Oil-free Breaded Brussel Bites

I have been informed that the super bowl is coming up. I even know the Atlanta team will be playing in it! I just can’t remember the name of the team. You know why I care about the super bowl? Delicious delicious snacks. Now I’ve been known to eat an entire pan of plain roasted brussels sprouts, but I decided to get fancy and bread and bake them. I was inspired by Hot For Food’s deep fried brussel tots, and figured I could make an oil free version that wouldn’t give up any of the fantastic flavor. Oh my goodness, they turned out amazingly, and were even omnivore roommate approved. 

You could dip them in a cashew cheese sauce, bbq sauce, or do what I did and go with plain marinara and add them to pasta, kind of like brussels parmesan. I will soon be using the same recipe on broccoli and cauliflower to see how it turns out, but until then, snack on. 

Do note, that that this recipe takes a touch longer than most of my shares. It’s definitely a weekend or special occasion recipe. Like for when sports ball is played by the best sports ballers ever. 

Oil-Free Breaded Brussels Bites

Servings: 1 - 6 depending on how much you like to share

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Total start-to-finish Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 lb fresh brussels sprouts

• For nut parmesan (may substitute 2 cups bread crumbs instead):
• 2 cups cashews or pepitas or a mix
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• salt, optional

• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 1 cup flour of your choice
• ~ 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Cut the ends of the brussels sprouts and cut them in half, trimming away any of the outside leaves that are going brown or otherwise funky.
3. Lay cut side up on a silpat or parchment paper, and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until starting to brown up around the edges. You’re going to bake them again, so they don’t need to be one hundred percent done. Just starting to crisp up. 
4. Meanwhile, make your batter. Add flour into a wide shallow bowl, and slowly mix milk into the flour until it’s the consistency of pancake batter (only just pourable). If it gets too watery to stick to the brussels sprouts, add more flour. Whisk together until there probably aren’t any more lumps. We all know you missed a few, but it is what it is. 
5. If making nut parmesan, combine nuts, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder (and salt if using), into a food processor until it’s the consistency of course grits, with no huge chunks of nuts. Taste and adjust seasonings until it’s delicious and strong tasting. Mix breadcrumbs in and pulse a couple of times to combine, then spread out on a plate.
6. Dunk each brussels sprout into the batter, tap a couple of times against the edge of the bowl to get rid of extra batter, then role around the breadcrumbs and parmesan until it’s covered. You want to be kid of gentle so you don’t dislodge the leaves of the sprouts. Lay cut side down back on the silpat or parchment paper, making sure the breaded sprouts aren’t touching. 
7. Once all the sprouts are battered and breaded, return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the breading gets nice and golden, with some brown spots. Let cool briefly, then enjoy with your favorite dip or as a pasta topper. 

Tofu Scramble Breakfast Tacos

Breakfast tacos have to be in my top 10 comfort foods list. They're spicy and savory, and with crispy charred corn tortillas, you can't go wrong. Buuut eggs are pretty bad for you. Forget the egg industry hype, and the low-carb propaganda, scientific studies have shown that even one egg a day is associated with increased risk of both cardiovascular disease and diabetes. And chickens in egg factories live pretty horrific lives. 

Tofu, on the other hand, eaten a few times a week, is pretty great for you, especially if you're vegan and crave the versatile flavor-absorbing texture tofu can provide. So enter the quick and easy tofu scramble. If you have very little time, leave off most of the veggies, and just add spinach to wilt after the tofu is almost done cooking. That won't take more than 10 minutes. But if you have a little more time, and your knife skills are sharp, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes take the scramble to the next level. 

So next time you're craving breakfast for dinner, reach for the better alternative to eggs, and chow down on this breakfast taco with southwestern flair. 

Tofu Scramble Breakfast Tacos

Servings: 2
Total Start-to-Finish Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 onion diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 1 small box of baby bella mushrooms thinly sliced
• 1/8 cup diced green chili peppers (optional)
• 1/2 box quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1 lb firm tofu
• 2 Tbs nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp powdered tumeric
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder or more to taste
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• pepper and optional salt to taste
• 2 cups spinach or frozen kale
• cilantro or parsley for garnish (optional)
• 12 corn tortillas

Directions:

1. Add onion, pepper, and mushrooms to a pan on medium heat with a thin layer of water in the bottom to keep from sticking. Saute, adding more water if necessary, until vegetables have softened, and mushrooms have lost most of their liquid.
2. Add chili peppers, tomatoes, crumbled tofu, and spices and stir, cooking until the tofu has released its liquid, and most of the liquid has cooked off. 
3. Meanwhile on a bare gas stove burner, heat tortillias until just blackened around the edges. Alternatively, microwave tortillas in a wet towel until warm. 
4. Add greens and stir until the greens are wilted.
5. Add scramble to tortillias, top with cilantro or parsley, and enjoy! It's also good with a squeeze of ketchup, if that's your thing. 

Smokey Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (Oil Free)

The trick to hummus is that nobody's recipe is going to work perfectly for you. You start with one that looks good, and add spices (or more chick peas) until the flavors feel perfect to you. I hope you won't have to tweak this recipe much, because I think it's one of the best things I've ever made. But since every woman in my family has a hummus recipe they believe is better than anyone else's, I know you might mess with my recipe a little to find your own.

For a meal, I like to eat hummus in pita pockets with crunchy cruciferous vegetables like this mix from Trader Joe's. The crunch is really key here. It's also good on a sandwich piled high with spinach, sprouts, and maybe an extra roasted red pepper. I've also heard hummus pasta is delicious, and I don't doubt it.

The best part about this recipe is that it makes enough to share. As a vegan, it can be hard to eat at other people's houses. But if you know you've got something you're crazy about, it's a lot easier not to feel deprived by the existence of beer cheese. Serve with mini pitas, and a variety of vegetables for dipping. I like celery, bell pepper, sliced cucumber, and sliced zucchini.

Smokey Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Servings: 10 (many more for snacking)
Total Start-to-Finish Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas (reserve 1 can's worth of liquid)
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 2 roasted red peppers packed in vinegar, drained
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika plus more for garnish
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp liquid smoke (I like more, but start here)
• 1/3 a chipotle pepper canned in adobo sauce OR 1 tsp chilli powder
• black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

1. Dump everything but the bean liquid into a food processor.
2. Poor 1/2 cup of the bean liquid into the food processor, and process until smooth. 
3. Taste and add extra lemon juice or garlic if it tastes flat. Add extra cumin (go easy with this one), paprika, and chipotle pepper it tastes bland. Add extra liquid smoke if you want it extra smokey. Continue to play with seasonings until it is perfect to you. 
4. Top with a sprinkle of paprika for sheer prettiness, and enjoy!

Spaghetti Marinara with Roasted Vegetables and Tofu "Ricotta"

This pasta is lightened up with zucchini noodles and roasted vegetables, but the creamy tofu "ricotta" and whole wheat pasta sing the song of comfort food to my happy belly.

Spaghetti Marinara with Roasted Vegetables and Tofu "Ricotta"

Servings: 4
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Start-to-Finish Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package whole wheat or gluten-free pasta
• 1 12 oz. jar fat-free marinara or pizza sauce or plain tomato sauce or whatever sauce you like
• 4 medium zucchini
• 2 lbs frozen or fresh broccoli chopped into small florets 
• 1/8 cup finely chopped parsley and/or basil (optional)

Tofu Ricotta:

• 1 lb extra firm tofu
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp yellow miso (or other white miso for more subtle flavor)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or more to taste
• 1/8 tsp mustard seed powder OR 1 tbsp very finely chopped fresh kale/cabbage/broccoli for the enzymes
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp salt or more to taste (optional)

Directions:

1. Put water for pasta on to boil
2. Spread out broccoli florets (or other vegetables) on a silicone mat or parchment paper and place in the oven. Set it at 350F for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, you want the edges to be crispy and ever so slightly blackened, but mostly unburnt.
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add miso and lemon juice and stir to dissolve the miso.
4. Place block of tofu in a clean cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as you can, then crumble into the mixing bowl with the miso.
5. It's probably about time to add your pasta to the boiling water with a pinch of salt. Cook according to package instructions, stirring every minute or two to keep it from sticking.
6. Add the rest of the spices to the tofu mixture and stir to combine well. Taste, and add more nutritional yeast and miso if you want it more cheesy, and more Italian seasoning and garlic powder if it tastes too bland. You want it to be pretty strongly flavored.
7. Stir the pasta. I know you forgot.
8. Spiralize zucchini into a separate bowl. You can do this using a a thing that looks like a giant pencil sharpener, a hand cranked machine, the grater attachment to a foot processor, or with a knife just thinly julienne (make tiny match sticks). Although that last option sounds like a lot of work, so if that's your option, I recommend you just use more broccoli and forget the zucchini.
9. When the pasta is done, drain it in the sink, then dump back in the pot (with the stove off), add the jar of marinara, and stir to coat. If you used a sauce that isn't seasoned, go ahead and add a teaspoon or more of Italian seasoning, and stir that in as well.
10. You can go ahead and add the veggies and "ricotta" into the pot and mix them, or plate them and mix at the table to better adjust for portions. Half your plate should be covered in veggies, the other half with pasta, with a bunch of the tofu "ricotta" on top.
11. Top with fresh parsley and/or basil and enjoy!

Banana Bread Oatmeal

Merry Christmas. Whenever you happen to be reading this, I hope your belly is warm, and your heart is full. Christmas dinner with my small but fantastic family has caused my belly and heart to be full to bursting, and I want to pass on the joy.

The smell of this oatmeal will make you crawl out of even the coziest winter bed, and is well worth the 15 minutes it takes to cook. Flax, walnuts, and chia seeds provide a delicious source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and the protein and complex carbohydrates in rolled oats will keep you full for hours.

Try it out one morning, and you won't miss plain oatmeal one bit.

Banana Bread Oatmeal

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes
Total start-to-finish Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1 apple, cored and chopped roughly
• 1/8 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon or more to taste
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups water
• Chia Seeds, additional walnuts, and maple syrup for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Peel banana and place in the bottom of a medium sauce pan. With a fork or spatula, mash the banana to coat the bottom of the pan. Place over medium, or medium-low heat and cook until the banana has released some of its moisture, is bubbling, and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. This makes the oatmeal taste like banana bread and it's the best part. 
2. Add in all ingredients besides toppings, and stir. Continue to cook on medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until oats are cooked, adding more water for a more porridge-like consistency. Or less for a more chewy, intact texture. 
3. Scoop or pour into a bowl to serve, and top with additional nuts, fruit, seeds, and a drizzle of maple syrup for best results. 

Note: If you're in a rush, you can just mash the banana, then add all the ingredients in immediately, then cook normally or microwave in a large microwave-save and BPA-free bowl. But the cooked banana adds a lot of flavor and is worth the wait.