One day I made some black bean hummus in the morning using a one-pound package of dried black beans. I couldn't believe how much soaking and boiling it took to soften up those babies. So when I decided to make a last-minute pot of chili for an event later in the day (which I didn't end up going to!), I had no time for soaking. I ran to the grocery store and bought 3 cans of beans and a can of diced tomatoes. (I know I posted about chili the other day, but wait for it, the chili is just half of the pair....)
Leeks and a whole head (there were a lot of beans!) of garlic to start with, simmering in olive oil.
Then I added the can of tomatoes, which took awhile to break down. Next time I make chili, I'll use crushed tomatoes, or just finely chop up some fresh ones.
While that was steaming away, I picked out some spices to add. No measuring here, I basically just guess, and so far, I haven't had a chili turn out not delicious. My method of estimation is to picture how much of each I would add if it were just one can of beans, and then multiply by however many cans I'm using. This may go against conventional cooking wisdom, but I usually err on the side of adding
too much flavor!
Black pepper, smoked paprika, basil, cumin, celery seeds, chili powder, parsley. Fortunately the spice shelf is racked here - no time to harvest from the herbs on the deck today! After the tomatoes looked pretty well cooked down, I added all the beans and let it cook for over an hour.
After smelling the chili cook on the stove all that time, my appetite for savory/salty/spicy was pretty much full! So I gave the chili to the fam and pressed onward over the stove for something else I was craving... I'll give you a hint: it went perfectly with this jar of natural sweetness:
Here's what it looked like while cooking:
No, not a mouth-less pimpled doll face. Banana Walnut Vegan Pancakes!
I honestly can't remember the last time I had pancakes... and they probably weren't vegan. So this dairy-free egg-free batch was my dinner that night. I ate two big slightly-fluffy pancakes laden with melting bananas and chunks of walnuts, dressed with 100% sweet Pennsylvania maple syrup!
Needless to say, I didn't need any dessert after this dinner. But, an hour later, while watching some Dog Whisperer on TV, I heated up some corn tortillas...
.. and sprinkled them with lime and salt!
Whether it's salty followed by sweet, or sweet followed by salty, this duo delivers on satisfaction.
For the pancakes, I used an incredibly easy recipe from
this website. Only six ingredients; no need to have eggs on hand!
5-Minute Vegan Pancakes
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar (I actually used 3/4 Tbsp agave instead*)
2 Tbsp baking powder (you can use less if you want)
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk *
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Mix up the dry ingredients. Add agave (in my case), vegetable oil and soy milk; mix.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto an oiled griddle or frying pan. Add your choice of fruit, nuts, or other fillings. Flip over when you see bubbles forming in the middle of the pancake, or when the edges start to get stiffened.
*The general rule when substituting agave for sugar is to use 2/3 to 3/4 of the amount called for in sugar, and to reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 to 1/3. So I started with 3/4 cup of soy milk in the batter, but it was too thick, so I ended up adding almost 1/4 of soy milk, just about bringing it back to amount called for. I guess ctually didn't reduce the amount of soy milk I used in the recipe. 3/4 Tbsp of agave is really not a significant amount of liquid to add to pancake batter.
Of course, you can add any special flavors to your pancakes that you want: cinnamon and apple pieces, blueberries or other fruits, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, pecans.... The batter is your canvas!
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