Banana- Wheat Germ Muffins

For the last day of our BM# 7, I made these Banana-Wheat germ muffins from Veganomicon. These muffins come together in less than 10 minutes and are high in fiber and are delicious too. But by the time I wanted to take pictures, weather got cloudy and started to pouring rain. So had to move my set up indoors and as you can see the pictures have suffered due to lack of good light. I'll try to take some better pictures tomorrow and update the post.

Update (7/30/2011): Post updated with new pics.

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Homemade Granola-Healthy Start to the New Year

Hope everyone enjoyed the Holiday season. To start the New Year on a healthy note, I’ve two easy granola recipes. I gave Granola as Holiday give-away gifts this year to my co-workers and everyone seemed to like them, so I’m glad that I took time to make some home-made granola instead of buying things that I’m not if they are going to use or not.

Quick & Easy Granola: First granola I made is extremely easy and I just followed the most basic granola formula-Grains+Seeds/Nuts+Mixings+Dry fruit+Sweetener+Flavoring. So here’s how I made this simple granola:

Ingredients:
Rolled oats (Grains)– 4cups
Wheat Germ (Mixing) – ½cup
Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas) – ¼cup
Sliced Almonds – 1 cup
Pure Maple syrup – ½ cup
Canola Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - ½tsp
Dry cherries – ½ cup
Raisins – ½ cup

Method:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Toss the oats, almonds, wheat germ, pepitas with the maple syrup, oil and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, tossing once, until golden and crisp, about 25 to 30 minutes.
• Add the dried fruit as soon as the granola comes out of the oven and toss to combine.
• Let cool. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Granola: When I saw this recipe in 500 Vegan Recipes cookbook, I could only think of one of my co-workers. She always has PB&J sandwiches for lunch and I wanted to make a batch of this granola just for her.

Ingredients:

Old fashioned Rolled Oats – 1½ cups

Brown Rice powder – ½ cup, divided

Creamy Peanut Butter – ¼cup

Your favorite Jelly/ Jam – ¼ cup (I used blackberry jam)

Sugar - 2tbsp

Cinnamon - ½tsp

Water - ¼cup

Salt - ¼tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine the peanut butter, sugar and water in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30-60 seconds so that the peanut better is more manageable.
• Stir in 2tbsp of brown rice flour, cinnamon, salt and oats. The mixture will be very thick and quite unmanageable at this point, just place it on the baking sheet and combine using your fingers.
• Sprinkle the remaining 2tbsp of brown rice flour on top and work it in gently until it is completely incorporated. Try not to break the granola chunks too much while doing this.
• Add the jam in little pieces, try to leave them as chunks or bits instead of mixing and coating the granola.
• Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake for 8 minutes. Stir well.
• Bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let cool and transfer into an airtight container. Store in the fridge once completely cooled.

I also made Chocolate-Cherry Granola from Nupur's blog and kept a container for myself after giving away 3 of them. Homemade granola is extremely easy, quick and very inexpensive to make. Compare them to the ones you get in the grocery store, they are fresh and not laden with preservatives and chemicals. I'll sure be making these granolas more this year.

Beet Burger

I like beets, but they are not always on my grocery list. My DH has never had them and would never have them in the future which is reason enough for me not to buy. But I do end up buying them when they look very fresh and almost tempt me into putting them in the cart.

So that’s how I ended up with 2 perfectly plump beets in my fridge for almost a week, when I realized that I had to make something (for myself) or I would have to say goodbye to two great beet specimens.

Recipe is from “Totally Vegetarian” by Toni Fiore. The result was not your typical vegetarian burger; it’s savory-sweet (but not too sweet), delicate and crumbly. No bread is needed for this, but you would definitely need a fork.

Recipe adapted from Totally Vegetarian by Toni Fiore

Ingredients:

Beets – 2 medium, peeled and quartered

Carrot – 1 medium, peeled and roughly chopped

Onion – 1 medium, chopped

Garlic – 2 cloves, minced

Millet – 1 cup

Whole-wheat bread – 2 slices, toasted

Wheat germ – ½ cup

Walnut pieces – ½ cup

Salt and pepper – to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Add beets, carrots and onions to the baking sheet; add 1 tbsp oil, season with salt and pepper; mix well and roast for 20-40 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
• In the meantime, bring 2 cups water to a boil; stir in millet and cook covered on low heat for 30 minutes or until millet is fully cooked. Remove into a mixing bowl and let cool.
• In the food processor blend walnuts, wheat germ, toasted bread cut into pieces; process until it has a fine crumb textile. Add to cooked millet.
• When the veggies are done and cool enough to handle, process them in the food processor until finely chopped. Add to cooked millet mixture. Season liberally with salt and pepper; mix well with a spoon. Refrigerate the mixture for an hour to chill.
  
• Make burgers with about ¾ cup of the mixture. I got about 16 medium size burgers while Toni made 8 huge ones.

• To cook the burgers: heat 1 tbsp oil in a sauté pan on low heat. When the pan is hot, add the burgers. Do not touch or move them once in the pan, otherwise they will fall apart. Cook for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of the burger), then carefully flip with a spatula and cook for another 5-10 minutes. These have to be cooked on low heat otherwise beet sugars will be burnt.

I served them with home fries for brunch and it made a complete meal. The mixture can be refrigerated until used or uncooked patties can be frozen for later use. I layered the patties with a piece of foil and froze them in a freezer bag, so I can make them whenever I have a taste for them. Actually my DH really liked them since they don't taste too much like beets. They have a nutty and a pleasant sweet-savory taste, I'm sure beet-haters like my hubby would like them.

New Pantry Additions

Lately I’ve started expanding my pantry staples with items that I have never used before. Here are some items that are new in my pantry/ fridge: Vital wheat gluten, Nutrition Yeast, Flax seed meal, Miso, Wheat Germ.

I made Seitan with Vital wheat gluten and nutrition yeast with Seitan O' Greatness recipe from here. This is a very versatile dish and you use any seasonings to make it your own. I added some cumin pd, coriander pd, pinch of turmeric. My husband thought it tasted a little bit like chicken, but it did not have the texture of chicken.
To use, just sauté in little bit of oil and you can use it in million different ways. Freeze the unsautéed seitan in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, it makes quick and easy BLD (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) recipes, so always make the complete recipe even if you are making for two.
I made Seitan Curry with mixed vegetables and coconut milk with half of the log (no pics.. sorry) and used half of the rest in wraps (lavash wrap smeared with mayo and filled with seitan, rice, onions, tomatoes and spinach).
I’m still snacking on the rest of the sautéed seitan. So good.. yummmmm..