carrot-ginger eggless egg rolls

Today we're revisiting the fried okara spring rolls, only this time we're making them with egg roll wrappers. It took me forever to find egg roll wrappers that were vegan! In my opinion, spring rolls just aren't meant to be fried, and this tastes much better with the egg roll wrappers.



Over medium heat, sautee
1/2 cup okara
2 Tablespoons agave nectar, sugar, or combination of the two
1 Tablespoon tamari
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
and stir for several minutes, until the liquids have been mostly evaporated and the contents have been thoroughly combined.

Move okara-carrot mixture to a bowl and stir in
2 Tablespoons finely chopped cilantro



Now it's time to fill the egg roll wrappers. You'll need about
20 vegan egg roll wrappers (or wonton wrappers)
give or take, depending on the size of the carrot you used.



Put a half Tablespoon of the okara mixture into the egg roll wrapper. Place it on one side of the wrapper and leave enough space to fold down the tops and bottoms.



Obtain a small cup of water to dip your fingertips into. Moisten the top and bottom of the wrapper, and then fold over the top and bottom of the okara filling.



Roll the wrapper over the filling. When you have a little flap of wrapper left, moisten it and stick it to the rest of the wrapper, sealing it.


Fry the spring rolls in hot
oil
I used canola oil but something like sesame oil might be more appropriate for a dish like this. If the oil is deep enough to submerge the rolls, fry them until they turn a golden brown. If the oil is too shallow for full submersion, make sure you flip the rolls to ensure even browning. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.

Verdict: Much better with the egg roll wrappers! I love the taste, and thought they were fine without any dipping sauce.

carrot bread

In a large bowl, mix together
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour 
1/4 cup wheat germ or quick oats 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 Tablespoon baking powder 
1/2 tsp. baking soda

In another bowl, whisk together  
1/3 cup canola or corn oil 
1 cup orange juice or 1 cup soymilk + 1 tsp. orange extract 
1/2 cup grated carrots 
1/2 cup okara 
the zest of one orange

After the oil has been emulsified, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all the flour has been moistened.

Scrape batter into a 9"x5" loaf pan that has been sprayed with vegetable oil. Place into an oven heated at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 55 minutes.

cherry(-orange) muffins

These were meant to be cherry-orange muffins, but because they didn't quite have the orangey oomph! I was going for, they're merely cherry(-orange) muffins. They still taste good, though!



In a small bowl, combine
1 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tablespoon dried orange peel
1 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped

NB: I used dried bing cherries.

In a larger bowl, combine
8 oz. okara
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
and whisk thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture from the first bowl to the wet ingredients in the second bowl, and mix until just combined.

Fill the cups of a lightly oiled 12-muffin tin with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.



Verdict: I liked these, but they might further benefit from one or two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Also, next time I might use orange extract to amp up the intended orange flavor. (It's also possible that these weren't as orangey as I wanted them to be because my jar of dried orange peel is quite old, and might have lost some of its potency. Your mileage may vary.)

chocolate-cherry (okara!) bread pudding

Do you make more than one batch of soymilk at a time? If so, you might be able to use up a lot of okara if you make this recipe, which calls for nearly two cups of the stuff!



I took one loaf of Trader Joe's par-baked ciabatta bread, which I did not bake as directed, and cut it into cubes. The package said the loaf was 8 ounces, but the scale said it was more like 11 ounces! In any case, I ended up with
7 cups of cubed Italian bread

Take these bread cubes and distribute them evenly along the bottom of a well-oiled 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan.

Sprinkle  
1/2 cup dried cherries
 on top, ensuring that they are evenly distributed.

 

In a small pot over low heat, mix together  
3 cups soy milk 
12 ounces chocolate chips 
2/3 cup sugar
until the chocolate has completely melted and is fully incorporated into the milk. Pour half of this chocolate mixture into a blender along with  
1 3/4 cups okara 
1 tsp. vanilla (I used vanilla paste!)
Liquefy completely. Add the rest of the chocolate mixture into the blender and blend thoroughly (if your blender is big enough -- otherwise do this in two batches).

 

When chocolate-okara mixture is completely liquefied, pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes. Pat any floating cubes down into the chocolate mixture with a spatula or spoon to ensure that all of the bread is covered.




In a bowl, combine  
1 cup cherry preserves 
1 tsp. lemon juice
thoroughly. Pour the cherry mixture evenly over the bread-chocolate mixture.



Cover the bread pudding with foil and allow it to sit for 30 minutes before transferring it to a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. Bake for an hour and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. (I think it tastes better after cooling completely.)


 

Verdict: I think this tastes great, but it might be fun to experiment with liquids aside from soymilk. Perhaps coffee or some kind of liquor could give this dessert a deeper and richer flavor. But I'm not going to complain about a cherry-chocolate combination, and this was pretty easy to make!

okara blueberry-corn muffins

I like this blueberry muffin recipe much more than its predecessor. It has a much better texture, and I like that it's sweetened with maple syrup, which gives it a subtler sweetness.



In a bowl, mix together
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup corn meal
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
until ingredients are thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together
8 oz. okara (approximately 1 cup)
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup soy milk
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. vanilla
until oil has been emulsified.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until "just mixed." Then fold in
1 cup blueberries

Fill the cups of a lightly oiled 12-muffin tin with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-27 minutes. Allow muffins to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from tin.

raspberry okara muffins

In a bowl, mix together
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans
until ingredients are thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together
8 oz. okara
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup soy milk
2 tsp. vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
2 tsp. vanilla
until oil has been emulsified.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until "just mixed." Then fold in
6 oz. raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Fill the cups of a lightly oiled 12-muffin tin with the batter. You should have enough batter to fill each cup all the way to the top. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 28-30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from tin.



Verdict: I loved these. I like that they were sweetened with maple syrup, which is a bit more understated than cane sugar. I think I could have added more raspberries, or, if I were really nuts, I could have thrown in some chocolate chips for a dessert muffin.

chocolate peanut butter brownies

One reason I haven't been updating as often as I should is because I can't stop making these brownies. I've even made a 9"x13" version and a chocolate-raspberry version. So ... here's a peanut-butter version!



In a small bowl or cup, whisk together
1/4 cup unsalted peanut butter
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
until mixture is smooth. Set aside.



In a bowl, thoroughly mix
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

On a stove top over low heat, mix together
1 cup sugar
4 oz. okara
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup almond milk or soy milk
and stir until chocolate is completely melted and ingredients are incorporated. Be careful not to let the chocolate burn. Remove from heat, and add
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
and whisk together until oil is emulsified.

Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and stir together until incorporated. Scrape batter into a lightly oiled 8"x8" pan (I used a Pyrex pan). Then drop dollops of the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate batter.



Using a knife, cut through the peanut butter and chocolate batter to create a "marbling" effect.



Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 32 minutes. Allow to cool.