Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

Yesterday I wanted to use up some medium-firm tofu that I had in the refrigerator.  For some reason, my mind dredged up memories of one of my late mother's favorite snacks, or breakfast items-- cottage cheese with pineapple tidbits mixed in.  Not very exciting, I know, but it sounded like a reasonable use for this excess tofu.  I got out my copy of my own book, "Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause", which contains my old recipe for Tofu "Cottage Cheese"-- I hadn't made that for ages!

It's quick and easy to make, so, in no time I had a container of it chilling in the fridge and went rummaging in the pantry for my last can of sliced pineapple. As soon as the "cottage cheese" was chilled enough, I scooped out 1/2 a cup into a bowl and stirred in two chopped-up slices of pineapple.  It made a great high-protein afternoon snack with some sourdough rye toast-- not exciting, perhaps, but satisfying and filling.

So, if you have been vegan for a while and are craving something from your pre-vegan days, this just might do the trick.  Here are 12 ways to use this recipe:

1.) Make a "Weight Watcher's Danish"-- spread 1/4 cup of my Tofu "Cottage Cheese" on a large slice of whole grain toast (with or without pineapple chunks) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
2.) Spread Tofu "Cottage Cheese", topped with some berries, between slices of vegan French Toast.
3.) Make a healthful "Banana Split" by substituting "Tofu Cottage Cheese" for the ice cream and topping with berries or a lightly-sweetened berry sauce. For a breakfast dish, sprinkle with your favorite granola.
4.) Add some to a smoothie.
5.) Put a scoop on top of fruit salad or a chunky tomato-vegetable salad.
6.) Add some to any creamy pasta casserole.
7.) Use it as a crepe filling with strawberries or other fruit.
8.) Use it instead of sour cream on baked potatoes, etc.
9.) Spread Tofu "Cottage Cheese" on some crusty bread (toasted, if you like), top with sliced ripe tomato, drizzle with a bit of good olive oil, and sprinkle with flake salt and chopped green onion or basil- yum!
10.) Layer in small glasses with chopped melon and granola for breakfast "parfaits".
11.) Blend leftover Tofu "Cottage Cheese" into a vegan fruit popsicle mix.
12.) Use it as a filling for savory crepes topped with sauteed or grilled vegetables.


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S TOFU "COTTAGE CHEESE"      
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

1 lb. medium-firm tofu, mashed coarsely and drained well
2/3 cup firm or extra-firm SILKEN tofu
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar 

Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. of the salt on the mashed tofu in a medium bowl.  In a food processor, mix the silken tofu, the remaining salt, sugar and lemon juice until VERY smooth.  Scoop into the bowl with the mashed tofu and mix gently.  Refrigerate in a tightly-covered container. That's it!

Nutrition Facts for 1/2 cup serving: 
Calories 77.50, Calories From Fat 39.20, Total Fat 4.64g, Saturated Fat 0.67g, Cholesterol 0.00mg, Sodium 359.26mg, Potassium 135.47mg, Carbohydrates 2.45g, Dietary Fiber 0.30g, Sugar 0.43g, Sugar Alcohols 0.00g, Net Carbohydrates 2.15g, Protein 8.12g 


Enjoy!

I'm so sorry for not blogging for so long!  I have not been terribly inspired in the last few months, so have been taking a bit of a blogging vacation. On top of that, I have had the worst cold of my life for the last three weeks-- very tired from waking up coughing at night. But, I'm on the mend, finally.

One wonderful addition to our life-- I have a great-grandson!  Here he is with me just after he turned 4 months old:


I have been working on a few things and hope to post them soon.  In the meantime, I made some muffins yesterday.  I used to make muffins quite often, but I don't do much baking these days.  We have to watch our calories and fat. But Brian expressed an interest in carrot cake all of sudden, so I suggested carrot muffins instead of cake. (I happen to have a huge bag of carrots in the house and have been trying to use them up, so it sounded like a good idea.)

I like muffins that are low in fat, but moist. The crushed pineapple helps with that and I think using the aquafaba as an egg substitute also helps. We loved them, and I hope you do, too.





















Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S AQUAFABA PINEAPPLE-CARROT MUFFINS (vegan, low-fat)
Yield: 10 muffins

Dry Mix:
1  cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1  tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
Wet Mix:
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup aquafaba (cooking liquid from cooking chickpeas, or liquid from canned chickpeas)
3 Tbsp oil
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Additional Ingredients:
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained thoroughly
(NOTE: If you have only canned pineapple slices, use 6 slices and shred with a fork; drain thoroughly.)
1 1/2 cups grated raw carrot, squeezed by hand to remove juice.
1/2 cup raisins
Optional:
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans

Turn the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 10 muffin cups with cake release, or line with unbleached paper cupcake liners.

In one bowl, mix together the Dry Mix ingredients with a whisk.

In a larger bowl whisk together the Wet Mix ingredients thoroughly.  Pour in the Dry Mix and stir gently.  Add the pineapple, grated carrots and raisins (and optional nuts, if using). Mix just enough to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Distribute the batter evenly between 10 prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center of one muffin comes out clean.

Place the muffin tin on a rack for a few minutes, then carefully loosen the muffins from the cups and turn on their sides.

Nutrition Facts (without nuts)
Nutrition (per muffin): 215 calories, 40 calories from fat, 4.6g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 248.2mg sodium, 332.6mg potassium, 42.5g carbohydrates, 2.9g fiber, 25.4g sugar, 3.1g protein, 6.3 points.

Nutrition Facts (with optional nuts)
Nutrition (per muffin): 254 calories, 72 calories from fat, 8.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 248.3mg sodium, 358.4mg potassium, 43.3g carbohydrates, 3.3g fiber, 25.6g sugar, 4g protein, 7.4 points.

Enjoy!

UPDATE Sept. 2015 : We can no longer buy Vegg products (and there are 5 now) in Canada, and our low dollar comparison to the US dollar, plus shipping costs, makes it beyond my means to purchase it from the States right now.  So, for me, experiments mentioned below will have to wait. 

I've been slow about experimenting with the new vegan egg yolk alternative, The Vegg.  A couple of weeks ago I made a version of my lowfat mayonnaise with the "Vegg "vegan egg yolk" and it turned out very well, the Vegg adding a richer flavor, I thought (but not necessary).  We really enjoyed the French Toast recipe from the Vegg recipe page. ( I used regular wheat bread, homemade),  but I've had less success with some of their other recipes. They tend to be very short on detail, and, in my opinion, use too much Vegg in many of them, giving the result a slimy texture that I don't like.

I altered the fritatta recipe from my book Nonna's Italian Kitchen to include The Vegg, but, though it tasted good and wasn't slimy, it wasn't as substantial as my original recipe, so I have to try it with more tofu next time.  I notice that many of the recipes use tapioca flour or cornstarch because The Veg does not have thickening qualities like egg yolk does.  Not that I object to using these starches, but in a recipe like a fritatta or an omelet, which is a main course in many cases, I want more nutrition in the dish than starch can provide.  Tofu can thicken as well as add nutrition, but I also want to experiment using nutritional thickeners such as chickpea flour and corn flour.

Despite the learning curve, I think that this ingredient (which is sold in powder form and mixed with water) has great potential once we learn the ways to use it properly, so I want to test out some further ideas. On my list: a soy-free, nut-free, coconut-free vegan creme brulee and other custard-type recipe (in conjunction with British-style custard powder); revised versions of my fritatta and quiche recipes, and also my vegan Spanish omelet (Potato Tortilla) and vegan egg foo yung recipes; adding it to my vegan spoonbread recipe; adding it to my vegan "eggnog" recipe and perhaps vegan sweet yeast breads , etc.  I don't really feel the need to add it to my vegan pasta recipe-- a little chickpea flour provides good color and a slightly "eggy" flavor.

In any case, yesterday I experimented with a recipe from The Vegg website (by Sandy DeFino and Rocky Shepheard, the creator of The Vegg-- the recipe's not there anymore) for French Vanilla Ice Cream.  It was a very simple recipe and I followed it pretty much to the "T", except that I used commercial almond milk plus 2 tablespoons of canola oil instead of the coconut oil they recommended.  It turned out very well, although I think using a vanilla bean next time would add a richer vanilla flavor. Here's the recipe:


Printable Recipe

BRYANNA’S VERSION OF VEGG FRENCH VANILLA ICED CREAM by Sandy DeFino/Rocky Shepheard
Makes about 3-31/2 cups

I developed this recipe some time ago, but somehow never got around to posting it.  It's one of our favorite low-fat summer treats now.  It's so simple and easy to make and contains very little sugar because of the natural sweetness of pineapple.  No one ever guesses that there is tofu in it because silken tofu has a very neutral taste and an extremely smooth texture, and because pineapple is the main ingredient. Large flakes of toasted coconut coated in caramel-ly brown rice syrup add some crunch, contrast and texture to the smooth sherbet. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do!

Printable Recipe

Pineapple and Oat breakfast drink

Oddly enough, oatmeal is a staple in many Latin American and Caribbean households, and it is used, most interestingly, in wonderful, cheap, healthful hot and cold beverages. I came across this concept while researching Peruvian breakfast foods for my last post. These cinnamon-flavored oat-and-/milk or oat-and fruit drinks are variously called Avena or Cuaquer (Spanish translation of  "Quaker", for the oats!), Jugo de Avena, Chicha de Avena, Atole de Avena, Colada de Avena, and Avena Caliente, depending on which country of origin. ("Avena" means oatmeal, BTW.)

It is so popular that there is a packaged version (actually several versions) called "Avena", made by Alpina, a South American company.  You can read comments about it here, but I can't find out whether it it has milk in it or not.  If anyone knows, please let me know! (There are also other brands of similar drink mixes.)

Some recipes call simply for oatmeal, a sweetener, milk and/or cream, water, and cinnamon; others contain fruit.  Some are served hot, others cold.  I was intrigued by the idea of a simple drink thickened by grain, so I just had to try it.  I made a cold smoothie-type concoction with canned pineapple, which is what I had in the house.  We love it!  I plan to experiment with other fruits and combinations of fruits (mango, papaya, banana, passion fruit, even North American fruits and berries), as well as the non-fruit version.  Similar drinks are also made with corn or masa flour, barley, and quinoa, so I have lots of experimenting to do.  I'll post future results and recipes as I go!

Do give this a try!  It is refreshing and delicious.  Below is my original recipe, which you can fortify with soy or hemp protein powder, if you wish, and then, below that,  another version made with more nondairy milk, so that it it makes a protein-rich breakfast drink or snack without adding protein powder.

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S VEGAN PINEAPPLE AVENA (OR CUAQUER)-- LATIN-AMERICAN-STYLE OAT “SMOOTHIE” (Version #1)
Servings: 4

Use soy or hemp milk for a decent protein count. Other nondairy milks are very low in protein.  I have listed the nutrition facts for all of the variations based on the options given in the recipe.

NOTE: You need to make this ahead of time and chill it.

1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or quick)
2 cups water
1 cup soymilk or hemp milk
19 oz can unsweetened pineapple chunks with juice (you could also use about 2 cups of fresh pineapple chunks)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar or organic sugar
OPTIONAL:
1 oz. soy protein powder or hemp protein powder

You can cook the oats in the water in a small pot, turning the heat down when it boils and cooking it until it is thick and bubbly. I used the microwave oven-- place the oats and water (or non-dairy milk) in a 2 qt. microwave-save bowl (to avoid boil-overs) and cook on high 2 minutes, then 50% power for 3 minutes. Let it cool a bit.

Scoop the oatmeal into a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Taste for sweetener. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate.

Nutrition Facts (These Nutrition Facts were calculated using 1 cup soymilk and 1 1/2 tablespoons of agave nectar, WITHOUT the optional protein powder.)
Nutrition (per serving): 150.4 calories; 9% calories from fat; 1.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 36.9mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 32.1g carbohydrates; 1.6g fiber; 23.9g sugar; 30.5g net carbs; 3.5g protein; 2.8 points.

NUTRITION FACTS FOR VARIATIONS:

If you use the same amount of sugar instead of agave, they are as follows:
159.7 calories; 8% calories from fat; 1.6g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 36.9mg sodium; 237.7mg potassium; 34.0g carbohydrates; 1.6g fiber; 25.8g sugar; 32.4g net carbs; 3.5g protein; 3.0 points.

If you use soymilk and agave, and add the optional soy protein powder, they are as follows:
174.3 calories; 9% calories from fat; 1.9g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 108.1mg sodium; 243.3mg potassium; 32.6g carbohydrates; 2.0g fiber; 23.9g sugar; 30.6g net carbs; 9.2g protein; 3.2 points.

If you use soymilk and agave and add the optional hemp protein powder, they are as follows:
182.0 calories; 14% calories from fat; 3.1g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 40.4mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 33.3g carbohydrates; 2.5g fiber; 24.1g sugar; 30.7g net carbs; 7.1g protein; 3.4 points.

If you use hemp milk and agave, and NO protein powder, they are are as follows:
160.1 calories; 13% calories from fat; 2.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 28.1mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 32.3g carbohydrates; 1.8g fiber; 24.7g sugar; 30.4g net carbs; 3.4g protein; 3.0 points.

If you use hemp milk and the same amount of sugar instead of agave, and NO protein powder, they are as follows:
169.4 calories; 13% calories from fat; 2.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 28.1mg sodium; 237.7mg potassium; 34.2g carbohydrates; 1.8g fiber; 26.6g sugar; 32.4g net carbs; 3.4g protein; 3.2 points.

If you use hemp milk and agave, and the optional hemp protein powder, they are as follows:
191.8 calories; 18% calories from fat; 3.9g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 31.7mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 33.5g carbohydrates; 2.8g fiber; 24.9g sugar; 30.7g net carbs; 6.9g protein; 3.6 points.

If you use hemp milk and agave and use hemp protein powder with extra fiber, they are as follows:
190.1 calories; 15% calories from fat; 3.2g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 30.5mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 35.6g carbohydrates; 5.2g fiber; 24.7g sugar; 30.4g net carbs; 6.0g protein; 3.3 points.




Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S SOY OR HEMP/PINEAPPLE AVENA (OR CUAQUER)-- LATIN AMERICAN OAT SMOOTHIE (Version #2)
Servings: 4

This is a higher-protein version of my original one, without adding protein powder. Soy and hemp milks contain considerably more protein than other non-dairy milks. NOTE: You need to make this ahead of time and chill it.

1/2 cup rolled oats
2 cups soymilk or hemp milk
1 cup soymilk or hemp milk
19 oz can unsweetened pineapple chunks with juice (or about 2 cups of fresh pineapple chunks)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar or organic sugar

You can cook the oats in the 2 cups soy or hemp milk in a small pot, turning the heat down when it boils and cooking it until it is thick and bubbly. I used the microwave oven-- place the oats and soy or hemp milk in a 2 qt. microwave-save bowl (to avoid boil-overs) and cook on high 2 minutes, then 50% power for 3 minutes. Let it cool a bit.

Scoop the oatmeal into a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until completely smooth. Taste for sweetener. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate.

Nutrition Facts (Nutrition Facts were calculated using soymilk and agave nectar.) Nutrition (per serving): 185.9 calories; 15% calories from fat; 3.4g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 99.5mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 35.1g carbohydrates; 1.6g fiber; 25.4g sugar; 33.5g net carbs; 6.3g protein; 3.7 points.

NUTRITION FACTS FOR VARIATIONS:

If you use agave and hemp milk, they are as follows: 
215.1 calories; 24% calories from fat; 6.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 73.3mg sodium; 237.6mg potassium; 35.8g carbohydrates; 2.3g fiber; 27.7g sugar; 33.4g net carbs; 5.9g protein; 4.3 points..

If you use soymilk and sugar, they are as follows:
195.2 calories; 14% calories from fat; 3.4g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 99.5mg sodium; 237.7mg potassium; 37.0g carbohydrates; 1.6g fiber; 27.3g sugar; 35.4g net carbs; 6.3g protein; 3.9 points

If you use hemp milk and sugar, they are as follows:
224.4 calories; 23% calories from fat; 6.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 73.3mg sodium; 237.7mg potassium; 37.7g carbohydrates; 2.3g fiber; 29.6g sugar; 35.4g net carbs; 5.9g protein; 4.5 points.

Enjoy!

A Vegan Pineapple Sherbet Pop about to be eaten, in front of a new batch of Vegan Orange Creamsicles

Last week all temperature records were broken in BC-- it was HOT! Popsicles and salads were the order of the day, and I'll get back to those popsicles very soon. A prime concern for many people, even in our rain forest, is water-- or the lack thereof. We had a dry winter and spring, and now a dry summer. Forest fires are raging in parts of the province; wells are drying up. You see trucks with huge water tanks waiting in the ferry lineups to bring water to fill island wells. (We are lucky-- we have a back-up deep well to fill up our well in the summer.)