Breakfasts Archives - Page 6 of 6

Processor “Cheese” Danish Pastry

February 19, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Impress your neighbors and wow the in-laws with your pastry chef-like skills by making this surprisingly easy danish. The original recipe is from Nigella Lawson‘s How To Be A Domestic Goddess cookbook and so for some time, I’ve been dying to veganize this recipe. I made several alterations, but I am so impressed with how flaky and delicious they came out. Don’t freak out by all the directions–it was actually quite simple. Plus, you don’t actually need to use a food processor–a mixer will work just fine.

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 C warm water
1/2 C soy milk
1 large egg (1 Tbs ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbs water)
2-1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 pkg (1/4 oz) rapid-rise yeast
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 C unsalted butter, cut into thin slices (Earth Balance sticks)
Filling:
Pinch of salt
1 C ricotta cheese (Tofutti cream cheese)
1 Tbs lemon zest (I used a lime)
1 large egg, beaten (again, 1 Tbs ground flax seed + 3 Tbs water)
3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled (Earth Balance)
Glaze:
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C water

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the water and milk into a measuring cup and add the flax seed mixture, beating with a fork to mix. Put to one side for a moment. Get out a large bowl, then put the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the processor, and give one quick whirl just to mix. Add the cold slices of Earth Balance and process briefly so that the butter is cut up a little, though you still want visible chunks of at least 1/2″. Empty the contents of the processor into the large bowl and quickly add the wet ingredients. Use your hands or a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients together, but don’t overdo it: expect to have a gooey mess with some butter lumps pebbling it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, put in the refrigerator, and leave overnight or up to 4 days.

To turn it into pastry, take it out of the refrigerator, let it get to room temperature, and roll it out to a 20″ square. (This was fairly easy–it rolls out very nicely). Fold the dough square into thirds, like a business letter, turning it afterward so that the closed fold is on your left, like the spine of a book.

Roll out again to a 20″ square, repeating the steps above 3 times. Cut in half, wrap both pieces and put each in the refrigerator for 30 mins. (Just gently fold and wrap with plastic wrap–worked great).

So for the filling:
Combine the cheese, sugar, salt, lemon zest, egg-replacer, and Earth Balance. (I used the food processor)
Then you’re ready!
First of all…the recipe is intended to make 6 large danishes. For the first batch I made 3 large ones and decided on the second batch to make smaller ones, which I personally thought worked much better.
Roll out one of the pastry dough halves into a big rectangle (recipe doesn’t specify exactly how big…) Divide into thirds and place a tablespoon of cheese filling on each piece of dough. Fold the opposite corners up together and seal with a pinch.

Place on baking sheets prepared with waxed paper and brush with the sugar/water glaze. The recipe then calls for them to rise for about 1-1/2 hours. Yeah, that didn’t happen for me, but apparently that was no big whoop because they came out great. Preheat oven to 350 and bake 15 mins or until puffy and golden brown.

I then made a lime icing (since I used lime zest) by combining about a cup of powdered sugar and then drizzled in lime juice, stirring and adding more juice to get the consistency I wanted. I then drizzled the danishes with the icing…

For the second batch, I made smaller ones and spread out the filling more. I brushed them with the glaze and this time, they baked about 20 mins.

These really came out amazing and I will make these again and again! Enjoy!

Quinoa-Couscous Cereal with Dried Fruit

January 27, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This may take a bit longer to make than regular old oatmeal, but it is so worth it! Not only is it good for you, but is quite filling; the protein is perfect to keep you going all morning.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 C unsweetened apple juice
1 C water
1/2 C quinoa
2 Tbs dried cranberries
2 Tbs dried apricots, chopped
2 Tbs dried blueberries
2 Tbs raisins (I like the golden variety)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 C couscous
1/2 cup soy, rice or almond milk

DIRECTIONS
n a medium saucepan, combine apple juice and water. Bring to a boil and in the meantime, rinse and drain quinoa (or use an already rinse kind) and put into a small saute pan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until grains begin to pop, about 2-3 mins. Add the quinoa, dried fruit and spices to the liquid in the sauce pan, stirring occasionally for about 12 minutes. Stir in couscous. Remove pan from heat and cover with a lid. Let stand for 5 mins until liquid has been absorbed. Stir and serve with soy milk. Enjoy!

Serves 6

Recipe source: Shape Magazine, 2006

Breakfast Sandwiches

January 23, 2010 by epicureanvegan

These were delicious, but I made it harder on myself than I needed to…I thought I could get away by using soft, Silken tofu, not firm, like the recipe says…won’t make that mistake again. Despite the detours I had to make these sandwiches were very yummy and served with some tempeh bacon, it was a satisfying breakfast.
The recipe includes homemade biscuits, but I used toasted English muffins instead–I didn’t have ALL morning…!

INGREDIENTS:
Tofu eggs:
1 12-oz pkg Firm Aseptic Silken Tofu
5 Tbs soy milk
2 Tbs nutritional yeast
1 Tbs olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs tahini
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp baking powder
Vegetable oil for heating in pan
Maple Soy Tofu:
1 14oz block of water-packed tofu, pressed
3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:
To make the tofu egg, mix all the ingredients, except vegetable oil in a blender or food processor. Blend well. Heat a nonstick skillet with a few teaspoons of vegetable oil. Pour 1/3c of batter into the hot pan, using a rubber spatula to gently spread the batter into a thin pancake. When beginning to brown, flip gently and cook on the other side. Continue to cook the tofu egg “pancakes”; stack and set aside. (Ok…this was not as easy as it sounds–perhaps it was the tofu issue, after the first “pancake” fizzled and disintegrated into the oil, I said screw it–I’ll make scrambled eggs. That didn’t work. BUT…after 5 mins, it made a thicker batter, so I poured it back into a bowl and was able to make the egg pancakes).

They weren’t real pretty, but that’s okay…they tasted great.
To make the maple tofu:
(And I recommend doing this while the egg pancakes are cooking–save on time–if you don’t mind having 2 pans going)
After tofu is drained and pressed, slice it into 10 thick slices. Cook in an ungreased, nonstick skillet until brown on both sides, cooking in batches if necessary. Place all of the cooked tofu into the pan. Add the soy sauce and maple syrup (I whisked together both in a bowl first–made more sense) until the sauce bubbles up and thickens into a glaze, being careful not to burn it. Set aside. Place the tofu eggs and maple tofu on the toasted english muffins and serve. I had a third pan going with the tempeh bacon–and then added a slice to the sandwich. Hmmm….despite all the work and my “egg” mishap, it was well worth it! The tofu eggs really tasted very much real like egg–impressed. I think a good variation would be to use a Tofutti cheese slice in the place of the tofu egg, the maple tofu and tempeh bacon.

Recipe source: Vegan Yum Yum

Crispy Tofu Slices with Orange Dipping Sauce

January 23, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Holy…mackerel, I have never seen 8oz of tofu disappear so fast. This is was outstanding–I just wish I had made more! The recipe is from The Kind Diet and are so easy to make. The slightly sweet orange dipping sauce gives these a dessert, or even a breakfast quality. They practically melt in your mouth.

INGREDIENTS:
1-8oz pkg savory-flavored baked tofu (I used Westsoy Sesame Peanut flavored and the picture only shows about 1/4 of that)
1/2 C corn flour
1/2 C brown rice flour
Safflower oil
2/3 C orange juice
1/3 C maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:
Cut the baked tofu into slices about 1/4″ thick. Mix the flours together in a shallow bowl. Pour enough oil into a large skillet to cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer and heat over medium heat. Dip each of the tofu strips into the flour mixture, coating well on all sides. Place the tofu strips in the skillet, and cook until lightly browned on both sides, about 3 mins per side. Transfer the fried tofu strips to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Stir together the orange juice and syrup in a small bowl. Serve the tofu strips with the dipping sauce along side.
So delicious!
There was quite a bit of leftover flour, so I saved it for another batch, but I would recommend using 2 packages of tofu because there was also quite a bit of sauce left, too. With the orange juice and maple syrup dipping sauce, it would be delish for breakfast. Or try a tamari and brown sugar combo, or teriyaki sauce…the possibilities are really endless and I can’t wait to make more!

Recipe source: The Kind Diet

Easy, Healthy Granola

January 21, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This is inspired by my mom’s granola recipe, however, she uses 1-14oz can of condensed milk, so I had to come up with an alternative. There are recipes to make a dairy-free condensed milk using soy milk powder and sugar, but it looked like a bit of work, plus I couldn’t find soy milk powder. So…with the need for sugar and milk in her recipe, I decided to use maple syrup and soy milk. You can also use brown rice syrup as well. Log Cabin makes a nice maple syrup that has no high fructose corn syrup, which I like. This isn’t a super sweet granola, so if you prefer it be sweeter, add 1/4-1/2 C brown sugar to the mix or a tsp of cinnamon, which happens to be rich in antioxidants. Don’t forget, sunflower seeds, walnuts and almonds are a great source of calcium and protein. Plus, wheat germ itself is miracle-working superfood!

Check out the benefits here.

INGREDIENTS:
2 C old fashioned oats
1 C shredded coconut
1/2 C wheat germ
1/2 C chopped almonds
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C sunflower seeds
1 tsp salt
1/4 C maple or brown rice syrup
1/2 C soy milk
1/8 C vegetable oil
1-6oz bag craisins (try orange-flavored craisins–they add just a bit more sweetness)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300. Combine oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts and salt. Stir in syrup and soy milk and add oil and mix. Spread evenly on a large greased and foiled pan. Make sure you grease it well, or it’ll “stick something awful,” as my mom said.

Bake until it starts to brown, 45-50 mins. Transfer to a large bowl and add the craisins. Makes about 8 C. Store in an air tight container. Serve over vanilla soy yogurt, soy ice cream, in a bowl with some soy or rice milk, or just snack on it! Try other dried fruit like blueberries, apricots, apples, cherries…you name it! Enjoy!

Processor “Cheese” Danish Pastry

Quinoa-Couscous Cereal with Dried Fruit

Breakfast Sandwiches

Crispy Tofu Slices with Orange Dipping Sauce

Easy, Healthy Granola

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