeric
1/4 tablespoon paprika
Optional, but delicious: 1 teaspoon rosemary, herbes de provence, marjoram, and chives.
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Saute onions until caramely in olive oil.  Add potatoes and sausage, brown well.  Then crumble tofu into pan and add seasonings.

Spicy Bean Patties:

1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 of a red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin, or to taste
1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder (optional)
cup vegan breadcrumbs (I made mine fresh, see note)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Prepare quinoa according to directions on package (twice as much water, brought to a boil, then lowered to simmer etc).  Combine all ingredients except breadcrumbs and quinoa and mush together with potato masher or fork.  Add breadcrumbs and quinoa and squish together with your hands to form patties.  Stack these on a plate and fry over medium high heat for a few minutes on each side.  Very little oil is required for this.  If you wish to make breadcrumbs from scratch, toast bread or let sit out overnight and then grind in a food processor.  This is the same process you can use for the onion rings, only for that make sure they are VERY dry.

OMG Oven Baked Onion Rings:

2 vidalia onions (about a pound), or other sweet onion like Walla Walla

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup cold almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons olive oil

Cut the onions into thick stacks and separate out the rings.  Combine flour, corn starch, almond milk and vinegar in one bowl, and the bread crumbs and salt in the other.  Dip rings individually into the wet mixture and then the dry, and place on a baking sheet.  I ran into trouble here because despite my boyfriend’s quite correct admonition to do this to each onion ring separately, I tried to do stacks.  This does not work.  Now we know.  Bake at 450 until brown and delicious.  These are especially good ON the burger, along with some guacamole (squished avocado, soy sour cream, salt and pepper to taste).

Me & Crepes

Advertisement