Lentil Barley Soup

this is very very easy to make

1 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup barley
4 cups veggie broth
2 cups water
carrots + celery + onion + any other vegetables you want
2 teaspoons curry powder

Rinse the lentils and barley.
Throw it all together, bring to a boil, turn down to simmer,
cover and cook for about an hour

feeds probably 7

Chai Tea Muffins

This Sunday I'm making deep-dish cornbread pizza using a cornbread crust vegan pizza recipe I've used before and

chai tea muffins
(from Karen W):

They were experimental and modded from the original since I didn't have soy yogurt (I substituted 1 "egg" - use your replacement method of choice - plus about 1/4 c of soymilk). I used vanilla soymilk, if that matters (probably not). The recipe is from here.

Disregard the topping. The "glaze" - which was really supposed to be a frosting but I didn't get enough powdered sugar - came from here.

I replaced the milk with soymilk and the butter with earth balance.

I usually use ground flax seed + soymilk for egg replacer, but this time I used actual egg replacer.

Chocolate Chip Meringues

Chocolate Chip Meringues

2 eggs whites
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup miniature chocolate chips (you can add less if desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or generously grease.

Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

As the mixer is running, add the sugar slowly, a few tablespoons at a time. Stir to blend then add the cream of tartar. Gently fold in the chocolate chips using a wooden spoon or plastic spatula (or just chuck them in the mixer). Use a tablespoon to drop batter onto the cookie sheet. Place in the oven and leave until lightly browned and crispy outside.

Gooey Good Brownies

Best Brownies:


"These brownies always turn out!"

PREP TIME 25 Min
COOK TIME 35 Min
READY IN 1 Hr
Original recipe yield 16 brownies
SERVINGS


Servings


US METRIC
INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
*
* 3 tablespoons butter, softened
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Best corn pizza crust

I made pizzas with this gluten-free vegan recipe a few days ago, and it's being used again today, so people must like it...

It's from Bicycling Vegan's Blog: Gluten-Free Pizza Crust.

There are 6 cast-iron skillets at pika, so you'll want to multiply by 6. Also, use the upper bound of the suggested soy milk use.

In case the original post disappears, here is an ugly cut-and-paste:

Tonight's recipe uses a 9" cast iron skillet.

Ingredients:

DRY
3/4 c corn meal
1/4 c bean flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t raw sugar
about 1/4 cup frozen or fresh corn
2 sun dried tomatoes, chopped

WET
1 t olive oil
1/2 T flax meal mixed with 1.5 T water (to create 1/2 an egg)
1/2-3/4 c soymilk

DIRECTIONS
Place about 1 T margarine or olive oil in skillet. Now, preheat oven and cast iron skillet to 350 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix. Now add flax-egg, oil and milk. Stir a few times. You want this to be chunky from the corn but also a pretty thin batter that you can pour. So add more or less milk as desired.

Take your heated skillet out of the oven and pour your pizza crust into it. Cook 10 minutes and remove from oven.

Now place sauce, toppings and vegan cheese on the crust. Spray lightly with olive oil and return to oven.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool a few minutes and slice. Serves 2-3 happy people!

The Ben Salinas Delight

~1 handful of tofu (note that it's extremely difficult to hold tofu in your hand, so you should probably estimate this. I suppose that you could also freeze the tofu together to make it more manageable, but this blurs the line between a true handful and a five pound block of protein-rich goodness that you just happen to be balancing in your palm)
(on second thought, you should probably just use as much tofu as will fit in your bowl)

~1 large spoonful of peanut butter (actually, two)

~1/2 Banana (I always end up using the other half for lack of anything better to do with it)

Put the tofu and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl and then in a bowl-safe microwave for about a minute. Cut chunks of banana into the mixture and immediately stir in the now-liquified peanut butter.

At this point, you have something that is delicious, but a little too mushy, so you may wish to add an arbitrary number of Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks. Other cereals have been tried with little success, so experiment at your culinary peril. Continue mixing. Lately, I've been adding a quarter dollop of craisins, which burst in your mouth like little mortgage bubbles of flavor.

This recipe serves one and a half (which is usually more than the number of people who will eat it by about a half)

Special thanks to my inspiration, Ben Salinas

brown rice with greens and peas

8 to 10 cups brown rice
6 onions
4 tablespoons minced ginger (or more! never enough ginger!)
3 bags of frozen peas
greens: 2 enormous bunches of rainbow chard (ok, any chard, but rainbow is cooler)
2 bunches of green kale
1 bunch of red kale
~20 cups of spinach (one large plastic box)

olive oil
soy sauce

Cook the brown rice however you like - pika's rice cooker works well. Sautee the onions and minced ginger in olive oil. Mix the onions and rice. Steam all the greens for just a little while, then mix them in as well. Boil the peas, drain them, and add them.

Add a few dashes of soy sauce (a few tablespoons) for saltiness. Mix carefully. Serve hot.