6 Amazing Vegan Brunch Recipes

Quinoa Porridge

Serves: 1

Ingredients:
   1 cup unsweetened almond milk
   1/3 cup quinoa flakes
   1 tablespoon vanilla extract
   1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
   1/4 teaspoon ginger
   1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
   3 to 4 dried prunes, chopped (or other dried fruit)
   1 tablespoon maple syrup
   1 tablespoon raw sliced almonds

Directions:
Bring almond milk to a boil in a pot over high heat. Add quinoa flakes, return to a boil, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and prunes and cook another 30 seconds, continuing to stir. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add maple syrup, mix well, and sprinkle with almonds.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Tofu Whip

Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients:
Maple Tofu Whip:
   1 (12.3-ounce) package non-GMO firm tofu
   1/4 cup maple syrup
Pancakes:
   1 cup spelt flour
   1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
   2 teaspoons baking soda
   1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
   1/3 cup organic pumpkin purée (canned is fine)
   1 tablespoon maple syrup
   1 tablespoon vanilla
   1 cup almond milk

Directions:
1. Drain tofu by placing it between two plates and setting a heavy pot cover on top of the top plate. Let sit for an hour, then blend tofu and maple syrup in a blender for about 30 seconds, until completely smooth.
2. Blend all pancake ingredients in a blender. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and ladle in batter by the quarter cup. Cook until bubbles appear, then flip using a spatula, even out (or thin out) pancakes with the spatula, and cook for two to three more minutes.
3. Top warm pancakes with tofu whip.

Sweet Potato Tempeh Hash

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
   2 sweet potatoes, cubed
   2 tablespoons chopped onion
   1 clove garlic, minced
   1 tablespoon olive oil
   1/2 cup julienned red bell pepper
   6 ounces tempeh, cubed
   1 cup vegetable broth
   1 teaspoon paprika
   1 tablespoon soy sauce
   Salt and pepper, to taste
   2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place sweet potato in a lightly oiled or nonstick pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
2. In a wok over medium-high heat, sauté onion and garlic in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Add pepper, tempeh, and a bit of broth and stir frequently for 2 minutes. (Keep broth handy and always have 1/2 to 1 centimeter of broth at the bottom of the wok.) Add sweet potatoes and paprika, and slowly add remaining broth until it has all been absorbed by the tempeh and potatoes. Then add soy sauce, salt, pepper, and parsley. Mix well and serve.

Carrot Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese

Serves: 6 to 12

Ingredients:
Muffins:
   2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
   6 tablespoons water
   1 cup sugar
   1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
   1 cup flour
   1 teaspoon baking soda
   1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
   1/2 teaspoon ginger
   1/4 teaspoon salt
   2 cups shredded carrots
   1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
   1/2 cup raisins, optional
Maple Cream Cheese:
   1 (8-ounce) package vegan cream cheese, cold
   1/4 cup vegan margarine, cold
   1/4 cup maple syrup
   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a cupcake tin with wrappers or oil the tin well.
2. Mix flaxseed and water well, then beat with sugar and applesauce in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt and beat. When well blended, stir in carrots and, if desired, pecans and raisins.
3. Spoon batter into cupcake tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and let cool on rack completely.
4. Beat cream cheese and margarine in a large bowl until smooth. Add maple syrup and vanilla and beat again until smooth. If spread isn’t sweet enough for your liking, add up to 1/2 cup sweetener of choice and beat until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Serve muffins with cream cheese spread on the side.

Tofu Scramble

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
   1 (12.3 ounce) package non-GMO firm tofu
   1 clove garlic, minced
   1/3 cup chopped onions
   1 cup chopped broccoli
   1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
   2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
   1 teaspoon paprika
   1 teaspoon ground saffron
   1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
   Salt and pepper, to taste
   1 cup shredded kale (stems removed)

Directions:
1. Drain tofu by placing it between two plates and placing a heavy pot cover on top of the top plate. Let sit for at least an hour.
2. In a nonstick pan over medium heat, lightly brown garlic and onion, stirring frequently. Crumble tofu into pan and add remaining ingredients except kale. Stir frequently, until tofu reaches desired color, about 3 minutes. (If mixture becomes too dry at any point, add water 1 tablespoon at a time.) Reduce heat to low, add kale, and stir for 1 more minute. Serve with vegan toast and tempeh bacon, if desired.

Banana French Toast with Chocolate Macadamia Nut Butter

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Chocolate Macadamia Nut Butter:
   6 tablespoons vegan dark chocolate chips
   4 tablespoons macadamia nut butter (or other nut butter)
   1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
   1 tablespoon vanilla extract
French Toast:
   1 banana
   1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
   1 tablespoon maple syrup
   1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
   1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   4 slices vegan bread
   1 tablespoon vegan margarine
   Fresh fruit, optional
   Chopped nuts, optional

Directions:
1. Place all nut butter ingredients in the top of a double boiler and stir until melted and mixed well. (If you don’t have a double boiler, place a stainless-steel bowl on top of a pot of boiling water so that the bowl rests in the water but doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot, and melt the ingredients in the bowl.) Let mixture cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
2. Blend banana, almond milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla in a blender and pour mixture into a shallow plate. Soak bread in mixture for 1 minute, flip, and soak another minute. Add margarine to a skillet over medium heat and rotate pan so bottom is lightly coated. Add bread and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. To serve, top two slices of bread with a dollop of chocolate nut butter and fruit and nuts, if you like.

Four High-Protein Vegetarian Alternatives to Soy

Vegetarian Protein Foods Not Named Tofu or Tempeh

“Four Alternatives” list: four high-protein, non-soy, vegetarian foods.  A lot of people seem to think soy is the only decent source of protein out there for vegetarians.

Seitan

For a long time, I thought seitan was another soy product.  Turns out, it’s made mostly from wheat.  And it has a texture very similar to meat, earning it the nickname “wheat-meat.”  A four-ounce portion of seitan has between 20 and 30 grams of protein, making it the most densely-packed vegetarian protein source I know of.  That it could pass for meat in a vegetarian dish is pure bonus, even if it’s not quite a whole food. You can find seitan at most health food stores, but if you are feeling adventurous, you can make it at home.

Beans

Nothing new here; beans are a staple of almost every vegetarian athlete’s diet.  My favorites are lentils, chickpeas and black beans, but almost every starchy bean contains 12 to 15 grams of protein per cooked cup.  Soybeans, interestingly, contain the most of all (29 g per cup); perhaps that’s why soy plays such a big role in many vegetarian diets.  Lentils, at 18 grams per cup, come in a distant second.

Quinoa

Some call it a super-grain; technically it’s a pseudo-grain.  Quinoa is actually a seed, and it comes in at 11 grams of protein per cooked cup.  It has the benefit of being gluten-free, too.  Quinoa contains a bitter coating that helps it to avoid being eaten by birds, so rinse your quinoa well before you cook it.  (Cooking only takes 12-15 minutes in hot water.)  Quinoa makes a good substitute for rice as part of a high-protein vegetarian meal.

Broccoli

Chances are, you’ve never thought of broccoli (or any green vegetable) as a high-protein food.  But per calorie, vegetables like broccoli and spinach are very high in protein.  The “problem” is that they take up a lot of room in your stomach, so it’s hard to eat enough of them to make them a significant source of protein.  Still, at 5 grams of protein per cup, broccoli deserves a place on list, if only because it’s interesting.

[via No Meat Athlete]

The Truth About Soy and Tofu

I cook for a mostly dairy-free family, and when I browse for recipes for creamy dishes without the dairy, I often come across some that rely on soy-based foods such as tofu. They sound tempting, but despite the convenience, I rarely eat unfermented soy.

For the uninitiated, soy falls into two broad categories, fermented and unfermented. Unfermented soy includes soy milk, soy nuts, tofu and soy infant formula; fermented soy includes tamari, miso, natto, tempeh, pickled tofu and various fermented pastes used in a variety of Asian cooking techniques. Knowing the difference will help you navigate recipes — and understand why I avoid the unfermented kind. Here's my rationale:

1. Soy is generally genetically modified.
There are a lot of good reasons to avoid genetically modified foods, and soy is one of the most common crops to be genetically modified. Somewhere upwards of 90 percent of the soybean crop is genetically modified. If you want to avoid GMOs, than you will need to avoid most soy products. (I buy organic soy sauce/tamari and natto, for this reason).

2. Unfermented soy contains high amounts of anti-nutrients
Unfermented soy includes anti-nutrients, such as phytate, which can literally block your body from absorbing nutrients. While soy milk may be high in calcium, the anti-nutrients in it can mean that you don’t get the benefits. You can read some of the research I did on the subject of the anti-nutrient, phytic acid.

3. A diet heavy in soy could lead to hormonal imbalances (which could lead to hormonal-driven cancers)
When I first started researching anti-cancer diets years ago, I read a book by a doctor who researched and conducted trials in prevention of breast cancer. One of the chapters in his book presented the sometimes confusing and conflicting research on soy and breast cancer. According to him, too much soy seems to increase your chances of getting breast cancer, and just a little soy in your diet increases it as well. According to him, you had to get the perfect medium in the middle for anti-cancer effects. Good luck on that.

Since then, other research has continued to feed concern regarding soy and cancer. Just one example out of many is a study that showed that women who start to eat soy as adults may derail their cancer treatment. Soy contains isoflavones that mimic estrogen, which some research says is helpful in preventing hormone-driven cancers, while other research shows it can increase your chances of getting cancer. Using soy to prevent cancer is a gamble since there are so many conflicting conclusions from studies.

So what to eat?
I personally follow the Weston A Price Foundation’s guidelines for eating soy. I only eat organic soy (to avoid pesticides and GMOs) and fermented soy (to reduce anti-nutrients) in small amounts. I enjoy tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), miso, natto, and every once in awhile, tempeh.

If you're interested in reading more about these topics, check out these resources, which I found helpful:

• Soy Isoflavone Studies  
• The Whole Soy Story 
• Soy can damage your health

[via Mother Nature Network]