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.

brownie tart

This is a slight tweaking of the delicious chocolate-coconut brownie tart I came up with last month. I made it with hazelnut milk instead of coconut milk and changed a few other things as well. Still delicious!



to make the brownie layer:

Over the stove top, on low heat, stir together
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup okara
1 tsp. vanilla
until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix together
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Add the chocolate mixture to the dry mixture and stir until well combined.

Mist a 9-inch spring-form pan with
vegetable spray
and pour the batter inside. Spread evenly and cook at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 19-21 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow brownie layer to cool while you work on the next steps.

to make the custardy layer:

In a saucepan, whisk together
1 cup hazelnut milk
1 1/4 tsp. agar powder (not flakes)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

Place saucepan on stove top and stir over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to thicken.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, make a slurry of
1/4 cup hazelnut milk
1 tsp. arrowroot powder

Whisk together until smooth.

Add the slurry to the hazelnut milk mixture over the stove top, and stir into the mixture. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and bubbles.

Then add
3 1/2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) chocolate chips
and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

In a food processor or a large, powerful blender, puree
12.3 ounces silken tofu
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon barley malt syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
until all tofu has been liquefied.

Add the contents of the saucepan to the food processor or blender, and puree contents until totally combined. You will probably have to scrape down the sides with a spatula a few times.

When it's all mixed, pour the contents of the food processor or blender into the spring-form pan, over the brownie layer.

Optional topping:

Chop up
1/4 cup chocolate chips
and sprinkle over the top of the tart.

Place the pan into the refrigerator to set. Allow it to chill for at least an hour. When ready to serve, run a sharp knife around the edges of the spring-form pan before releasing the cuff.

Verdict: The reason I used hazelnut milk is because I love the way it tastes with chocolate. However, the hazelnut flavor really wasn't discernible here, leading me to believe you could use any plant-based milk and achieve similar results. Almond might be a good choice as well!

But all in all, delicious.

yam-kale soup with chorizo garnish

This delicious soup was inspired by the potato-kale soup in Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan! Romero provides a recipe for homemade vegan chorizo in her fantastic cookbook, but I just used the store-bought stuff. If you don't want to buy or make vegan chorizo, you could eat this soup without it, but seriously ... it's the chorizo that really knocks it out of the park.

Also, when I made this soup I completely forgot to put the onions in at the beginning, and ended up sauteeing them separately later. Since it came out so great, I'm going to pretend that's what made all the difference, and that mistake has been preserved in the directions below. But I'm sure you could just throw the onions in with the rest of the veggies and pour in a couple of Tablespoons of olive oil ...



Peel a
large yam (about 19 ounces)
and cut it into small bite-size pieces along with a
small Yukon gold potato (about 8 ounces)

Throw the yam and potato chunks into a large pot, along with
6 cloves of coarsely chopped garlic
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
and bring to a boil over high heat, covered. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the yams and potatoes are very soft.



Remove
2 cups of the cooked vegetables in cooking liquid
from the pot and puree in a blender or food processor along with
5 ounces okara

Once pureed, return to the soup pot. If desired, you can mash the remaining yams and potatoes with a potato masher or other mashing implement.

Saute
a medium-sized white onion, finely chopped
in
2 Tablespoons olive oil
for 5 to 10 minutes, until onions are translucent but not browned. Add them to the soup pot along with
5 ounces kale (stems removed and chopped into small pieces)
1 Tablespoon white wine
and increase the heat to medium. Stir until the kale is wilted.

NB: This should have only taken maybe 5 minutes, but because I used prepackaged kale from Trader Joe's, I had to cook this for about 15 minutes. Why? Because the TJ's kale didn't have the thick stems removed, so it had to be cooked for a lot longer! In the end this wasn't a problem, so if you don't want to remove the stems I guess you don't have to -- just be prepared to cook it longer, until the stems are nice and soft.

When the kale is wilted, add
1 1/2 tsp. salt
ground pepper, to taste
1 tsp. white vinegar
and stir seasonings into the soup. Turn off heat and let the soup rest while you lightly saute the chorizo.

There really aren't instructions for the chorizo -- I just sauteed some store-bought vegan chorizo in some olive oil for a few minutes, being careful not to burn it. How much chorizo you garnish your soup with depends on your tolerance for heat and your own personal tastes. I probably used about a Tablespoon of chorizo per cup of soup.

Ladle soup into a bowl, garnish with desired amount of chorizo, stir chorizo into the soup, enjoy!

Verdict: This is one of my new favorite soups. I love the combination of yams, potatoes, and chorizo, and love finding ways to sneak kale into my food (not to mention okara).