Sunday, May 20, 2012

Whole Wheat and Flax Seed Crepes

By the way I post breakfast food, you might think we eat like this everyday but in truth it is really quite rare.  On a glorious Sunday like today, however, how could we not celebrate with some fresh fruit and crepes?

I've never attempted vegan crepes so this was my first go of it.  I scoured the web and immediately gravitated to this recipe here because it used a flax seed "egg" (adding good for us Omega 3's) in place eggs and all the fat and cholesterol.  I used whole white wheat flour in lieu of whole wheat pastry flour but I'm sure the later would taste great too.   What a yummy morning!

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Recipe Review - Post Punk Kitchen's Flabread with Creamy Red Pepper Scallion Spread

Isa Chandra posted about these flatbreads with creamy red pepper scallion spread on Friday and I knew I just had to make these right away.  I appreciate any way I can use the greens that currently overfloweth in the garden!   The fact I could also use our garden spring onions made it irresistible!

Y'all know I've posted about flat bread before.  We just love flat bread (a.k.a. naan).  We used to eat it mainly as a side dish to chicken tandoori.  But with rice, chicken, and bread it always felt like too much.  With our new plant based way of living, it's nice to actually just let the bread and veggies be the star.  It's a totally different way of thinking, but a really delicious and satisfying one.

I made a few modifications to the recipe of course.  Mainly, I started with a garlic naan recipe for the flatbread because I a.) love garlic and b.)already knew the recipe to be killer.  I'm sure Isa's is great but I couldn't resist the tried and true garlic naan recipe.  You can find the recipe I used posted on the blog here.  I just had to replace the egg with egg replacer, substitute almond milk for cow's milk and a tinsy bit of olive oil in lieu of ghee to make it plant-based (I also reduced the sodium by 50%) .  Easy peasy. (see recipe below)

My kids loved these.  They couldn't get enough.  They asked when they could have it again.  Hubby too!  Next time, in lieu of tofu I'm going to use cannelini beans.  The tofu flavor was just a tad strong for my liking.  It wasn't really noticeable when the dish was all put together but I did notice a strong tofu flavor when just sampling the spread.






Note: The naan recipe makes about 6 pizzas.  Along with Isa's spread and topping recipe, six can be fed easily with this meal.  The recipe made way more spread than we could use.  We could have gotten by with just over half so I'll be keeping that in mind next time.  I'll probably use the extra spread as a sandwich spread or to dip veggies with.

Isa gave a whole bunch of other great possibilities for flatbread pizzas.  We'll definitely be making this again.
You can view the original recipe here:
http://www.theppk.com/2012/05/flatbreads-with-creamy-red-pepper-scallion-spread/


Modified Vegan Garlic Naan Recipe (see original recipe here)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tb sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons almond or soy milk
1 egg replacer equivalent
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour (Whole Foods has a hi-protein whole wheat flour that works great for this!)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
2 Tb Olive oil (I find I don't even need this for our grill, they don't stick)


In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tb sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in remaining sugar, milk, egg replacer, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a tennis ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.  During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with oil, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Makes about 6 individual size pizzas.