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.