Brunch Overload: Spring Break '10

So after having brunch at Mi Lah, I became kind of obsessed. With brunch. I wanted pancakes! Tofu scramble! French toast! And, luckily, I have an awesome vegan brunch cookbook, fittingly titled Vegan Brunch. I think I used 4 or 5 different recipes from this cookbook in the past three days.

Let's begin with the waffles. I LOVE my waffle iron. For these, each waffle came out differently because I kept adding ingredients.

Here's the full stack. My favorite is the one on top, to which I added pumpkin and a bunch of spices. I also tweaked the original recipe to make it healthier. Of course, this was an unmeasured experiment, so you will have to play with the ratios yourselves, but here is the basic recipe:

Cornbread Pumpkin Waffles (adapted from Vegan Brunch)
2-3 cups almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1.5 cups cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 cup canola oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup (I omitted the granulated sugar, so I experimented with a couple different substitutes. I like the warmth the maple syrup adds with the pumpkin)
Pureed pumpkin
cloves
cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I won't even try to guess how much I added...)

Preheat the waffle iron. Measure out 2 cups of milk and add vinegar. Set aside to curdle.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix the milk with the other wet ingredients. You may want to go light on the maple syrup for now until you know how sweet your batter will be. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet, mixing together until relatively smooth. Add more almond milk if your batter is too dry and you like your waffles a little more dense and less puffy.

Spray waffle iron and cook away!


Don't forget the powdered sugar and maple syrup!


And enjoy :)

Oh, PS these waffles freeze and toast up beautifully. I know, because I've eaten them every day since I made them!

I also made an awesome broccoli tofu quiche! I was too lazy to make or buy a pie crust, so this is actually a crust-less tofu quiche, but it was nevertheless delicious. Ground cashews provide creaminess, and I added ginger when I sauteed the broccoli because, well, ginger is awesome.

This is just the kind of dish I love: it's completely healthy, it's fun to make, it's pretty, and it keeps well for leftovers and is even great eaten cold or room-temperature. I missed quiche.

In other news, Puttanesca Scramble with tofu, black olives, capers, tomatoes and garlic. I made it for lunch yesterday. Oh how I missed scrambled tofu! It's so easy!

Last, but not least, I made a simple tempeh stir-fry to take with me on the plane to Boston tonight. I had never cooked tempeh before, but I bought some at Trader Joe's. It's really nice, though I think I need some more practice in cooking it. This stir-fry just had ginger, thyme, red peppers, spinach, garlic, and cabbage. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, but use your imagination or, even, better, pick up some tempeh and experiment yourself!

~Caitlin