Berry Muffins



I love muffins loaded full of fresh berries. And I mean loaded - more berries than batter!  Any berries will do in this recipe, it's really just a base recipe I came up with that works well for me and can easily be changed up to suit your tastes or what you have in your kitchen.

ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour (I use half whole spelt and half whole wheat)
  • 1/2 cup rolled or quick oats
  • 1/4 cup dry sugar of your choice
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp xanthan gum (can omit if you don't have it)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • zest of 1 orange (optional)
  • 1/2 cup soy / rice / almond milk, plain or vanilla
  • 1/2 cup light oil (I use sunflower)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • juice of orange you zested (optional, if not using you may have to add a smidgen oil or milk beverage)
  • 1 3/4 - 2 cups fresh or frozen whole berries, a mixture is always best (one of my favourites is cranberry-blueberry, though raspberry-blackberry is pretty amazing too)
method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a muffin tin, 6 - 10 cups depending on the size you like to make your muffins, with muffin cups.

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients including the orange zest if you are using it.

In a smaller bowl combine all the wet ingredients, but not the berries.

Gently mix the wet ingredients into dry, folding in the berries once all the dry flour has been moistened.

Fill muffin cups to your desired level.

Bake 25 minutes or until golden on top and muffin top feels firm but bouncy.  Let cool in tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut



This is a pretty basic banana chocolate chip muffin recipe with the addition of walnuts which I'm pretty partial to.  Some chopped dates would be nice in here as well.

ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour (I use half and half whole spelt and whole wheat)
  • 1/4 cup sugar of your choice
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp xanthan gum (can omit if you don't have any)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 large, ripe bananas, mashed well
  • 1/4 cup oil of your choice
  • 1/4 cup soy / rice / almond / etc beverage, plain or vanilla
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
  • small handful walnut pieces (optional)
  • small handful chopped dates (optional)
method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 6 - 10 muffin cups with liners; the number of muffins will depend on how large or small you like to make your muffins. This recipe makes 6 large or 10 small muffins, or 8 medium.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips, walnuts, and dates.

In a small bowl combine all the wet ingredients, then fold into the dry.  Mix gently until all the dry ingredients are moistened, then fold in the chocolate chips, walnuts and dates.  

Spoon into the muffin cups, bake 20 minutes or until golden and the muffin tops are firm to the touch.

Remove from oven, allow muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Vegan Thai Coconut Soup

This photo shows how we like to have the "soup", as a broth over rice noodles with various additions

There are two restaurants here in town that make absolutely amazing vegan Thai coconut soup (Chau Veggie and East is East), and my husband and I have become completely addicted to them.  The one restaurant has additions such as enoki mushrooms and other slim bits of veggies, while the other restaurant uses the soup as a broth served over your choice of rice or noodles (we always opt for the noodles). This version also has additions such as a few large chunks of pan fried tofu, yams, taro and a few kale leaves.  The downside to these two restaurants is that they are a good half hour drive away from us, in a direction of town that we don't often go, so not great for combining with other outings.

When I was visiting my sister-in-law back in the fall she made a coconut squash soup that had a very similar flavour and she told me the secret is in the kaffir lime leaves.  I started searching all over town and couldn't find them anywhere, then last week my husband came home from work with a massive bag of frozen leaves from Price Club right across the street from his work (the Grandview location). (Apparently T&T have kaffir lime leaves as well)  He also brought me a bag of pre-mashed lemongrass - how handy!.

I set to work scouring the internet for a vegan recipe that looked similar to the soups from the two restaurants.  I narrowed it down to three potential recipes and upon close examination decided that the Thai Coconut Soup by Beth from Tasty Yummies was by far the closest.  It's a very easy recipe to make, and once I'd had it sit and cool slightly a bit I gave it a taste (I'm not a taste-as-you-go person, I made final adjustments at the end).  WOW - I was so blown away I called my husband at work right away and enthused about how I now had the power to make what we always thought was some exotic, unattainable culinary feat.  I also contacted Beth from Tasty Yummies to let her know how amazing her recipe is, and to ask permission to post it here.

I did make some slight changes to suit my personal taste, and for my own reference I've made note of a few other additions I'd like to try.  The first time I made this my husband and I ladled the soup over rice noodles (the soup was enough for 4 portions), but I'll definitely be making it again as just a stand-alone soup. Perhaps  knock the taste buds off some friends some time!

**I highly recommend you check out the original recipe here before going ahead and making it as Beth goes into greater detail than I and you may like to use some of the ingredients I have omitted.

ingredients:
  • 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable broth (I used 'Pacific' brand - but this is just for my reference, use whatever brand you usually like to use)
  • 1 398ml can full-fat organic coconut milk 
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tsp pre-mashed lemon grass (I have access to a frozen bulk version of lemongrass)
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 6 kaffir lime leaves
  • 6 thin slices of ginger, peeled, about 1/2" diameter round
  • 1 1/2 - 2 cups sliced mushrooms
  • 1 - 1 1/2 cups tofu, diced (I used medium firm as I can't digest the firm variety properly. The original recipe calls for firm)
  • 1/4 tsp chili flakes

other possible additions:
  • mung bean sprouts
  • enoki mushroom
  • chunks of carrot / yam / sweet potato / taro
  • rice noodles - made separately, individual portions placed in large bowls with the soup ladled over top
method:

In a large saucepan bring the vegetable broth to a boil.  Add in all the remaining ingredients and let simmer 15 minutes. Pretty hard, huh?




Adapted from the original Tom Kha Gai recipe on Tasty Yummies




Olive Almond Paté



This used to be a staple item in my kitchen, way, way, waaaay back (I'm talkin' mid-90's) and over the past years I seem to have completely forgotten about it.  I was digging through my old recipe book the other day and came across this, so thought I'd revive it, make a batch and put the post up here.

The paté has a very 'earthy' taste, very '80's vegetarian kitchen', but that can still be a good thing, right? It's the pungent flavours of black olives (which alone I'm actually not a fan of at all), onion and sage that I think really dominate this.  It's great on crackers, toast, or my husband's favourite way - nibbling it on it's own.

Yield: 1 8"x8" baking tin

ingredients:
  • 1 can whole, pitted black olives
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
  • 1/4 flour (whole wheat, spelt, or whatever you like)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp sage
method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend on high until relatively smooth (there will still be small chunky bits - this is okay).  This may take a few minutes. 

Line an 8"x8" baking pan with parchment paper, or slightly oil the pan, and pour in the blended mixture.  Smooth it out nice and evenly.

Bake 45 minutes or until somewhat firm / set.

Remove from oven.  Let cool or chill before cutting into pieces and serving.  

Peanut Butter Cookies



Everyone's got their favourite Peanut Butter cookie recipe, and this is mine. I have several PBC recipes kicking around, but this is my oldest and my best. I hardly ever make cookies anymore, and I think the last time I made PBC was over 8 years ago, but I thought I'd add this recipe to my online collection so I won't have to dig around in my old cookbooks next time.

This recipe makes about 13 2" round cookies.

ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup pure peanut butter ('pure' as in not mixed with any kind of oil as many brands are)
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup flour (I use whole wheat, sometimes half of another type of flour, just not white)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium size bowl combine peanut butter and maple syrup until smooth.

Add flour and salt, mix gently until combined.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, dip it in a bit of water and spoon level spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  

Using a fork, slightly flatten cookies until they are between 1/4" and 1/2" thick.

Bake 12 minutes.

Remove from oven. Allow to rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.