For all you brownie lovers out there, here's one for you vegan style!

Check out my new video and see how these brownies turned out.  The "Sweet P" stands for sweet potato!  A healthy kick and of course locally grown.  Instead of agave though, I used vegan organic sugar and an unbleached pastry flour.  In my video I am also making a white bean soup from some beans I overcooked in the pressure cooker.  Just improvising.  (By the way, t.v.p stands for textured vegetable protein.)  I’ve been a little under the weather lately but I’m back.  Hope everyone enjoys!

       
  "Sweet P" Brownies

5 tablespoons vegan butter

⅔ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup white spelt flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup agave

⅔ cup sweet-potato puree

1 egg equivalent for egg replacer

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon instant coffee powder

½ cup choc chips

           View full recipe

1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Remove pan from heat, and stir in cocoa. Let cool slightly.

2.Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3.Mix together agave and sweet-potato puree, then mix egg replacer according to directions and add to potatoes. Add mixture to flour. In a small bowl, stir together vanilla and coffee until coffee is dissolved; add to cocoa mixture.

4.Add flour mixture to cocoa mixture and add extra chocolate chips. Stir until no traces of flour remain. Spoon into prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake until surface of brownies looks barely dry and an inserted knife comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 34 mins

Yields: 12

A little something to stay warm with.

White Bean Chickin Chili, A vegan adaptation of a great recipe


4 tbsp of vegan butter
1 large pack of chicken style seitan, diced into cubes
¼ cup of flour
1 large onion
¼ cup of finely chopped carrots
¼ cup green bell pepper
3 cups of veg stock
½ cup of milk substitute, (rice or almond milk)
1 to 2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp unsalted cajun seasoning
2 tsp of sea salt or to taste 2 14.5 ounce cans of cannellini beans
¼ tsp of red pepper flakes

Chopped parsley to garnish
 

In a large Dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons vegan butter over medium-high heat. Saute' the seitan pieces until brown. Remove and set aside.


Using the same Dutch oven, Stir in the onions, carrots, and peppers then stir in the flour. This will create a roux. Add milk to deglaze and add the chicken stock slowly to the pan. Lower heat and cook until the mixture thickens. Once the sauce has thickened, add the chili powder, coriander, cumin, cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes and the salt. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Add the cannellini beans and the seitan and simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes. At the very end add parsley and serve.


Note: Double this recipe if your family eats large portions.

Yields: 1 quart

Time to make: 30 mins

Good Eats! Save the Tuna Tunafish

Above from top left to bottom right: What is left of my "Tuna-less Fish", my Mac and Cheeze, my big boy enjoying his dinner.

Check out the tuna recipe at http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=398&catId=10. Will post the Mac and Cheeze soon.

Stay warm this weekend!

Healthy New Year!

Greetings, I hope this New Year finds you well. Today I wanted to send some information your way for people who see my blog who are not vegetarians but want to eat healthier. I know a lot of folks from the south who aren't quite ready to take the no meat plunge, but what I would like to help them understand is the importance of being healthy, eating healthy, and buying locally. Here is a local Louisiana link with some diet and lifestyle information. Live on, Eat Well!

http://stayhealthyla.org/blog/

Spelt Bread, YUM!

This bread is part whole spelt and part white spelt. It is also made half in the bread maker and half by hand and in the oven.

2 cups of whole spelt
1 cup of white spelt + extra for dusting
2 tbsp agave nectar or honey
2 tbsp olive oil or melted vegan butter
1 tsp of sea salt
¼ cup warm water (not too hot! 102° to 105°)
one packet active rise yeast
Bread Machine
Cast Iron skillet or heavy pan

Set oven to 375° and oil pan
Add all ingredients with the exception of a ½ cup of white spelt as directed by your bread machine for the dough only setting. If you can’t find the directions or bought one second hand as I did you can look up directions on the web. Note: I slightly warm all of my liquids together so that the oil or liquid sweetener won’t bring down the water temp and risk my dough not rising.
Once the the machine starts mixing slowly add a little more flour until the dough is a tight ball. Take a break!
Once the machine has finish take your dough and place on a floured surface. Knead the dough slightly and form into a ball. With a knife or pastry cutter cut 10 to 12 equal sized triangular pieces of dough. Place each piece folded corner to corner around the pan placing the last pieces in the center.
Let rise again for 30 minutes then place in oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with favorite butter or oil right out of the oven. For vegetarians, bread can be brushed with an egg wash, for vegans, a little agave and water.

Yields: 10-12 rolls

Time to make: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Date Added: 12/13/09

Source: Germaine

As promised, Sweet Potato Crunch

A great treat using ingredients that are found locally in Louisiana.

8x10 greased baking dish
oven 350°
6 medium sweet potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
1 large orange
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup honey or aguave
Topping:
½ cup flour
½ cup oatmeal
½ cup sugar
¼ cup pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pinches baking powder
1 pinch salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
4 tbsp vegan margarine of choice

In a large bowl place sweet potatoes. Zest orange then cut and squeezed juice on potatoes. Add zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sweetener of choice. Layer potatoes into baking dish.

For topping, stir dry ingredients together with the exception of margarine. After dry ingredients are fully mixed add margarine in small chunks and incorporate with fork or fingers. Mixture shouldn’t be too crumbly or too sticky. Adjust flour or margarine as needed. Place crumble topping on potatoes and add a few extra pieces of margarine to top before baking. Cover and bake for 30 minutes with the last 5 being baked with the cover off. Enjoy!

Yields: 6-8 servings

Time to make: 50 minutes

Date Added: 01/02/10