VEGAN BAKED ONION RINGS

HELLO VEGANS and non vegans alike. Its Spring!! I know I haven't been posting very much but its because I am moving:) My boyfriend and I decided to move to Campbell River where my parents live to help them and be out of the city for awhile. I'm really excited because my sisters are super awesome chefs and it'll be nice to have some partners in crime! I got a lot of positive responses when I posted some pictures of these bad boys so I figured it was about time I get posting a recipe. So if you don't hear from me in a while you know why! Stay tuned though because everything is about to get much more exciting for my blog:)

Keep cooking!

VEGAN BAKED ONION RINGS

1-2 large onion peeled and sliced

Batter

1 cup organic unbleached white flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of silk coconut almond milk blend

1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar

Breading

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 nutritional yeast

1/4 bobs red mill cornmeal

Steps
SERVES 2

Preheat your oven to 450F. Slice your onion up in 1/4 thick rings.

Make sure you push out all the silly little pieces that obviously won't make good onion rings. You want big circular pieces for this. Once all the onion you need to cut up is ready its time to make the batter. Combine all your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Whisk together with a fork while dry so you can make sure there is no bumps in it at all. Add half of your almond milk and stir it in well. Then pour the other half into a measuring cup and add your apple cider vinegar. Add that mixture to your dough and keep stirring everything together. If your batter is too thin you can add a tablespoon of flour one at a time to thicken it. Once your batter is ready its time to get your breading together. Now this part can really be changed to whatever your preference is. I prefer to have a little crunch in my onion ring so I like adding things like cornmeal that give it a kick. If you prefer a smoother batter try just adding bread crumbs and nutritional yeast. I made my own bread crumbs by toasting some Silver Hills Squirrely bread then crushing it in my hand. Worked like a charm!

By this point your oven should be preheated so you'll want to oil a baking tray or line it with parchment paper.

Pick up a single onion ring with a fork and place it in your batter. Make sure the onion ring is completely covered with batter.  Pick it back up with the fork and let the excess batter drip off. Place the battered onion ring in your bread crumb dish and flip to cover both sides. Place the onion ring on your baking tray and repeat those steps until all onion rings are battered and ready to bake. Bake for 8 minutes, flip and bake for another 6 minutes. Take them out and remove from baking tray.  Place them on a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil and allow them to cool.
I had mine with simply organic ketchup and it ruled:)
Enjoy!

We had ours with some Gardein Crispy tenders on the side. They we delis!
(there is links attached to the companies of products I used if you want to check them out!)

VEGAN BANANA CREAM PIE W/ A HAZELNUT DATE CRUST

VEGAN BANANA CREAM PIE

w/ a hazelnut date crust

I woke up this morning with such an itch to bake so I was instantly excited when my boyfriend said it was national banana cream pie day. Random yes but an excellent opportunity to try something new. I also had a serious craving for hazelnut so I went out and bought some pura hazelnut agave syrup which is the kind I used in this recipe and it is SOOO GOOD. I mostly drink it in my coffee usually but it was an awesome addition for my pie crust. It gave it just the extra pizzaz it needed. Although I didn't make my own custard for the middle I was really pleased with the gobio vegan custard packet that I bought at one of the local pharmacies here with an awesome vegan food section there. It was my first time trying the custard and although it needs quite a bit of sweetener to be delicious its an excellent base for a cream pie. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to pull off a vegan cream pie for the first time. So here it is. In the name of national banana cream pie day, my vegan banana cream pie. I hope you enjoy! Happy baking. 

*I attached a link to the Pura linkedin below if you want to check them out. They are an awesome local company from Vancouver, BC

Pie crust recipe

1 cup everland organic pitted dates (soaked in warm water for 20 minutes)
1/2 cup bob's red mill organic graham flour
1/2 cup everland organic unbleached white flour
1/4 cup lets do it organic shredded coconut
1/4 cup earth balance melted
2 tablespoons Pura hazelnut agave syrup (link attached here)

*I also left links to the other products I used if you wanted to check out these awesome vegan companies!

Steps

Combine flours in a medium sized bowl with your shredded coconut.  Mix together well with a fork. Next drain your dates and add to your food processor or blender. Add 2 tablespoons of agave syrup and 2 tablespoons spoons of melted earth balance. Blend together for 4 minutes. Add blended dates to the flours and begin to mix together well, pressing down while mixing to pack everything in tight. Once your pie crust has formed into a ball, press your pie crust into a pie  pan. Refrigerate for 5 minutes then bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Once your crust is ready you can make your custard because you'll want your custard to cool before adding it to your pie.

Pie filling recipe

2 cups vanilla almond breeze milk
1 packet goBio organic custard
2 tablespoons cane sugar
2-3 bananas sliced

Steps
Measure 2 cup of almond milk. In a bowl add the contents of the custard packet and 1/4 cup of your milk. In a pot bring your remaining 1 3/4 cup of milk to a boil then slowly add your mixture to the pot once its boiling. Turn down to a low bowl and whisk together until desired consistency. For me it was around 10 minutes. Afterwards pour your custard into a bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Next its time to make your pie! You'll need 2 to 3 bananas depending on how much banana you like. Slice them thinly then place slices in your crust. Cover the whole bottom of your crust.
Add your custard to the pie crust and spread evenly. Place one more layer of banana slices on top. Top it all off with your choice of whip cream if your heart so desires. Its delicious on its own. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

VEGAN GRAVY

VEGAN GRAVY

I thought I'd do something easy tonight for my recipe. This is just a simple quick vegetable gravy recipe. We ate ours on mashed potatoes but it would work great to bake with seitan like a vegan steak or on steamed vegetables. Have fun trying it with different things:) Happy cooking.

Recipe

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon canola oil

3 mushrooms, diced

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (theres a link to the broth I used. Pacific Foods:) 

4 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (theres a link to what I use. Bob's Red Mills)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

a pinch of fresh thyme

2 drops of liquid smoke

dash of salt

In a medium sized pot heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil on low-med heat. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add your vegetable broth then mushrooms and stir together well. Add your garbanzo bean flour - salt. Stirring while adding ingredients. Bring mixture to a low boil for 2 minutes then bring it down to a simmer. Continue to stir this entire time. Your mixture should be getting thicker by now. If its not add 1 more tablespoon of garbanzo bean and 1 more tablespoon of nutritional yeast. Continue to add until desired consistency. Allow your gravy to thicken for 5-10 minutes on min heat. Stirring occasionally. Once your gravy is nice and thick you'll notice it'll bubble a bit in the pot. Remove from heat and prepare to serve!!