Monday, September 04, 2006

Laboring in the kitchen

Labor Day meant that I didn't have to go to class or to my office today, but it didn't mean I took a break in the kitchen. In fact, I've been very busy...

Bob and I used to love to go to IHOP and split an order of the harvest grain and nut pancakes. Yummy! I have always figured I could make something similar myself at home but never tried. This morning I felt daring, so I veganized and otherwise modified an old favorite pancake recipe to come up with this hearty, wonderful breakfast.

Nut and Grain Pancakes (Stand back, IHOP!)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coarsely ground oat flour
1/4 cup white flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup plain soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon flax seeds + 3 tablespoons water (for 1 egg)
2 tablespoons (scant) oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Water, as needed
Handful of chopped almonds, sunflower seeds, etc.

Combine the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to sour (in place of buttermilk). Combine the first 9 ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Grind the flax seeds finely and place in the bottom of a small bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water and whisk together until thick and egg-like. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together, being careful not to overmix (lumps are okay). Gently fold in the almonds. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes before you cook the pancakes, on a lightly greased medium-hot griddle. This recipe makes enough for Bob and I to each have two nice-sized pancakes. It was a delicious breakfast!

For lunch: The sushi that I never made yesterday. While I worked on the sushi, Bob made a simple edamame salad.Simple, Spicy Edamame Salad

1 cup steamed edamame
1 sliced red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Pinch coarse sea salt

Dressing:
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon peanut oil

It was wonderful--I loved it because it didn't hide the wonderful flavor of the edamame. The peanut oil really made it special.

As for the sushi, it was not the most cosmetically pleasing sushi I've made, but Bob said he thinks it may have been the tastiest. I made three rolls: One was a simple cucumber and avocado roll. One was cucumber and sliced cremini mushrooms, which I had marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, lime juice, and agave nectar. The last was scallion and sweet potato, boiled and mashed with lime juice, ginger, chili powder, and ground white pepper. The rice this time came out dry and it was harder to work with. Also, I sliced each roll into eight pieces this time instead of six, and realized that all that sushi would not fit comfortably on my serving tray! That's why the plate of sushi looks a little out of whack. But it was good...

Tonight is probably a tossed salad night. I'm not very hungry. But I'll probably make some TVP mock chicken salad so I can have it for lunch tomorrow. And tomorrow night I promised Bob sloppy lentils for dinner. So I'll see you soon with more kitchen concoctions...

I hope everyone had a safe weekend! Cheers!

11 comments:

Eat Peace Please said...

This all looks great! What a spread. As for the pancakes, I'm glad they came out well. Vive le Vegan has my favorite recipe for pancakes and there's hardly any ingredients. I almost fell over when I saw ALL THAT went into pancakes (even though it's not bad!).

laura k said...

Gaia, I have definitely been known to make pancakes for dinner before too! As for edamame, I do hope you are able to try it soon. I get it in the frozen foods section of the grocery store--most large grocery stores, and certainly health food stores, have it.

Johanna and Pure Zuke, thanks for your sushi comments! It's one of my absolute favorite foods, but I don't make it all the time because it always seems to take longer than I expected...

Leslie, I know what you mean about all the ingredients--I did a double take after I typed out the recipe and realized how long the list was! I've just gotten so used to making this basic recipe that it takes me no time to throw it all together. I'll be excited to try the Vive Le Vegan pancakes though!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

your sushi looks amazing! how long did it take you? mmmmm, pancakes. :o)

Nikk said...

Everything looks wonderful!

I too used to be a HUGE fan of those pancakes at IHOP--thanks for recreating the recipe!

I will have to try them sometime.

KleoPatra said...

Hey Laura, wow, what a gorgeous, gorgeous, colourful and "wowza" lunch. I really love the edamame salad and the red pepper mixed together. Like Christmas in a bowl! I would have to eliminate the cilantro since i'm not a fan, but everything else is like totally wonderful. I love that you used peanut oil; that would make a fantastic addition to it flavour-wise.

Way to veganize the IHOP stuff. I remember reading somewhere that IHOP has absolutely NOTHING available for vegans, not even ONE item. That's just crazy. I haven't been there since i was maybe 10 years old... i have always been allergic to eggs so there was never much i could eat there save for maybe a box of Rice Krispies and milk (i used to drink milk!).

That is a gorgeous plate for the sushi to rest on as well. But if i was there, there'd be no rest for that sushi till it got into my mouth en route to my happy tummy!

Great post, love it, Laura!

Candi said...

Hi Laura!
I was visiting your blog, but not allowed to post and was so frustrated! I wanted you to know I was reading and loving all the food you've been making! I think I'm able to post now here, and I'm so glad!!! :)

You pancakes look so good. The almonds make it sound perfect! :P When you sub for the egg, do you grind the flax seeds first?


Bob's salad looks so good! Peanut oil! YUM! I never tried that!

THe sushi....aaah, the sushi! Lol! it looks SO good that I want to make myself some of the sweet potato one!! They look beautiful all together like that!

Nice work on all these recipes!!

urban vegan said...

What beautiful, colorful food!

laura k said...

Vicki, I guess the sushi took me about an hour from the time I started cooking the rice--not too long really, but it's an intense hour of slicing veggies, playing with sticky clumps of rice, rolling and slicing so that everything doesn't fall apart!

Nikki, I wish I knew what all was in IHOP's recipe... but these are good enough for me (and even better because I can top them with whatever I want)!

Kleo, I'm always amazed at the number of places that don't offer any alternatives to vegans (or people like you who have allergies to those kinds of foods)! There are so many diets out there, but so many places only cater to one... Your comments always make me smile!

Candi, I'm glad you can comment now! :) I had never tried peanut oil either, but it was definitely good! I do grind up the flax seeds when I use them for an egg... I think I'm going to try a coffee grinder, because my little food processor does the job SLOWLY.

Urban Vegan, thanks for stopping by!

funwithyourfood said...

you're a wonderful cook dude.
I'm jealous. I LOVE ihop and THANK YOU for that recipe :)

I'll have some sushi to go please

teddy

Dori said...

Hi! I was here to read this shortly after it was posted, but couldn't comment. I am glad you took the "leap". I was also an IHOP fan of those pancakes! I use edaname alot to replace green peas in some dishes.

Nicki Baker said...

wow the pancakes look great :)