Soy Curl Banh Mi.

Not any kinda wild recipe in the slightest (any quantities listed just indicate a nice ratio to go with the soy curls, but feel free to measure with your heart) — this is a lazy day assembly sandwich. Using, as always, Butler Soy Curls from Organic Planet here in Winnipeg. If you’re a meal prepper, double this recipe and store prepped ingredients separately.

Ingredients:

1 cup Soy Curls 

1/2 cucumber, sliced thinly 

Pickled carrots/daikon (I used Ocean’s Halo)

Pickled jalapeños 

2 tbsp neutral oil for pan frying 

1 tbsp chopped frozen lemongrass 

Sriracha Mayo (or 1 part sriracha to 1 part mayo)

Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Hoisin Sauce

Optional: Cilantro, finely chopped 

2 sub buns 

Soak the soy curls in hot salted water or hot broth. Once rehydrated and plump, squeeze out. Oil up your frying pan and begin frying the soy curls with your lemongrass. Once crispier on the outside, remove from heat, squeeze in hoisin (about 3 tbsp) until it’s just coated. 

To assemble, spread on spicy mayo, soy curls, cucumber, cilantro and pickled vegetables. 

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Mini Maple Butter Cornmeal Cookies.

This recipe makes close to 3 dozen mini cookies, using a 1 tablespoon scoop. They spread to 2” on the button and taste like a mix of maple butter, cornbread and sugar cookie. They crackle up nicely on top and stay chewy in the middle. Not bad!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour 
1/2 cup cornmeal 

1 tbsp cornstarch 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp salted vegan butter (I used becel baking sticks) 
2/3 cup granulated sugar 
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/4 cup real maple syrup  

1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp warm water)
1 tsp butter-vanilla extract (Lor-Ann is vegan friendly!)

For Rolling:

2 tbsp sugar 
1 tbsp cornmeal 

Make your flax egg and keep off to the side to thicken (5 min+). 

In a mixer, add butter and sugars and mix until well incorporated. Wet ingredients come next, mix until smooth. Add in all dry ingredients and mix under a smooth cookie dough forms. 

Use a 1 tbsp scoop to scoop about 32-36 cookies. Keep in the fridge on a lined baking pan for 30min+. 

Preheat the oven to 350°, and roll each cookie dough ball into the sugar/cornmeal mixture. 

Divide batch between 3 cookie sheets (12 each) as they’ll spread, and bake in batches for 10-12 min until golden brown. (11min worked for me)

Wait til they’ve cooled on the pan before enjoying. 

PS: they freeze well. 

PPS: a 2 tbsp scoop will yield 20 cookies and needs about 16-18 min in the oven and will spread to 4” or so.. but I like the 1 tbsp cookies the most — they spread to 2” after baking. 

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Vegan cream cheese.

Some recipes out there rely heavily on exclusively cashews, others on exclusively tofu. I dunno — This is my recipe using both. Lactic acid is 100% essential for that gnarly, familiar tang. Make sure it’s food grade.  

Ingredients For Blending (I used a Vitamix):

2 1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked 

1/2 block firm tofu (use Rooster only, correct firmness and water content for this recipe)

1/3 cup refined coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons lemon juice 

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 tsp pink salt

1/4 cup nutritional yeast 

2 tsp lactic acid (go hard, trust me)

Optional mix-ins once blended:

• Jalapeño and Violife cheddar 
• Fresh herbs
• Chives/caramelized onion
• Brother Sprout bac’n bits
• Quick fried bell pepper
• Chipotle powder 

Once blended using the tamper wand, this should be as thick as Silk protein yogurt when stirred. Flavours taste-tested now will yield the same intensity once set, but the profiles will have blended together more evenly. If this is lacking your desired cream cheese flavour, add salt first..  more lactic acid second. Do not add more lemon/ACV/liquids. 

Shmear on a bagel some time. 

 

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Raspberry Cashew Cheesecake (Freezer and Fridge Friendly).

 

I’ve been on the deep hunt for a vegan cheesecake that’s no bake, can live in the freezer or fridge, and isn’t vegan cream cheese based. Cry me a river, right. Anyhow, after comparing a dozen recipes, I’d sorted out how coconut oil may just be the answer for my woes for living in the fridge. It’s helped set up cashew cream cheese in the past, so why not cheesecake? I’ve made this one a handful of times before committing to posting, so have at it. 

Cheesecake:
1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked 
3/4 cup coconut cream 
1/2 cup agave nectar 
1/2 cup refined coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lactic acid 
3/4 tsp salt

Crust:
3/4 sleeve lotus biscoff cookies  
1/4 cup becel plant butter, melted 
1/4 cup brown sugar 

Topping:
3/4 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tbsp coconut cream
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla 

For the crust, combine melted butter and brown sugar into a bowl. In a food processor (or use a ziplock bag + rolling pin), crush cookies into a fine meal. Add to bowl and mix until a crust forms. 

Combine all cheesecake ingredients in a high speed blender, set aside. 

For the topping, combine all ingredients into a small sauce pot on medium for 4-5 minutes until the topping has returned to a deeper red (the coconut cream will make it look like a dark pink to begin with). 

Line a muffin tin with 12 parchment paper muffin liners. Scoop 1 tbsp crust into each, and flatten with something real small (I used my protein powder scoop, because there’s cacti in all my shot glasses, so hey, figure it out). Use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to pop the cheesecake in. Lightly shimmy and tap the muffin tin to get any air bubbles out.. they’re in there. Lastly, gently top with 1 tbsp of the raspberry topping (drizzle, evenly distribute, or plunk in the centre so you can see still the cheesecake underneath — this is your rodeo). 

Let set in the freezer first for 3+ hours. This part is crucial, so the liners peel off easy afterwards (I learned this through trial and error so you won’t have to). After they’re frozen, peel the muffin liners away and either serve immediately or place them in the fridge, the flavour and consistency is rad either which way. These keep in the freezer well, and the fridge too. If you’d like, dust cocoa powder or icing sugar on top before serving. 

Waste not, want not: the cheesecake filling is VERY on point, and I didn’t want to waste the bits still in my blender. I added in 1 cup Silk “almond-cashew” protein milk, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, 1 scoop of Vega vanilla protein powder, and blended myself into a little ditty of a breakfast shake. Health. NOW you can wash it out. 

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Vegan White BBQ Sauce.

 

Not a hot Canadian clue about white BBQ sauce until it popped up on a little doom scroll. So, hey, off I went to make it.

1 cup raw cashews 
3/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp mustard 
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp hot sauce or 1 tbsp hot spice powder (I used Spice World’s Electric Buffalo)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vegan fish sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon pepper 
2 tbsp nutritional yeast 

Blend everything until smooth and pop in the fridge. Makes around 2 cups. PS: cashew based dips like to firm up a little in the fridge  add water to thin out. PPS: no cashews? No problem. Replace the water the cashews with 1 cup vegan mayo  

I served mine with a big bowl of roasted: cherry tomatoes, baby potatoes, pressed tofu, onion, yam, garlic, soy curls and brown lentils.

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TVP Jerky.

 

Those massive $6 bags of flat, square dehydrated TVP at Sun Wah (and similar Chinese grocers) are a goldmine. They look like this, or a variation of the packaging. Rehydrate these to dehydrate them into jerky. Makes sense. 

Ingredients:

4 cups TVP

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup Kikkoman light soy sauce

1/4 cup mushroom / dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

3 tbsp canola or sesame oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 250°F. 

Place TVP in boiling water (or vegetable broth) until fully rehydrated, let cool, squeeze out. 

Mix together water + cornstarch to create a slurry, set side. Mix all other ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil, add in slurry, whisk for 1-2 minutes. Pour marinade over TVP, let ‘em get to know each other in the mixing bowl for 10-30 minutes. 

Using tongs, split the batch between two lined baking sheets. 

Bake for:
1 hour (flipping every 20 min) - yields a little chewier than Noble Jerky 
50 min (flipping 2-3x) - about Noble chewiness
40 min (flipping 2x) - softer than Noble 

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Tofu “Egg” Squares.

Tofu Egg Squares. Pop a slab on an English muffin sometime. 

Blend:
1 block medium tofu (I used Rooster)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp cornstarch 
1/4 tsp kala namak (black salt)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup water

Stir in:
1/2 cup bean curd sheets (I use this brand, crumbled soaked and pressed)
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup bac’n bits (I love Brother Sprouts, and they’re Canadian!)
Optional: 1/4 cup vegan cheese shreds 

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line an 8 or 9in baking pan with two overlapping sheets of parchment paper. 

Bake for 35 min. Let ‘em cool at least an hour before removing from the dish, flipping onto a cutting board and sliding the parchment papers off. Cut into 9 (or 6, if you want some bits around the edges of your breakfast sandwich). Wrap individually, or in an airtight container for the week. Microwave or pan fry for a few minutes per side. 

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Vegan sushi burritos.

Sushi burritos are great. Sushi burritos cost $16 when dining out. Here’s how to make sushi burritos. 

With the amount of rice I made, this recipe serves 4. 

Make your sushi rice, 1 1/2 cups sushi rice to 2 cups water. There are a few schools of thought on rinsing VS not, rice cooker VS stovetop. Do you. Once your rice is done, mix together 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 3 tbsp rice vinegar. Incorporate evenly. 

When your rice is ready to be handled, wet your fingertips and press down. Leave a little room up top and on the bottom. 

Press your favourite toppings in.

I used:

1/2 avocado

Shredded carrot

Spinach 

Sweet bean curd skin  

Vegan mayo + sriracha 

Complete one big roll with your sushi mat, and press at all angles. 

Get a sauce goin’. 

 

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Savoury Vegan Breakfast Scones.

It’s been way too impossible trying to tack down a savoury vegan breakfast scone. Try this. Slice it in half an add a pad of butter or some other fun fixins. 

1 tbsp flax meal
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup dairy free milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup vegan margarine 
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped garlic 
1/4 cup herbs (I used chives and parsley)
1/3 cup vegan cheese (I prefer Violife)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast 
1/3 cup Brother Sprout Da B’y Con vegan bacon bits 

Line some parchment on a baking sheet and pre heat that oven to 400°F. Mix the flax and water (set aside) and create the buttermilk by combining the milk and vinegar (set aside). 

Combine dry ingredients, add in wet ingredients, then stir in the mix-ins. Mix into a dough and knead a few times. Form into a disc about 8-9 inches in diameter and chop into 8 pieces. 

Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes. 

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Christmas Cookin’

The Christmas spread was a banger this year. 

• Tofurky Roast
• Mashed potatoes 
• No Name stuffing (yup, it’s vegan!)
• Peas
• Sip & Feast's Roasted carrots, brussels sprouts and onions (recipe) 
• Mushroom gravy (my new favourite recipe here)

And of course, the Nora Cooks cheeseball. I added 1 tsp smoked paprika her recipe. 

The dessert tray was absolutely definitely for sure not a miss. 

• Nora Cooks shortbread (recipe)
• Karissa's Vegan Kitchen Pecan squares (recipe)
• It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken mini pumpkin pies (recipe)
• Nora Cooks Glazed doughnuts with white chocolate icing and crushed pistachios (recipe)

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