Egg Replacers

Last night my friend Kimberly had us over for a delicious vegan dinner of 'sloppy joes', butternut squash soup, and apple turnovers. In our conversation she asked a great question about what I do for egg replacements. Unfortunately the answer was quite long, as it really depends on the dish.

Luckily, vegcooking.com has a really good outline of egg replacement recommendations...see below

Egg Replacements

There are plenty of egg substitutes available for baking or preparing a dish that calls for eggs. Ener-G Egg Replacer is a reliable egg substitute for use in baking. It is available at health food stores and most grocery stores.

Tofu: Tofu is great for egg substitutions in recipes that call for a lot of eggs, like quiches or custards. To replace one egg in a recipe, purée 1/4 cup soft tofu. It is important to keep in mind that although tofu doesn’t fluff up like eggs, it does create a texture that is perfect for “eggy” dishes.

Tofu is also a great substitute for eggs in eggless egg salad and breakfast scrambles.

In Desserts and Sweet, Baked Goods: Try substituting one banana or 1/4 cup applesauce for each egg called for in a recipe for sweet, baked desserts. These will add some flavor to the recipe, so make sure bananas or apples are compatible with the other flavors in the dessert.

Other Egg Replacement Options

• 1 egg = 2 Tbsp. potato starch
• 1 egg = 1/4 cup mashed potatoes
• 1 egg = 1/4 cup canned pumpkin or squash
• 1 egg = 1/4 cup puréed prunes
• 1 egg = 2 Tbsp. water + 1 Tbsp. oil + 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg = 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed simmered in 3 Tbsp. water
• 1 egg white = 1 Tbsp. plain agar powder dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water, whipped, chilled, and whipped again

Egg Replacement Tips

• If a recipe calls for three or more eggs, it is important to choose a replacer that will perform the same function (i.e., binding or leavening).
• Trying to replicate airy baked goods that call for a lot of eggs, such as angel food cake, can be very difficult. Instead, look for a recipe with a similar taste but fewer eggs, which will be easier to replicate.
• When adding tofu to a recipe as an egg replacer, be sure to purée it first to avoid chunks in the finished product.
• Be sure to use plain tofu, not seasoned or baked, as a replacer.
• Powdered egg replacers cannot be used to create egg recipes such as scrambles or omelets. Tofu is the perfect substitute for eggs in these applications.
• If you want a lighter texture and you’re using fruit purées as an egg substitute, add an extra 1/2 tsp. baking powder. Fruit purées tend to make the final product denser than the original recipe.
• If you’re looking for an egg replacer that binds, try adding 2 to 3 Tbsp. of any of the following for each egg: tomato paste, potato starch, arrowroot powder, whole wheat flour, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, instant potato flakes, or 1/4 cup tofu puréed with 1 Tbsp. flour.

Product Review: TJ's Gluten Free Pancake Mix

This gluten free pancake mix can be made vegan or not, the recipe calls for an egg and milk, but you can use a number of egg substitutes, and the of course non-dairy milk or water. For this mix, I like to use applesauce and hemp milk.


I like my pancakes thin, and as thin pancakes theses are great. The flour is made from sweet rice, which is very sticky (think sushi rice/ mochi), so the pancakes have a hint of stickiness, which I actually liked. If you prefer thick fluffy pancakes it may be more difficult to achieve that consistency, overall Dan and I give it a thumbs up.

Savory Rosemary Crepes

Last night while on a walk, we found a beautiful rosemary bush. I picked a bunch and immediately started thinking of what to make. Being that it was evening and the next meal would be breakfast, I thought Rosemary Savory Crepes! So this morning I made Rosemary Crepes, with kale and onion filling, topped with a red wine reduction and heirloom tomatoes.

The batter was easy, just Trader Joes Gluten Free Pancake mix (I will write a product review on that later), of course adjusted to be veganized and crepe like. Recipe below:

Batter:
1/2 bag of TJ mix
1/4 c. applesauce
1 tbs. oil
1 1/4 cup of non-dairy milk, or water
1-2 Rosemary stems, leaves removed and finely chopped
salt and pepper

Mix ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.


Filling:
bunch of kale chopped
1/2 onion chopped

in a small skillet saute ingredients until onions are golden and kale is soft, set aside.

Reduction:
1/2 c. red wine
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 clove of garlic

simmer until liquids are reduced (this evaporates the alcohol)


Process:
pre-heat a medium sized skillet add olive-oil/ butter/ or spray the pan to avoid sticking. Pour about a 1/2 c. of batter into the pan. lift pan, and angle it to spread the batter around in a circle (this thins out the batter). cook until bubbles surface, flip. remove from skillet,

place face down on a plate, fill with kale and onions, roll crepe.

repeat with the remaining batter, then pour the reduction sauce over the crepes and add fresh tomatoes.


Did you know...
rosemary is said to help with digestion, prevent breast cancer and help with headaches?

Tofu Scramble

I can't believe I haven't posted a tofu scramble recipe yet. Maybe because it is so simple and I make them so frequently that I didn't think it merited much attention. But it does! This is such a great go to meal, any time of day. You can add whatever vegetables you have lying around, and make so many variations.

For the most basic scramble you need:
Block of tofu
Turmeric (gives the tofu its yellow color)
Other spices ( I usually use paprika, cumin, oregano)
vegetables

I like to add some miso paste, it gives a great flavor, and nutritional yeast. Here is the recipe for this morning's creation.

1 block of tofu
1 tbs. olive oil
half an onion
1. zucchini
a bunch of kale
2. heirloom tomatoes
1-2 tbs. turmeric
2 tbs. nutritional yeast
2 tbs. miso paste
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper.

Process
saute the onions in olive oil until translucent. add the tofu and saute for a few minutes. add the spices/herbs. stir in vegetables, heat until vegetables are cooked to your liking*

*the more the vegetables are cooked the less healthy they become

Strawberry Ice cream

Making non-dairy icecream really is a piece of cake. You just follow the directions on your icecream machine. The tricky part is getting the consistency right.

I used Isa's basic vanilla recipe from Veganomicon. The coconut cream really helps with the consistency issue and is much much healthier than whipping cream. To get coconut cream, just refridgerate a can of coconut milk, the cream will separate from the water, and you just scoop the cream from the top.

Ingredients
1/2 c. coconut cream
1 c. soymilk
3/4 c. sugar (I only used 1/2c.)
6 oz. silken tofu
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1 pint of fresh strawberries, chopped

Process
dump everything into a blender. add to ice cream maker. enjoy.


P.S. Does anyone else think ice cream should be a compound word? Icecream...i like it better!

GDF Italian part due

Making Gluten and Dairy free italian isn't as difficult as I thought. Tonight's dish was inspired by a similar dish from our favorite restaurant Ratatouille. I tried to pay more attention to what I was adding this time, so I do have approximate measurements. This might be one of my favorite dishes yet.

Rolled Eggplant Lasagna

The outside

1 large italian eggplant
1 large heirloom tomato, sliced

Spread
1/4c. sundried tomatoes (i used the ones in oil)
about 10 kalamata olives
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 tbs. oregano
1/2 tbs. basil
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Filling
1/2 lb tofu
1/2 medium onion
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1/4 c. red wine
1 tsp. braggs amino or soy sauce
oregano, garlic, salt, pepper to taste

Sauce
2c. tomato sauce
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
s&p to taste

PROCESS
Heat a pan with olive oil. Slice eggplant lengthwise into thin (but not too thin) strips, and brown each side in the oil. Set aside.

In a food processor combine all ingredients for 'spread'

In the same pan used for eggplant, heat more oil and saute onions. Crumble tofu into 'ricotta' like texture. saute for a few minutes. add garlic, then add wine. saute until wine is absorbed, add braggs seasoning and nutritional yeast. remove mixture and set aside.

In the same pan, add the tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, s&p. Heat for a few minutes, then remove from heat.


ASSEMBLY
Lay the eggplant slices flat in a baking dish, spoon the sundried tomato spread onto half of each eggplant slice. Then add a spoonful of 'ricotta' filling. Roll the eggplant, making sure the filling does not spill out the sides. Place rolled eggplant snuggly together in baking dish. Pour sauce ontop then place sliced heirloom tomatoes atop each roll. Cover in aluminum foil and bake for 30minutes, remove foil and bake for another 5.

Gluten and Dairy free Italian

Dan and I had a conversation a bit ago, about how now with my wheat intolerance Italian food is almost impossible to eat. Just being vegan at an Italian restaurant is hard enough, so to prove that being vegan really doesn't mean giving up your favorite foods, last night I set out to make vegan and gluten free Italian. Kale and Cherry Tomato Risotto and Roasted Heirloom Tomato Eggplant.
(for 4-6 people)
I roughly based this recipe off an existing one, so I actually have measurements!
Risotto
bunch of kale, chopped
1 c. cherry tomatoes chopped
1/2 c. onion
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. earthbalance (opt., if omitted use more oil)
1 1/2 c. Arborio Rice
2/3 c. red wine
5 1/2 c. vegetable stock
2 tbs. soymilk (optional)
1 tbs. nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tsp. oregano
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp. italian seasoning
salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the Earth Balance and oil in a large, wide pot over medium heat, add the onions and cook until translucent, add garlic. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute. Add the kale and half the tomatoes . Add the wine and simmer until the wine is absorbed. Add 2c. of stock, cover, and simmer until absorbed. Begin adding the stock in1/2 increments, stirring constantly until each addition is absorbed before adding the next. When the rice is cooked, add the remaining tomatoes, soymilk, nutritional yeast, seasonings, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and serve immediately.


Roasted Eggplant
(for two)
1 Italian eggplant
Roughly 1 c. olive oil
2 medium sized heirloom tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
nutritional yeast
oregano
salt and fresh pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and score the soft part in a criss cross pattern

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the eggplant, cut sides down, and brown. Flip the eggplant and brown for a few minutes. Place eggplant in baking dish (with sides, preferably) cut sides up, and season with salt and pepper.

In the same pan, with a little fresh oil, add the garlic. Then add the tomatoes and brown on each side.

Lay the tomato on top of the eggplant, sprinkle nutritional yeast and oregano on top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, remove foil and bake for 5 minutes more.