toaster oven blueberry muffins

As I've mentioned before, I'm without a proper kitchen for the time being while my house is under renovation. My cooking is limited to a hotplate, electric kettle, crockpot, microwave, and our most recent addition, which I can't believe I ever lived without, the toaster oven. The toaster oven has been wonderful. We got a model that has a bowed front and back allowing it to accommodate round things like pies and pizza, and we've also used it to bake scones and cupcakes, and even baked teriyaki tofu sticks (addictive). The only drawback is that I need to cut recipes down to what will fit in the oven, so for cupcakes, cookies and such it's what fits on the tiny baking sheet that came with it or a 6-well muffin tin.

This weekend I was looking for options for breakfast foods for special occasions. Our usual special occasion breakfast of scrambled tofu with soysage and English muffins has gotten a little tired, and I wanted something new. I decided I wanted to make blueberry muffins but I had to cut the recipe in half to make it fit. I suppose an alternative would be to mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and then stick half of each in containers in the fridge/freezer for another time, but I decided to just go ahead and make the smaller batch. The full recipe is at the bottom.

Blueberry Muffuns - a muffin that errs on the side of sweet :)

dry ingredients

1 c all-purpose flour
3 T sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

wet ingredients

2 T +2 tsp oil (canola or other light flavored oil)
3/8 c (equivalent to 1/4 c + 2 T) soy creamer (or soy milk)
1/2 a 6 oz container of vanilla soy yogurt

additions
1/2 c frozen blueberries (or other fruit)

Makes 6 muffins.
Set the toaster oven to 400 F and preheat while you mix batter.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and create a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and fold to combine, add the blueberries and immediately pour into a paper or foil lined muffin pan and bake for 18-22 minutes.

If you have access to a full-sized oven the doubled recipe (makes 12 muffins) is much easier to measure, the instructions are the same, but the ingredients are as follows:

dry ingredients

2 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

wet ingredients

1/3 c oil (canola or other light flavored oil)
3/4 c soy creamer (or soy milk)
6 oz container of vanilla soy yogurt

additions
1 c frozen blueberries (or other fruit)

bulgur, red pepper, and cannellini salad

1 cup dry bulgur
2 cups vegetable stock
1 can cannellini/white beans
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 small bunch parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp cumin
1-2 T extra virgin olive oil
2-3 T lemon juice (to taste)

Cook the bulgur in the vegetable stock. Once cooked, cool to room temperature and add the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.

chickpea salad sandwiches

Chickpea salad is a vegan take on the old standby of tuna salad. When you mash chickpeas with a fork, the texture is quite similar, and if you're like me and enjoy the supporting flavors more than the fish itself, this meal is just as good. If you want that fishy taste, you can experiment with different types of sea vegetables and find one you like.

canned chickpeas, well rinsed or cooked chickpeas
vegenaise, nayonaise, or another vegan mayo
celery, copped finely
onion, or scallion, chopped finely
anything else you feel like adding. I know some people like capers, I like sweet pickle relish, because that's how my mom used to make it :)

The most important step is to mash the chickpeas. I like to use the tines of a fork, but you could also use a potato masher. Then add the supporting cast, until you get the mix that you like. This is really best served with lettuce and tomatoes in a wrap or pita in my opinion.

Seitan Cacciatore

1 lb seitan, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c white wine
1 28 oz can tomatoes, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 T oregano
1 T basil
hot pepper flakes to taste


Saute carrots, celerry, onion, and bell pepper in olive oil until onion becomes translucent. Add seitan and saute until seitan browns. Deglaze pan with the white wine and add the tomatoes, pepper flakes, and herbs. Simmer over medium heat stirring occasionally, and serve over whole wheat pasta.

Lentil and Orzo soup

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 c lentils
4 c vegetable stock
4 c water
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 T fresh thyme
1/2 c tomato sauce or diced tomato
1/2 c whole wheat orzo
1 T fresh basil
1 c spinach or other leafy green

Saute onion, carrot, and celery in a small amount of olive oil until onion starts to turn translucent. Add lentils and saute for another 1-3 minutes. Add vegetable stock, 4 cups of water, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and tomato and bring to a slight boil. Add orzo and simmer for 6-8 minutes before adding spinach and basil and continue cooking until orzo is al dente. Remove the bay leaf and rosemary before serving.

frozen pizzas and take-out Chinese

And this is why...

Kashi Kedgeree

1 c kashi 7 grain pilaf (dry)
2 c broth
1 c french lentils
2 c water
2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
10 oz mushrooms
1 bunch purple kale, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 T lemon juice
Bragg liquid aminos to taste

Cook the pilaf in the broth acording to package directions. Cook the lentils in water until tender and then drain. Sautee the garlic, onion, and carrot in 2 T olive oil over medium heat until onion is starting to color. Add the mushrooms, cumin, and coriander to the onion, garlic, and carrots, and stir to combine. Add Kale to the other vegetables and cover to steam for a couple of minutes, making sure nothing burns or sticks. Once kale is wilted, add pilaf, lentils, and lemon juice and stir to combine. For an extra kick squeeze a clove of garlic in a garlic press over the pot. Adjust your seasonings with a splash or two of Bragg's.

This recipe was inspired by Devra Gartenstein's Kegeree recipe. I've used the 7 grain pilaf and the french lentils for a little variety. I've also switched the powdered mustard for ground coriander because we were out of mustard and I love the way coriander works with lemon.

Basic Stir-Fry

1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 onion, cut into thin moons
12 oz fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 crown broccoli cut into small florets
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1 T freshly ground ginger root
sushi vinegar
toasted sesame oil
hot oil
tamari

The keys to a good stir fry are fresh ingredients, prepping everything before the oil hits the wok, and only adding 1 ingredient at a time.

Heat the wok on high and add a small amount of a high heat tolerant oil like canola or peanut oil. Add the onion, breaking up the moons into strips. stir til coated with oil and starting to wilt. Add carrots and stir to coat with oil and if you like your carrots softer than crunchy, cover the wok with a lid to trap steam for 15-30 seconds. Uncover, stir and add the mushrooms, stir until mushrooms reduce in size and release liquid, then add the broccoli, stir, and cover again for a few seconds. Uncover, stir add garlic, ginger, and sushi vinegar, sesame oil, hot oil, hot oil and tamari to taste.

Seitan Pot Pie

1 chopped carrot
1-2 chopped celery stalks
1 chopped onion
1 package seitan w/broth
1 package Imagine No-Chicken Broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen spinach
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh sage
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh or dried oregano
1 T fresh basil
1-2 cloves garlic

Tonight's dinner was made in the slow cooker. I sauteed the onion, celery, and carrot in a skillet. I added these to the slow cooker along with the bay leaf, seitan (Whitewave Chicken-Style), the broth from the seitan and the box of Imagine No-Chicken Broth. Cooked on low for 6-8 hours, then 1 hour before serving, add the rest of the herbs, garlic, frozen peas, and spinach. Remove the bayleaf, rosemary and sage, and serve with a nice crusty bread. For a special occasion, cook in a dutch oven or casserole, top with biscuits and finish in the oven according to biscuit recipe.

This is one of Paul's favorite meals. It's usually the first thing that comes out of his mouth when I ask for menu suggestions. It's a great meal that we can agree on. I love soups and stews and Paul loves the texture of seitan. I remember hearing about seitan as a teenager and looking up a recipe for it on the internet, so the first time I ever had seitan was actually completely home-made by using bread flour and kneading the dough while rinsing away the starches. Today, most recipes for seitan skip the rinsing step altogether by starting with the dry gluten available from companies like Hodgson Mill. I still think that first time was far better than anything I've come up with since, but far more labor intensive. A far simpler solution is to buy pre-made seitan from a company like Whitewave. I can get my local health food store to order it for me by the case and it freezes beautifully in the sealed packaging without changing texture like tofu.