Blueberry oat pancakes

After years of searching for the perfect vegan pancakes, we finally found this winner from Spencer’s Gap Year. Blueberries make a great addition when they are in season; other times, chocolate chips work very nicely!

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 T + 1/2 t flour or cassava
• 1/2 t flaxseed meal
• 1/2 t baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 T nut milk*
• 20 blueberries (or chocolate chips)

Melt a bit of vegetable shortening, vegan butter, or vegetable oil in a large iron skillet. Pulse the dry ingredients in a mini-processor until they form a coarse flour, then transfer to a small bowl. Add nut milk* and stir. Spoon out the batter in your skillet to make four small pancakes. Drop five blueberries (or chocolate chips) into each pancake, smoothing the batter over them with a rubber spatula. When the shape seems solid enough, flip the pancakes and cook for a minute or two more. Serve the blueberry pancakes with syrup and a pat of Miyoko’s butter; with chocolate-chip pancakes, try peanut butter and raspberry or strawberry jam. (For gluten-free pancakes, simply use cassava flour instead of wheat flour.) Serves 2.

*You can make your own nut milk easily in a Vitamix: Combine 8 ice cubes, 2 cups water, 1/4 cup nuts (walnuts are a good choice for omega-3s), 4 plump Medjool dates, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add 1 tablespoon cashews for extra creaminess; you can also add flaxseeds, chia seeds, and shelled hemp seeds (about 1/2 teaspoon each) for extra flavor and nutrition.

 

Aqua-fabulous mayonnaise

Looking to make your own eggless mayo at home? For a steady supply, cook up a batch of chickpeas and freeze the cooking liquid (aka aquafaba) in 1/2 cup portions. Chickpea juice plus vegetable oil equals magic. (Recipe adapted from the Minimalist Baker.)

• 1/2 cup aquafaba
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/8 t onion powder
• 1/8 t garlic powder
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cup sunflower oil

Combine the aquafaba, salt, onion and garlic powders, and vinegar in a tall hinged jar. Blend with an immersion blender, then slowly add the oil. At the point where you have added just about all the oil, expect to see the mixture thicken. The mayo will thicken a bit more when it has been refrigerated.

 

 

Chocolate pecan blueberry clusters

While chocolate cravings must be satisfied, store-bought clusters can inspire sticker shock. No problem—you can make your own in minutes.

• 1 cup + 1 T pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup dried blueberries and raisins
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup + 2 T cacao powder

Combine the ingredients in a metal bowl, setting aside 1 T of pecans. Scraping the sides of the bowl, stir with a spatula until the mixture has the consistency of thick brownie batter. With an ice cream scoop, form four or five clusters, pushing each one down into the scoop before transferring it to a second metal bowl. (The clusters need to be compressed to set properly.) Scrape remaining chocolate from the sides of the first bowl and distribute it over the four clusters. Sprinkle remaining pecans on top. Allow the clusters to set in the freezer for several hours.

Satdha

Noodling around: Vermicelli with curry sauce

In more easygoing times, we adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding the omnipresent fish sauce in Thai restaurants. Now that we are more rigorous in our avoidance of animal products—and consequently do ask—we’ve had the experience of Thai dishes stripped not only of fish sauce (and oyster sauce, too) but also of flavor. Thai Vegan on Main Street in Santa Monica brilliantly solves the flavor problem but is not an entirely nice place to eat (table cleanups are DIY, and the parking-lot bathroom is best reserved for emergencies). Satdha (2218 Lincoln Blvd.) offers an appealing alternative, a bright, clean space, with an all-vegan menu full of color, crispiness, creaminess, and punch—and it happens to be a walkable, though uphill, hike from Main Street. We loved both the yellow and green curries: the former with fried tofu, carrots, potatoes, and onions; the latter with chickpeas, baby bamboo shoots, eggplant, bell pepper, and green beans. We were also impressed by the “catfish” eggplant, battered with rice and wheat flour, fried, and soaked in a red curry paste—clearly a customer favorite. But we found ourselves scarfing with particular relish the vermicelli with curry sauce, a toss-your-own platter of rice noodles, beans sprouts, chopped green beans, and pickled mustard greens. After three visits, we can now recommend Satdha without reservation. Will we be going back again soon? You hardly need to ask.

Any soup you want

In L.A., the heat wave’s over, and we’re back to the traditional coolness of May Gray / June Gloom, not a bad time for some soup. Fortunately, it’s easy to make just about any kind of vegetable or bean soup you like. Start here, and soon you’ll be cooking up your very own creations.

Soup’s on: (From top) carrot, black bean, and cabbage

Vegetable soup

1 T extra-virgin olive oil
¼ medium onion, chopped
vegetable of your choice
1 low-sodium vegan bouillon cube, crushed
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

At medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes until tender. Add vegetable (two thinly sliced carrots or some chopped Napa cabbage, for example) and sauté till tender. For carrot or cabbage soup, add ½ t cumin, bouillon cube, salt, and pepper. Add water and bring to boil. For creamy soup, process for 1 minute in Vitamix. For chunkier soup, use an immersion blender. For potato soup, chop a medium Yukon potato and boil it in salted water for 10 minutes. Add it to the onions with the bouillon cube, water, salt, and pepper. Process as indicated above.

Bean soup

1 T extra-virgin olive oil
¼ medium onion, chopped
1 low-sodium vegan bouillon cube, crushed
1 15 oz. can of beans
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

At medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes until tender. Add beans, bouillon cube, salt, and pepper. Add water and bring to boil. For creamy soup, process for 1 minute in Vitamix. For chunkier soup, use the immersion blender. This basic recipe works well with black beans or lentils. For black beans, add ½ t cumin to the sautéed onions before adding beans. For lentils, you can sauté fresh chopped spinach with the onions or just add a pinch of fresh rosemary.

Stuffed collard leaves

This recipe largely follows the one for vegan meatballs. The proposed name of collardoni (a play on cannelloni, which these stuffed leaves somewhat resemble) was set aside, but call them what you like!

Under wraps: Field Roast, incognito

1 bunch collard greens
1/4 onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 Field Roast Italian sausage link, chopped
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 T flaxseed “egg”
tomato sauce
Serves 2

Preheat oven to 350. Remove stems from collard greens, boil for 3 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Meanwhile, sauté onion in olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add Field Roast and sauté for additional 3 minutes. In medium bowl, combine cooked mixture with half the bread crumbs, parsley, flaxseed “egg,” and salt and pepper to taste. (For “egg,” blend 2 T flaxseeds and 1/2 cup water in Vitamix. Refrigerate leftover for another occasion.) Distribute mixture to 4 leaves and roll them up, burrito-style. Layer a casserole dish with tomato sauce, add stuffed leaves, and top with additional sauce, remaining bread crumbs, and more pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes.

Chickpea pasta salad

This is another development of the basic recipe that yielded macaroni and chickpeas. It’s a combination of flavors drawn from the same Mediterranean palate.

Zest in show: Prize-worthy legumes and lemon

4.5 ounces pipe rigate pasta
15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 black olives, chopped
3 sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 t chopped lemon zest
1 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
Serves 2

While pasta cooks, mash chickpeas. Add olives, sundried tomatoes, parsley, and lemon zest and toss with lemon juice and olive oil. Toss in pasta, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Vegan meatballs

Unsatisfied with the available vegan meatball options (all frozen), we tried making our own. This recipe uses Field Roast links as the protein basis, with flaxseeds as the binder. The resulting “wheatballs” were tasty and not too much trouble to prepare.

No beef: Trouble-free wheatballs

On top of spaghetti: A saucy substitute

1/4 onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 Field Roast Italian sausage link, chopped
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 T flaxseed “egg”
Serves 2

Sauté onion in 1 T olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add Field Roast and sauté for additional 3 minutes. In medium bowl, combine cooked mixture with bread crumbs, parsley, flaxseed “egg,” and pepper to taste. (For “egg,” blend 2 T flaxseeds and 1/2 cup water in Vitamix. Refrigerate leftover for another occasion.) Form mixture into balls, about 1 T each. Sauté meatballs in nonstick pan with 1 T olive oil until browned. Simmer in tomato sauce for about 10 minutes (while pasta cooks). (For a pre-made sauce, we recommend Rao’s Marinara.) Top spaghetti with meatballs and a small amount of sauce.

Kale and white bean soup

This easy soup is healthy, hearty, and very low in calories. Your nutritionist will cheer, and so will you.

Bean encounter: Cannellini and “cavolo nero,” together

1/4 onion
1 T olive oil
1 bunch lacinato kale (cavolo nero)
1/2 t oregano
4 cups vegetable stock
15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Serves 4

Chop onion and sauté in olive oil at medium-high heat for about 5 minutes in large pot. Meanwhile, remove stems from kale, chop it, and add it to onions, sautéeing for another few minutes until limp. Add oregano, pepper, pinch of salt, stock, and beans, and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer, and partially blend with immersion blender (or remove and process a cup or two of soup in a blender before returning to pot). The final product should be broth-y but chunky, with lots of floating kale and whole beans.

Vegan cutlet

Inspired by the Milanese at Tal Ronnen’s Crossroads Kitchen in Beverly Grove, we attempted our own breaded Gardein cutlet. The challenge was twofold: (1) make the bread crumbs stick to the patty and (2) prevent them from sticking to the pan. We accomplished this with batter made from macadamia nuts and flaxseeds, and the standard combination of lots of oil and a hot pan sprinkled with coarse salt. The result was satisfyingly crispy on the outside and, somehow, juicy on the inside. Topped with a salad of arugula, frisée, and cherry tomatoes tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette, these cutlets were a filling but not-too-heavy treat.

Crisp delivery: “Chik’n” with panko bread crumbs

Gardein party: Festive frisée, with arugula and cherry tomatoes

1 T macadamia nuts
1 T flaxseeds
panko bread crumbs
2 Gardein Chick’n Scallopini patties

Combine macadamia nuts, flaxseeds, and 1/2 cup of water in Vitamix at top speed until thoroughly blended. Dredge frozen patties in batter, then coat with panko, pressing each patty down in the dish to crush large crumbs into flour-y powder. Fry at medium-high heat for 4 minutes on each side. Let sit on paper towels for a minute or two to remove excess oil. Plate, and top with salad.