"Egg" Nog - Vegan Style Taste-Off

I have been lightening up my intake of meat and meat related products the last couple months. No, I am not going completely meat free - a girl's got to have her bacon once in a while - but I am feeling fabulous thanks to the lifestyle change.

I have a festive weak spot for eggnog and I thought it would be fun to create a a vegan version. Luckily, I am not the first person to think of this, so all the recipe development has been done. I just had to try a couple recipes to see which is my favourite.

Recipe 1 is from a website called Choosing Raw

I made my own almond milk for this recipe, and doubled the alcohol. Also, I reduced the agave syrup by half because I don't like things too sweet.


Five Minute High Raw, Vegan Eggnog

























Recipe 2 is from Post Punk Kitchen

Again, I made my own almond milk.

Matrioshka Eggnog

Results:

Recipe 1 was a lighter texture and I really loved the flavour. My husband said it wasn't quite creamy enough for his tastes, but that it was delicious "for a vegan drink". I liked it because it wasn't as creamy as full fat eggnog.

Recipe 2 was the best replication of eggnog texture-wise. It was also Rob's favourite. I did enjoy it, but it was a one-drink kind of beverage (too rich for more than one.) I'll probably keep this recipe and may tweak a little here or there for personal taste.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World

Need to drown your sorrows? May I suggest cupcakes. I think they pretty much cure anything! Particularly these ones.
My sister is getting married next month and mentioned that she wanted a vegan option on her cupcake tower, so I picked up Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes That Rule from Barbara Jo's Books to Cooks to give to her. Only now I can't give it away. Thank you Allison for the suggestion.

Buy this book, even if you aren't vegan.

For the sake of research, I decided to try a couple recipes: Banana Split Cupcakes, Golden Vanilla Cupcakes, Vanilla buttercream and Peanut Frosting
Of course there were adaptations made. I filled the golden Vanilla Cupcakes with morello cherry preserves before topping with the fluffy vanilla buttercream.
The recipe for these can be found here.

The Banana Split Cupcakes are my favourite though.

Banana Cupcakes
adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World

Ingredients

1 cup very ripe banana
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup soy milk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract



Preheat oven to 350.
Get cupcake pans ready with liners.


Blend the mashed banana for a few seconds in a food processor to get rid of any lumps. Add the remaining wet ingredients and blend until totally smooth

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

Fold the wet ingredients into to the dry ingredients and mix to combine; don’t over mix.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1/2 cup margerine
4 tbsp vegan shortening (I used Earth Balance)
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 tablespoons ricemilk, soy milk etc

With an electric mixer, cream together margerine and shortening. Beat in Vanilla and peanut butter, then beat in sifted confectioners sugar. Thin if needed with rice milk.

Detoxify Me

 

Full of rich foods from Christmas dinner, starved of nutrients from a month of working too much and eating crappy food?
This should help ~ it certainly made me feel better!

Teriyaki Soba
serves 4

1 lb soba noodles
3 japanese eggplant, cut in medallions
1/2 lb king oyster mushrooms (regular are also okay)
2 peppers, julienned
1 lb baby bok choy, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 sheet toasted nori, julienned

Sauce:
4 tbsp chopped ginger
1 cup tamari
4 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Himchimi Togarashi (Japanes chili powder)


1. Combine sauce ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat, allow to steep for 15 minutes, strain to remove chopped ginger, set aside.
2. Cook noodles according to pkge directions
3. While noodles are cooking, stir fry the vegetables, starting with eggplant and mushrooms. Then add the julienned peppers. Add a splash of sake or water to help speed the cooking process along. Add bok choy and sauce, allow to cook until vegetables are tender. Remove vegetablkes from wok and reduce the pan juice until thick and syrupy.
4. To serve, spoon vegetables over noodles, drizzle sauce over top and sprinkle with sesame seeds, nori threads and green onions.

From Rebar, with a few very minor modifications.