Hash Browns

A(nother) "Ode to Potatoes"!

If you've been following me for a while you know by now... I LOVE POTATOES... In fact, one of my first ever posts to my blog mentioned a story about the extent of my potato love.  Did you miss that one? Let's see if I can re-enact it for you...

"Anyway, like I was sayin', I love the potato. You can mash it, boil it, roast it, bake it, fry it. Dey's uh, baked potato, mashed potatoes, potato au gratin. Hash browns, home fries, tater tots. There's french fries, potato chips, scalloped potatoes, potato soup, potato chowder, potato pierogi, potato salad, potato pancakes, hasselback potatoes, twice baked potatoes, potato skins. That- that's about it."  (did you get the movie reference?)

Yeah... That ACTUALLY happened... maybe not exactly word for word in that order, but I did ramble on about all the ways you can cook potatoes! Why do I love potatoes so much? Seriously? DUH it's because potatoes are super versatile and you can eat them for every meal! (except maybe dessert... but then, there's sweet potatoes for that!)  Potatoes are like the French Manicure of food... they go with everything! 

ANYWAYS.... One of my favorite things to have for breakfast is a super crispy hash brown dipped in sriracha-ketchup. I used to have an issue with eating breakfast because I'd feel so sick afterwards... turns out it had to do with too much fruit/veggie acid in my stomach, but potatoes were a way to combat that! So I've been on a quest to create the best homemade hashbrowns and I've finally mastered them! 

(so much that this -----------------------------> was actually my breakfast one morning.. 2 gardein breakfast patties, a small batch of homefries and a huge hashbrown w/ sriracha ketchup) It was glorious.

So today's post is to give you my recipe for that large and crispy hashbrown at the top of my plate. I've now made these hashbrowns for my dad and sister and both love how crispy they are and how they aren't bland and boring.

To make these hashbrowns (small, about 2-inch diameter):

4 small-medium russet potatoes, peeled
1/4 small onion (optional)*
canola oil
s&p / any other seasoning you may like (you should try cajun! yum)

On a box grater, shred the potatoes on the small grating side. *if using onion, shred it as well

Soak the shredded potatoes in a bowl of cool water for 5 minutes.  Drain off water, pressing the potatoes to drain off all of the liquid. 

Add more water to the bowl and let the potatoes sit.

Heat about a turn of the pan of oil in a large pan over medium high heat.

Take a small handful of the potato shreds (and a pinch of the shredded onion if using) and mix it in your hand and roll into a ball.  Over the sink, squeeze the ball into a flat pancake, squeezing out as much water as possible.  Carefully place into the hot oil, and repeat until pan is full.

While the hashbrowns are in the pan, use your spatula to press down on them. (I've found not doing this results in a higher chance of the inner potatoes being raw.)  Season with salt and pepper (and/or other seasoning) and flip when the edges start to deepen in color. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

Drain on a paper towel sprinkle with salt and serve while hot!

How easy is that?! It's is important not to skip the soaking part of this recipe.  Soaking the potato shreds helps to remove all of the potato starch which will help your hashbrowns to achieve the super crispy exterior!

Tasty Travels- Sticky Fingers Sweets and Eats

If you follow my Facebook (if you don't... why not?!) you may have seen that I started a new photo album of all of the foods I've eaten when I travel.  I decided this was a good way to share not only my pictures but also to let you know of vegan places all around.  

Classic TLT

Peanut Butter Pie (mini and out of this world!)

For example, one place I frequent here in the DC area is Sticky Fingers.  They are a vegan bakery and cafe in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC (Literally like a block from the Columbia Heights metro on the green line) and they are the only place I have found in this area that does VEGAN DONUTS! Yup, Tuesdays and Thursdays their bakery produces a TON of donuts.  Everything from your standard Cinnamon Sugar and Vanilla Glazed to flavors like ESPRESSO GLAZED w/ chocolate (Hands down my favorite) and PB filled with Jelly and even cranberry ginger!  On top of donuts, they are also knockin out some great milkshakes, sandwiches, soups, and more! 

Here's their address in case you're in the DC area and want to visit them! 

• 1370 Park Rd NW

• Washington, District of Columbia 20010

Soup de Jour: Sweet Potato and an Asian Wrap

(I just realized I raved about the donuts and DO-NUT have any pictures of them... haha see what I did there.. I'm a dork.  Oh well just another excuse to go back and get more!)

** UPDATE I FOUND A PIC!!!**

Tiramisu Filled Donut: Chocolate filling, espresso glaze YUM!

A Scrambled Casserole

Breakfast/Brunch is one of my favorite meals but let's be honest... it's not exactly the most vegan friendly meal when it comes to dining out.  Today is Easter Sunday and a lot of people celebrate with a big family brunch which means lots of eggs/egg dishes.  Well I've got a great eggless brunch dish for you. 

I personally like it better than what I remember about scrambled eggs.  The texture is similar to that of scrambled eggs and it's combined with all kinds of breakfast yummies like tempeh bacon and hash browns!!

Here’s the recipe!

1 tsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 Red bell pepper diced

1 Yellow bell pepper diced

1 (6oz) package of Tempeh Bacon, chopped

1 Block firm tofu

½ Cup chopped green onions

½ Cup Daiya shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 Large russet potatoes, washed, grated, and rinsed OR 1 (16oz) bag frozen hash browns
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Onion powder
1 tsp Turmeric

Pre-heat the oven to 420º F.

Pat the block of tofu dry and slice it into 4 equal pieces. 

Using a paper towel or lined kitchen towel, press the tofu firmly to remove moisture. 

Working over a large mixing bowl, crumble the tofu using your fingers. Add the vegan cheese, garlic powder, turmeric, green onions and onion powder.

In a skillet heat the olive oil and add the tempeh bacon and peppers, stirring until the peppers are slightly browned. 

Add the peppers and tempeh to the tofu mixture.

Using the same skillet get the high heat oil hot and add the potatoes. 

Stir the potatoes constantly without pressing down on them until they are browned. 

Add them to the tofu mixture and stir gently until well incorporated. 

Distribute the mixture evenly into a 13x9” baking pan.**  Bake for 20 minutes or until it’s hot.

**You can make this dish ahead of time to this point, cover with foil, refrigerate overnight, and bake it in the morning.

I like to top this with more chopped green onions, ketchup, old bay, or even some sriracha! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This coffee cake comes from a recipe I got from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  I specified some of the unspecific ingredients that I choose to use and added a few extra spices that I like.  I make this coffee cake a lot.  Especially on Christmas morning! It fills the house with the spicy smells of cinnamon and ginger and is the perfect sweet treat to have while enjoying a cup of coffee and watching everyone open their presents.  Have family in town?  This is a great breakfast that everyone can enjoy without people knowing that it’s vegan. 

Why is it that whenever you tell someone who isn’t vegan that they food you made is vegan they FREAK OUT?!  I typically just go the sneaky route: make it vegan, call it something generic (Cinnamon Coffee Cake), watch people dig in, then serve myself.  IF they realize that the only vegan in the room is eating it too, they may say something along the lines of, “wait, you can eat this??” to which I respond, “Ohhh yeah, did I forget to mention that this is vegan?”  Then they respond, “BUT this is so good…” SURPRISE YA WHACKOS, VEGAN FOOD IS DELICIOUS!!! It just comes with a weird stigma that omnivores have so sweetly labeled all things vegan with.  Thanks, but I’ll just continue to impress you with vegan food until you decide to stop being stupid… Sorry crazy rant over… here’s the recipe:

Cake

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (can substitute other unsweetened non dairy milk)

1/3 cup canola oil

1 TBS white distilled vinegar

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp salt

Crumble

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1-2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

a pinch of nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1/3 cup Earth Balance Coconut spread, melted  (can sub other non-dairy butter or canola oil)

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Grease a 9-inch square baking dish/cake pan.

For the cake: Combine milk, oil and vinegar in a bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Add the milk mixture and stir until just combined.  Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Crumble Topping: in a small bowl combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and walnuts.  Add the butter/oil and use your hands to thoroughly work it into the dry ingredients.  Spoon crumble on top of the batter, covering the entire area.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Let it cool slightly, and serve warm or at room temperature.

So yummy!  Definitely put this in your recipe book. Good for breakfast, brunch, or after dinner coffee.  Covered tightly with foil, it'll last about a week... If you can keep your hands off it that long!

(FINALLY GOT A PIC OF THIS!!!! You're welcome) 

Cinnamon Roll Scones

This recipe is the lovechild of my two favorite breakfast treats.  Labor intensive sweetness meets quick flaky, crumbly pastry.  With this recipe you get all of the flavor of a cinnamon roll without having to be up super early to let the dough rise (and without eating the kind from the tube... you know what I'm talking about).  I think that this recipe, start to finish, took me an hour... And that's because I was creating the recipe as I went along, taking notes, using social media to document what I was using/doing, etc.  If I had to time this recipe with out all of the added busy work, my guess is this is a breakfast meal that could be featured on RR's 30 Minute Meals!

This recipe makes 8 scones... But be warned, they are super yummy... both my parents each had two. 

SCONE:
1 egg replacer (I use Ener-G so 11/2 tsp powder mixed with 2 TBS warm water until frothy)
2 1/2 c AP flour
1/3 c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup non-dairy butter (Super Cold! leave in refrigerator until ready to use)
1/2 cup non dairy milk

FILLING:
2-3 TBS Dark Brown Sugar
1 TBS Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 shakes Ground Cloves
2 shakes Ground Ginger
2 TBS non dairy butter, melted


GLAZE:
1 c confectioner's Sugar
2 TBS non dairy milk
2 TBS non dairy butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425 and grease a cookie sheet.

Combine the scone's dry ingredients.  

Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives, until the butter is no bigger than the size of a pea.  

Add in milk and egg replacer and mix until just moistened.  

Gather the dough into a ball and divide in half.  Wrap lightly and put dough in the fridge while you prep the filling*.  This chills the butter again after it's been exposed to your hands heat.  Chunks of butter in your pastry are what helps to create a flaky texture.

Evenly spread one half of your dough into the bottom of an 8-in round cake pan.  Top with Filling and the rest of the dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and check around the edge to make sure top and bottom layers of dough are connected.  

Cut into 8 triangles place on cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes.  Top with glaze** to serve and enjoy!

*Filling, combine the sugars and spices until thoroughly mixed.  Add in butter and mix until filling looks like wet, crumbly sand.

**For the Glaze, whisk all of the ingredients together until smooth.

Vegan Pancakes

The I have been craving pancakes recently and so I looked on here to see if I had my vegan pancake recipe posted...  It wasn't on here!! Had to change that before I head to bed so I can make some pancakes in the morning.  This recipe was created because I couldn’t find a recipe for vegan pancakes that seemed as though it would taste like real pancakes… so I took a regular pancake recipe and converted it to vegan pancakes!

1 cup all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon white sugar 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 cup unflavored rice milk 
1 egg replacer (I use Ener-G: so 1 1/2 tsp replacer and 2 TBS water) 
2 tablespoons vegetable oil 

Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. 

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, beat together egg replacer, milk and oil. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture. Beat until smooth. 

Pour or scoop the batter onto the hot griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Now, most people like to use butter on their pancakes… me, I’m daddy’s little girl, so I use Peanut Butter like daddy does!  I made a simple syrup by heating vegan sugar and water (equal parts first then a little extra water if more dissolving is needed) it satisfied the syrup taste for me, which is good since I haven’t bought syrup in I don’t know how long because I rarely eat pancakes/waffles as I'm hardly ever home/awake to eat breakfast.

There you go my friends!  I hope that this helps satisfy your pancake craving... You could make a few batches, cook them up, throw the cooked pancakes on a cookie sheet and freeze then put into freezer bags.  Then just like Eggos you can toast them up whenever you want them!  :-)

Smoothie Kick

Okay so whats easier than putting a few things in a blender, pushing the on button, pouring it in a glass and slurping down the sweet nutritious goodness through a straw?!  I've been on a smoothie kick for the past few days as I've been fighting bronchitis and the frozen concoctions felt really great on my throat! I don't have pictures because they were too delicious to waste any time devouring them!  One of the best ideas is freezing fruit so that you don't have to water it down your smoothie with too much ice!

Orange Banana Smoothie:

makes 1 smoothie

1 seedless orange, peeled

1 frozen banana

1/2 bottle Zico coconut water (natural flavor)

4 ice cubes

Put in a blender and blend till smooth! DONE!

Tropical Smoothie:

makes 2 smoothies

1 small bag of tropical blend frozen fruit from whole foods

1/2 bottle zico coconut water (natural flavor)

1/4-1/2 cup orange juice

1 TBSP sugar

4 ice cubes

Put everything in a blender and blend  until smooth!

More to come! Mixed berry and peach flavors!

Vegan Banana Bread

Banana Bread.  An American Standard since 1933, when it was first published in a Pillsbury recipe book, is one culinary creation that fills the home with the most delicious smells.  It is a great recipe for the fall and winter months because it bakes for a long time so the heat from the oven also helps to warm the home.

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance Coconut spread

2- Egg replacer (Ener-G 3 tsp mixed with 4 TBS Water)

1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)

1/2 cup vegan milk mixed with 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.

 

Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in egg replacer until well blended. Add bananas, vegan milk-vinegar mix and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans.

Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9-inch loaf about 1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. 

Hot Cocoa

Who doesn't love hot cocoa?!  I'm pretty sure that it's something we all grow up drinking and then as we get older... due to society's ideals, we ween ourselves off the hot chocolatey goodness to drink more "adult" beverages.

Well as the temperatures start to drop, I'm sticking my tongue out to those ideals and hoping you'll do the same as I share a delicious Hot Cocoa recipe with you!  It's so easy and makes enough that you can share with someone else or... if you're a choco-holic like me... keep it all for yourself!

My secret ingredient?  Silk Coconut Milk.  (Original flavor) Of course if you are allergic change the milk to your choice of vegan milks.  But if you want to have a little extra (subtle) happiness in your mouth, try the coconut milk!

4 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa (Be sure to check the label to make sure they didn't add any milk!)
2 1/3 cups plain non-dairy (COCONUT... Or soy, almond, or rice) milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine sugar, cocoa and cinnamon (if using) in a small saucepan.

Gently stir in milk.

Warm over medium heat, stirring or whisking constantly, until hot. Do not boil.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. 

Pour into mugs and top off with vegan marshmallows or vegan whipped cream if you like!

**It's very important to remove from heat before you stir in the vanilla extract, as extracts are alcohol based and cooking it will cook out the flavor. 

YUM HAPPY FALL!!! Get ready for some more yummy fall treats coming soon to my blog! (Soups, Beverages, Breads, and other fall flavors!)

Vegan French Bread

I will never buy bread ever again... You really don't need too.  Sure it takes some time to rise but seriously it's so cheap and the outcome is warm delicious bread that makes the whole house smell amazing! I think that its a good stress reliever too.  Grab the recipe

Pecan Caramel Sticky

(Shout out to @Earth_Balance … use their coconut spread for a little extra taste!)

Okay show of hands… Who misses being able to GORGE on cinnabon?  I mean there is no way their stuff is vegan… I’ve seen ‘em make it! they use A POUND OF BUTTER just to coat the dough for the FILLING!!  Silly Cinnabon… that’s not vegan! haha (For extra sweetness add Earth Balance Coconut Spread in place of the nondairy butter)

But have I got a recipe for you… Now be warned this is NOT a quick recipe but I promise… it’s COMPLETELY WORTH IT!!!  (Ps.  I’m working on trying to convert this back to non vegan for some family/friends who want it but for now this is the VEGAN VERSION)

Wanna know the best part?  

Get the Recipe