Strawberry Amaranth Corn Cake

 We ran into a special on strawberries, two quarts for $5, and with this began my thinking about how to bake something that wouldn't turn the berries inside into squish yet had that strawberry flavor. I'd been wanting something that might double as a breakfast food and a possible dessert, and then I saw the jar of amaranth on my kitchen shelf. The innovation in this came from pureeing a banana and some of the strawberries and adding this to the soy milk and maple syrup. It was like making a little cake with a fruit smoothie! It had to have enough nutrition to make a good breakfast, and enough sweetness and texture to make a nice dessert, perhaps under some coconut yogurt.

Strawberry Amaranth Corn Cake (6 servings)

1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup oats
2 Tblsp amaranth
1 Tblsp flax seed

1 cup soy milk (unsweetened)
2 Tblsp maple syrup
1 medium banana
8 strawberries
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix all the dry ingredients.
2. Mix the soy milk and syrup, cut the banana and two or three strawberries into small bits and puree them with the soy milk.
3. Mix the wet into the dry, spread on a silicone baking sheet in about a 9" circle an inch thick.
4. Slice the remaining strawberries and cover the surface.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375F. Cool just a little before slicing.

Amaranth adds a little crunch to the moist texture. Excellent with a dollop of any kind of yogurt as a dessert. Terrific with a dab of honey for breakfast. Nice as a mid-afternoon snack with a cup of tea too.

Strawberry Amaranth Corn Cake Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 sixth slice (127g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 231 12% Total Fat 6g 9% Saturated Fat 1g 3% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 216mg 9% Total Carbohydrate 41g 14% Dietary Fiber 5g 19% Sugars 9g 0% Protein 7g 13% Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 17% Calcium 9% • Iron 12% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Poblano and Tofu filled TACOS

Inspiration comes from various places, and lately it has been in the form of very small local shops in my Prospect Heights neighborhood that are being inventive with tacos as a medium for yummy vegan options. There are some work days when it is just hard to figure out how to find energy to cook and I am truly grateful to these little enterprises that have given me a way out. Then I crave that tasty morsel at home, and just have to give it a try! Here is a way to start on this path that I hope will inspire you to wander to your own delight. I took simple ingredients: 2 poblano peppers, 2 little onions, a small handful of mushrooms, a block of tofu, a dab of miso and a few teaspoons of spices, plus 5 corn tortillas and we had a taco dinner that was out of the ordinary, really fun, and left us conjuring up a "next time" with all sorts of additional options.  Here's what I did.

You will need over an hour of prep time as the tofu has to soak in the paprika sauce, and then most of the ingredients need to roast half an hour or so in the oven.  The good news is you can roast the peppers and at some point put the tofu in the oven too, easily getting everything ready to eat at the same time. Honestly, this first effort I complicated matters by forgetting to get the corn tortillas ... so I tried to invent them too... which was really fun and gave a nice grainy bottom layer, but no way could we wrap. I am definitely going to get the necessary fine-grind corn meal (harina) and try the tortilla project again. When I get it to work, I'll blog it because I really liked having a thick grainy corn plate under these, and eating with a fork was fine. For now, though, just buy the tortillas!

Paprika Tofu Tacos (3 big helpings)

1 block firm or extra firm tofu
3 teaspoons (or more) paprika
1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano (crush it into a fine powder)
.5 teaspoon or less salt
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce (or sweet/sour sauce or salad dressing)
1.5 cups water

for topping:
1-2 chopped up dill pickles
4 scallions, chopped


1. Compress slabs of tofu, about 6 using the whole block, by placing a dish towel on a baking sheet, spread the slabs on the dish towel then fold the dish towel over the slabs, and place another baking sheet on top with a solid weight on it -- like a pile of books, or cutting board with a kettle on top, or something weighing a couple pounds.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. After compressing for at least an hour, cut the tofu slabs into 1.5" long rectangles (slice the shorter way and then in half again). Put these carefully in a shallow bowl and cover in the sauce. Soak a while, an hour or so, carefully rearranging so that the sauce covers all the facets of the little rectangles. Spread on a tin foil covered baking sheet, drizzling the sauce over the surfaces, reserving a little to add after turning.
3. Heat oven to 400 F, and bake about 15 minutes, turn, drizzle, and bake another 10 minutes. These will be dry and coated red.
4. Chop the pickles and scallions -- about a tablespoon per serving -- to add to the taco. You could add fresh cilantro to this if you have some!
5. Heat corn tortillas one at a time over a hot burner, lay on plate and cover with tofu with chopped pickle mixture on top.


Poblano Peppers & Onion Tacos (3 big helpings)

2 good sized poblano peppers
2 small onions (I used Cippolinis)
1-2 teaspoons red miso
1 teaspoon crushed basil
3/4 cup water
.5 cup mushrooms (I used bunashemeji but enoki or button would be fine)

1. Cut peppers lengthwise into about 5 pieces each, and onions into 8 wedges each (quarter and slice again).
2. Mix red miso and herbs with water in a bowl. spread tin foil on a baking sheet and spread out the vegetables, lightly drizzling the miso mixture on each piece. bake (roast) in oven at 400F for a total of about half an hour, adding a little more miso moisture and separating the onion layers, de-sticking the peppers from the foil a couple times.
3. Remove from oven and slice into 1/4 inch strips (I cut across the whole pile of stuff, not separating onions from peppers), so that this will be easily bite-sized.  put mushrooms in a microwave save bowl and heat for less than a minute. this will soften and bring out the juices of the mushrooms.
4.  Heat the tortillas, spread the pepper-onion mix, top with mushrooms, and drizzle a little miso sauce on top.

Paprika Tofu Tacos (makes 3) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 taco (383g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 329 16% Total Fat 16g 25% Saturated Fat 3g 15% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 410mg 17% Total Carbohydrate 21g 7% Dietary Fiber 5g 18% Sugars 2g 0% Protein 27g 55% Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 10% Calcium 26% • Iron 37% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Roasted Poblano Onion Taco (makes 3) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 taco (218g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 99 5% Total Fat 1g 1% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 68mg 3% Total Carbohydrate 21g 7% Dietary Fiber 4g 16% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 3g 6% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 76% Calcium 5% • Iron 7% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Savory Cornbread Muffins

Still on the search for that tasty cornmeal bite to go along with chili or kidney bean tomato soup (see separate post), I decided to try using frozen corn inside the muffin to add moisture and sweetness.  It is a simple matter, and you can add bits of hot peppers, onion or anything else you want! The texture came out surprisingly coherent though dry between the kernels, just the way I hoped it would. None of that too-mushy, stick to the teeth stuff here! My efforts produced 5 muffin cups worth, an odd number, but turned out fine. After years of avoiding using these silicone muffin cups, I now praise their flexibility. It used to be that when I ran out of batter on the fifth muffin, I had a dilemma with that 6th empty cup, but no more. I'm thinking that if you really want 6 muffins, you can figure out how to add just a little more of each grain, and a dash more water.

Savory Cornbread Muffins (mades 5)

1/2 cup organic whole grain cornmeal
1/2 cup organic brown rice flour
1 Tblsp almond meal
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup frozen (or fresh) corn kernels
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp chili powder (to sprinkle on top)
1/4 tsp kosher salt (rough not fine for tops)
1/8 cup (a handful) sunflower seeds

1. Mix dry ingredients, all except seeds, rough kosher salt and chili powder.
2.  Measure and mix wet ingredients.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix wet into dry. This will be a crumbly soft dough, not a batter feel. Spoon clumps into silicone muffin cups, shaping gently with fingers into a mound.
5. Press a few sunflower seeds into the tops of each muffin, sprinkle just a little kosher salt and chili powder on tops.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, testing with a toothpick. Some will eat this with honey, others might dip 'em in their soup!

savory cornbread muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 muffin (65g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 134 7% Total Fat 3g 5% Saturated Fat 0g 2% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0% Sodium 103mg 4% Total Carbohydrate 24g 8% Dietary Fiber 2g 9% Sugars 1g 0% Protein 3g 7% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 1% • Iron 6% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Addendum:  Made these without almond flour, substituted 2 tblsp sorghum flour and added 2 tblsp coconut water... stretched nicely into 6 muffins with just a little encouragement. 8/16/13

Black Bean Enchiladas - No Oil, Vegan

Black bean enchiladas was one of the first experiments I tried to do without oil or cheese. We already loved refried black beans and had just discovered tomatillos as a beautiful combination of tart and juicy elements.  Stone ground whole grain corn meal tortillas are a wonderful vehicle for all kinds of toppings, but we craved the taste of the Southwest. So here's what we do. You can substitute something else for the sweet potato, but we like the thickness, sweetness and depth it gives to the soft interior. You can also add a little chopped jalapeno pepper, which we have done when we have it around. Experiment with what you like! Of course you can use pinto beans and absolutely make your own refried beans of any kind, spiced the way you want. We've even used leftover shiitake mushrooms and olives in these to great effect.

Black Bean Enchiladas - no oil, Vegan
1 medium sweet potato
1 can Amy's organic vegetarian refried black beans (or 1.5 cups of any beans you like)
5-8 Tomatillos, about 2.5 cups rough chopped
1 large onion, chopped medium fine
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 cup sweet yellow corn
6 stone ground cornmeal tortillas
handful grape tomatoes (or sliced tomatoes)
1/4-1/2  cup water (to cook the sweet potatoes)
(you can add chopped tomatoes, salsa etc.)

1. Cook the sweet potato sliced with skin on in a small sauce pot. Pull out the soft sweet potato and mash it in a bowl, set aside.  Save  the remaining liquid in the pot (maybe 1/2 cup?).
2. Chop onion medium fine, add to roughly chopped tomatillos in the cooking juice in the small pot, adding the chopped parsley and cilantro. Cover and cook on medium low, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft and less defined.

3. Pour about 2/3 cup of the tomatillo sauce into the bottom of a 9X12 oven pan.
4. Heat each tortilla on the burner, flipping once, for less than a minute. Do one at a time. Put a 4" blob of the canned refried black beans, plus a tablespoon or so of sweet potato, and roll the tortilla into a roll, placing it overlap side down in the pan. We have also used home made black beans spiced with cumin and a little salt and pepper. In this case save out 1/4 cup of beans to scatter on top for effect.  Continue until you use everything (amazingly it has come out evenly for 6 enchiladas having made this 4 times!).

5. Pour the rest of the tomatillo sauce over the whole thing, spreading it and then spread the corn on top, chopping the grape tomatoes and decorating the whole pan with them.
6. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. Peel the enchiladas off the bottom of the pan with a spatula and serve. About 2 enchiladas per person.


Makes a good leftover lunch!

Black Bean Enchiladas - no oil vegan Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (472g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 356 18% Total Fat 4g 6% Saturated Fat 1g 4% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0% Sodium 701mg 29% Total Carbohydrate 69g 23% Dietary Fiber 15g 59% Sugars 11g 0% Protein 14g 29% Vitamin A 28% • Vitamin C 59% Calcium 14% • Iron 27% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data

Cornmeal Cranberry Walnut Sweet Biscuits (no oil)

What could be nicer for breakfast, or to accompany leftover chili or stew than a sweet grainy corn biscuit? It packs its own weight in nutrition with 6 grams of protein and 4 grams fiber.

Cornmeal Cranberry Walnut Sweet Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350F

1 cup whole grain stone ground cornmeal

2 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup chick pea flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 Tblsp nutritional yeast

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

2 Tblsp maple syrup

2 Tblsp plain coconut yogurt

1/2 cup chopped dry cranberries (or more)

1/4 cup dried currants (or more)

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Mix wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl.

3. Chop the dry cranberries a little.

4. Add wet to dry, stir in fruits.

5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place blobs of batter about 3-4" oval shaped with at least an inch between them. Makes 8 of this size. Bake for 25 minutes. If you make 10-12, then shorten the baking time to 15 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. If there's still stickiness on the toothpick, leave them in a few more minutes.

Cornmeal Cranberry Sweet Biscuits Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (100g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 243 12% Total Fat 5g 8% Saturated Fat 1g 4% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 60mg 2% Total Carbohydrate 46g 15% Dietary Fiber 4g 16% Sugars 14g 0% Protein 6g 11% Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 8% • Iron 9% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data