Better cornbread

We have cornbread once a week on average.  I am an Okie, so I need my cornbread.  When I was growing up, that was about the only bread we were served at home, other than an occasional sandwich on Wonder bread. 

I have changed almost everything we eat to a whole food, plant based diet.  However, our cornbread had not quite changed all the way until yesterday.

When we started this change in the way we eat, I immediately changed my cornbread recipe to include almond milk rather than cow's milk.  I could tell very little if any change in the outcome of the recipe.  It did seem that it took just a tiny bit more almond milk to get the same consistency of the batter than it did cow's milk.  I have been making cornbread so often, for so long, that I can tell if the consistency is a little off.  As a matter of fact, I have been making this cornbread recipe for so long, that if I am in a big hurry, I don't even pull the cook book out as I can remember the recipe without seeing it in print. 

Until yesterday, I still included the egg or eggs, (according to how big of a recipe I am making).  This time I mixed two tablespoons of ground flax seed with six tablespoons of warm water and let it sit on the countertop for about 10 minutes. 

My husband and I both agree that we like the cornbread better with the egg, but the difference was very small.  It seemed a tiny bit more fragile, more crumbly.  The taste was exactly the same, and I think the flaxseed in the cornbread looked good.  This will definitely be our new cornbread recipe.  Now I can quit buying 1/2 dozen eggs every 6 weeks or so and wondering what I will do with the rest of them.

CORNBREAD

 

2 Tbsp. ground flax seed, mixed with 6 Tbsp. warm water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 to 4 Tbsp. sugar or agave nectar, according to sweetness preference
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, heated until liquid 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Let the flax seed and warm water sit for 10 minutes before using.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside.

In another smaller bowl, mix the flax seed mixture, the nondairy milk, and coconut oil until well combined. 

Add the milk mixture all at once to the dry mixture.  Stir just until moistened.  Lumps are okay. 

Heat a cast iron skillet, (about 12” skillet), either on top of the stove or in the preheating oven.  After it gets heated, grease the bottom and sides with Pam or coconut oil.  Pour cornbread mixture into the hot skillet.  Place in oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until top is browned and center is cooked through.

NOTE:  If you do not have a cast iron skillet, a glass casserole dish will work.  Do not preheat a glass dish, as it may break when the mixture is added to the hot pan.  The cornbread has a much better crust if it can be done in a cast iron skillet.

 

Did I just order that?

I thought I was getting this plant based eating thing down, but sometimes my old eating ways creep back into the picture. 

My husband and I were eating lunch in a restaurant last week.  I decided a salad and a cup of soup sounded good.  I placed my order, and my husband placed his order.  After the waitress left, we started a conversation.  After a couple of minutes, I stated, (with incredulous expression on my face), "Do you realize what I just ordered?"  My husband stated, "Yeah, a salad and chicken noodle soup".  I emphasized CHICKEN noodle soup.  We both laughed.  I didn't even realize that I was ordering a meat dish. 


Yes, I went ahead and ate the chicken noodle soup.  It wasn't bad, but it did not awaken any yearning in my soul for meat.  It actually would have been better if it would have just been a vegetable and noodle soup. 

I need to make a plant based soup this weekend! 

Vegan in Vegas

My husband and I took our first vacation since becoming plant based eaters.  I was very curious before the trip as to whether it would be quite easy or possibly quite difficult.  We were in Las Vegas for five days.

Since we were flying, we did not have the option to take some food with us.  I would have loved to have had that option.  I would say that overall it was quite difficult to find plant based foods in Vegas.  I really expected to have more options available.  Some of our meals we changed to a vegetarian rather than plant based diet, because it was hard to get around the dairy used in the food preparation.


 One day we bought two slices of some great looking pizza with a pesto sauce and some veggies.  We took the pizza to our hotel room,  (okay, it was lunch time and we had been walking in the Vegas heat all morning, so we just wanted to retire to our room for lunch and then take a nap).   The pizza had a small amount of cheese on it, which we decided we could live with, but when we took a closer look, it had chicken on
it. We just picked the small amount of chicken off the pizza, and all was not lost.

We were definitely using the "progress, not perfection" motto that blogger Lindsay Nixon advocates.  We decided we would do the best we could, without running all over town, eating up our vacation time, (pun intended). 

We definitely had more veggie burgers during that week than I have had in the last month.   Of course, I just happened to serve veggie burgers at home the night before we left.  We were able to enjoy the differences offered in the various veggie burgers, and they were actually all very good.  I know some or all of them may have had egg in them. 


I was thinking we would find lots of soups to choose from, but I had not taken into account that the weather was hovering around 90 degrees there.  Most people were probably not yearning for a nice cup of hot soup.  We did find a couple of vegetarian soups in a French restaurant in the Paris hotel.  We had a salad on the side, and it was probably our tastiest meal.  



French Market Buffet in The Orleans Hotel/Casino

We decided before we left for Vegas that we would not participate in any buffets.   Maybe we were afraid that we would be tempted to eat meat products.  On our last night there, we went to a much smaller hotel to see a show.  We had to arrive early to pick up our show tickets, and this hotel was not close to the other hotels, so we needed to find
dinner there.   The options were abysmal.  We came upon the hotel buffet and decided to go ahead and eat there.

Greens, fried okra, Cesar salad, shaved beats, potato cake

It turned out to be a fairly good decision.  I knew they wouldn't prepare the food in a healthy way, as we try to do at home.  However,  we were able to find many vegetable dishes and a big salad bar.   Neither of us were the least bit tempted to try any meat dishes. 
They had a huge barbecue "bar", and I was afraid that might be my husband's downfall.  He didn't blink an eye.  He simply picked up a piece of cornbread and some collard greens and moved on.  Yeah, plant strong!

Fall is here!

When we started a plant based diet at the beginning of August, I felt like we were really lucky to be starting this way of eating at a time when produce is so much more abundant. 

My husband and I have always loved the produce which is available in the summer and often had meals of plant foods only, just because there is so much available at that time.




About a month ago, I started fretting a bit about the fact that many of our vegetable sources would be unavailable soon.  I wondered if it might be a problem with our eating plan.  Well, now that Fall is here, I have found so many recipes for "Fall" type dishes.  I don't think it is going to be a problem at all. 

I have even been thinking about food for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  There is a plethora of recipes for the holidays.  I plan to start testing some of them soon.   I would be a little hesitant to serve all new dishes that have never been tried for such "foodie" holidays. 

As I find holiday recipes that I can truly recommend, I will post them.  It is really a great little adventure for me. 

I now welcome Fall with fully opened arms. 

It's About Time for a Great Dish

I haven't blogged in awhile.  I am going to blame it on the fact that I have hit a real dry spot in the last few weeks in making new dishes that I consider worthy of making again.  I placed a challenge to myself that I would make at least two new recipes per week until I get my collection of plant based recipes up to a level which I felt would be adequate.  Let's just say that absolutely nothing impressive has come out of our kitchen the last few weeks.  I was beginning to get a bit weary about new recipes.


All this changed a couple of nights ago with a recipe I tried.  Surprisingly I got the recipe from the Food Network site.  I had never thought to look on their website for plant based recipes.  They actually had quite a few.  This recipe was not only delicious, it was very quick to make. 

VEGAN LEMON FETTUCINE ALFREDO

12 ounces eggless fettucine

2 cups unsweetened soy or almond milk
4 ounces vegan cream cheese
3 Tbsp blanched sliced almonds
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup loosely packed parsley leaves, chopped

 Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

In a blender, add the milk, cream cheese, almonds, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, 1 tsp. salt and ¼ tsp
pepper and process until smooth.

Add the fettucine to the boiling water and cook according to package directions.  Strain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Heat the oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until the garlic just starts to sizzle and softens, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the soy milk mixture and ½ cup of the pasta cooking water.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thick and creamy, about 8 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the fettucine and parsley and toss to combine.  Thin out with a little more pasta water if needed.

 Sprinkle each serving with some additional nutritional yeast and a few grinds of pepper. 

I just looked up the nutritional information on this recipe.  Each serving, (recipe makes 4 servings), has 520 calories and 15 grams of fat.  I am a little surprised that the fat grams are that high.  I guess we won't be having this every week, but it is definitely worth a splurge.   When I look at the nutritional values from other more traditional recipes for this dish, these numbers actually look much better.