Vegan Banana Muffins

For a person who hates bananas I sure have a lot of recipes for baked banana goods. This is mainly because I hate the smell of overripe bananas as much as I hate eating them, so when there are bananas going brown on the counter, I have to turn them into bread or muffins to get rid of them. Our vegan grocery shopping experiment in 2020 has resulted in a lack of eggs in the house, so after some Googling I found a recipe that I had most of the ingredients for, so kept tweaking it to work with the quarantine cupboard. A approved of the taste so I think it was successful!

Vegan Banana Muffins
Adapted from The Worktop

Ingredients

4 medium ripe bananas - mashed
1/2 cup water (or milk alternative)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, but any vinegar/lemon juice should be fine.)

For topping

1 tablespoon quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line or lightly grease a standard 12-hole muffin tin.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, water, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and brown sugar. You can mix this by hand, or use a hand mixer on low speed. I usually use a hand mixer since I find that it quickly will mash/puree a ripe banana.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined. Stir in the vinegar.
5. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Top the muffins with the oats (and turbinado sugar if using).
6. Bake muffins, rotating pan halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25–30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let muffins cool in pan 5 minutes. Transfer muffins onto a rack and let cool completely.

Sook Mei Faan (Cantonese Creamed Corn With Tofu and Rice)

Sook Mei Faan (Cantonese Creamed Corn With Tofu and Rice)

Adapted from the NYTimes

The original recipe caught my eye as I had all of the ingredients already, and I looooove corn dishes. I was a little dubious as to whether A would be into this, as he sometimes finds the more subtle, soft-textured Chinese dishes (like congee) a little off-putting. But he loves corn too, so I went ahead. Turns out he found this just as delicious as me and it was a comforting, healthy lunch dish that he asked for more of.

Ingredients

2 (14-ounce) packages silken tofu, drained (I have also used firm tofu if you're wanting a more hearty chew to your tofu)

3 cups corn kernels (1 pound), from 3 large cobs or thawed from frozen

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 scallions, finely sliced, plus more for serving

1 ½ cups vegetable stock (used Better than Bouillon)

 Kosher salt

 White pepper (used black pepper instead because I didn't have white)

2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

 Steamed rice, for serving (I didn't serve this dish with rice - just on its own)

 Cilantro leaves and tender stems, for garnish

 Sesame oil or chile oil, for drizzling (only had sesame oil on hand)

Method

1. Carefully pat the tofu dry with a clean kitchen towel, and cut each block into 8 slices.
2. Place half the corn kernels into a blender or food processor, and blitz until creamy but still chunky. (I had to add water to the blender to get it to blitz, but I just reduced the amount of vegetable stock I added later accordingly)
3. Heat a medium saucepan or deep skillet over medium-high. When hot, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the ginger, garlic and scallions, and cook for 20 seconds until aromatic. (They shouldn't brown too much.) Add the remaining corn kernels, along with the blitzed corn and vegetable stock, season well with salt and white pepper, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to bring the mixture to a boil. Stirring constantly, slowly add the cornstarch slurry, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened.
4. For each serving, lay half a package of tofu in a bowl and top with a generous amount of the creamed corn. Finish with scallions, cilantro and drizzle with sesame oil.
   

Grilled Carrots with Avocado and Mint

Whenever I see a recipe in a magazine with beautiful photographs, AND I have all the ingredients on hand (or am very close to that), I take it as a sign that I must try it out. Doesn't always end well, but here's another success story.

Grilled Carrots with Avocado and Mint

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 tsp. cumin seeds (I used 1 tsp ground cumin)
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. honey
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 serrano chile, thinly sliced (I used 1/2 tsp chili flakes)
1 1" piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
Kosher salt
1½ lb. medium carrots, scrubbed, halved lengthwise, tops trimmed to about 1"
2 avocados, cut into large pieces
½ cup mint leaves

1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted (I added this ingredient)

Method

1. Prepare a grill for medium heat (or in my case, the broiler in the oven). Toast cumin seeds in a dry small skillet over medium heat, tossing often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let cool. (Or, just use ground cumin.)
2. Coarsely crush cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle or with the flat side of a chef’s knife. Transfer to a large bowl. Add lemon juice and honey. Whisk in ¼ cup oil until combined, then stir in chile and ginger. Season with salt. Let sit until ready to serve, which will give the chile and ginger time to infuse into the sauce.
3. Toss carrots with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt. Grill carrots, turning occasionally, until lightly charred in spots and tender, 14–18 minutes. Immediately transfer carrots to bowl with sauce. Toss to coat; season with salt.
4. Arrange avocado and carrots on a platter. Spoon any remaining sauce over, then top with mint and sesame seeds. Serve carrots warm or at room temperature.

Vegan Potato Leek Soup

Lots of leeks left over from the Sheet-pan Gnocchi recipe (one of the odd side effects of only using curbside grocery services is that it can sometimes be hard to specify the amount of something you want - I only had the option of picking "Leeks" without any idea how many that meant. Turned out it meant 4 enormous leeks.) Good thing I always have plenty of potatoes in the house, and also most of the other ingredients. Tweaked a little more to use oat milk instead of coconut, and left out the coriander powder as I don't have any and am not always a fan of coriander powder anyway. This made 8 jars of soup.

Vegan Potato Leek Soup

Adapted from Loving it Vegan

Ingredients

1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Large Leeks (washed well and cut into 1/2 inch moons; in addition to the white and light green sections, I also use quite a lot of the darker green parts of leeks, just not the very dark, tough looking parts)
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 spring fresh rosemary (dried in original recipe but I've got a readily available rosemary bush)
6 Medium Potatoes (~2.2lb/1kg) – peeled and chopped
2 Bay Leaves
4 cups vegetable broth (I used 1 tablespoon of vegetarian Better than Bouillon and 4 cups water)
2 cups plain oat milk
Sea Salt and Black Pepper (to taste)

Method

1. Add the chopped onion and leeks to a pot with the crushed garlic and olive oil and sauté until softened. Add in the thyme and rosemary and sauté.
2. Add the chopped potatoes, bay leaves and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer until the potatoes are soft and cooked.
3. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
4. Then add in the oat milk.
5. Blend the soup using an immersion blender for the easiest blending or, if you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer in stages to a blender jug and blend until smooth.
6. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
7. Serve with fresh chopped chives.

Sheet-pan Gnocchi with Asparagus, Leeks and Peas

Cooking has become a stress-relieving weekend activity - trying to find interesting things to make to mitigate the feeling of being trapped is certainly helping. Plus it helps me know that there are tasty lunches for the rest of the week and that I can focus on the other things that take up most of my thinking time these days, like actively being anti-racist so that whenever this pandemic eases, we don't just go back in time.

This recipe was a huge hit - A couldn't stop raving about how tasty the crispy yet potatoey gnocchi were, and happily ate enormous servings of vegetables. Modifications made below to reflect what we had on hand, and I can see myself using the same gnocchi roasting technique and mixing them with lots of different other vegetables as well. I have yet to meet a roasted vegetable I don't enjoy. A couple of vegan adaptations included, which I don't think were too detrimental (though I really miss parmesan).

Sheet-pan Gnocchi with Asparagus, Leeks and Peas

Adapted from the NYTimes

Ingredients

24 ounces refrigerated, precooked gnocchi
5 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut into thirds
2 large leeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, then sliced 1/2-inch thick (about 2 cups) - I don't mind the darker green parts of a leek, even though a lot of leek recipes have you discard them
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 lemon, scrubbed
½ cup grated Parmesan (optional)
¼ cup sliced fresh chives or parsley (optional)

Method

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss gnocchi with 3 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
2. On another rimmed baking sheet, toss asparagus and leeks with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few generous grinds of pepper.
3. Put both pans in the oven, with the gnocchi on the bottom rack and the vegetables above. Stir the gnocchi and vegetables after 5 minutes to distribute the oil. Stir the vegetables once or twice more, but leave the gnocchi undisturbed. Roast until vegetables are golden and getting crispy on the edges, about 15 minutes total, and the gnocchi are golden brown on one side, 20 to 25 minutes total. Stir the peas into the vegetables in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
4. Combine the gnocchi and vegetables on one tray, then grate the lemon zest over the top. Sprinkle with half the Parmesan and chives/parsley, if using, saving some for serving. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss to combine, and transfer to a serving bowl or platter. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and chives/parsley, if using, and serve immediately.

Bon Appetit's Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia

Anyone still out there? I've been cooking the whole time, and have made some dishes that have become part of our heavy rotation in the last couple of years, but this blog definitely got pushed to the side. I still reference it a lot to pull up my favorite things to make - so as a personal recipe stash it is really performing its function well!

Now with all the time we have at home in this bizarro world, I've found myself thinking about making things that I would usually skip over, thinking they'd take too much time. Bread is certainly something that falls in this category - our usual homemade bread comes out of our handy little bread machine. But now! While I am still anti-kneading (I never feel like I have the right counter space, equipment, willingness to get super-messy, etc.) I am certainly ok with trying out no-knead recipes. This focaccia met the bill, and my neighbor's rosemary bush resulted in a slight tweak to the recipe since I associate focaccia with rosemary flavors.

Who knows how long we'll be staying at home - I might be able to keep track of time through how many batches of this I make though...

Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia
Adapted from Bon Appetit - the link has awesome step-by-step pics if you're new to baking

Ingredients

• 1 ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.)
• 2 tsp. honey
• 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for hands
• Enough butter to generously grease the baking pan
• Flaky sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Method

1. Whisk one ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.), 2 tsp. honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl and let sit 5 minutes (it should foam or at least get creamy; if it doesn’t your yeast is dead and you should start again—check the expiration date!).
2. Add 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour and 1 Tbsp. kosher salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms and no dry streaks remain.
3. Pour 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into a big bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. This puppy is going to rise! Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with a silicone lid or plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. If you're in a rush, you can also let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 3–4 hours.
4. Generously butter a 13x9" baking pan, for thicker focaccia that’s perfect for sandwiches, or an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet, for focaccia that's thinner, crispier, and great for snacking (I used the 13x9" baking pan option as I was worried about the dough bubbling over the rimmed baking sheet). The butter may seem superfluous, but it’ll ensure that your focaccia doesn’t stick. Pour 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into center of pan. Keeping the dough in the bowl and using a fork in each hand, gather up edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball. (We learned this technique from Alexandra Stafford, who uses it to shape her no-knead bread.) Transfer dough to prepared pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over and turn dough to coat it in oil. Let rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot (like near a radiator or on top of the fridge or a preheating oven) until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours.
5. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. To see if the dough is ready, poke it with your finger. It should spring back slowly, leaving a small visible indentation. If it springs back quickly, the dough isn’t ready. (If at this point the dough is ready to bake but you aren’t, you can chill it up to 1 hour.) Lightly oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill (you probably won't need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, like you’re aggressively playing the piano, creating very deep depressions in the dough (reach your fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan). Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt and chopped rosemary. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20–30 minutes.