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 IN VANCOUVER X 2

Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything in quite a while.. Im sorry!!! Life has been crazy, I'm working a ton and I'm about to move back to Campbell River! Im planning on helping my parents with their house because my mom is about to retire and hopefully get some down time to really focus on my baking/cooking. Theres an amazing farmers market up there every sunday in the summer time so my sister and I are going to start selling some of our baked goods there! I'm really excited. In other words stay tuned because there will be sooo much more coming up on my blog!! My sisters are great bakers too so it'll be awesome to have a team. Now just to think of a name for it.... Any suggestions?

Anyways my boyfriend and I just came back from going to NORTHWEST COMEDY FEST and it was INSANE. Every comedian was so good and we got to meet most of them. Todd Glass signed our book and Doug Benson was super nice and hung out for a long time. Rory Scovel even played a surprise set at Doug Benson's show so that was an extra big treat for Reece and I. Rory Scovel is one of our absolute favourites. In between all the shows I figured I'd make some documentation of the AMAZING vegan food I ate while in Vancouver. We stayed off of Commercial drive which is VEGAN HEAVEN in Vancouver. Most of the great spots to eat are around there just along the drive. If you haven't ventured down there before you must because it has such an awesome variety of different kinds of vegan food! We even managed to make it back to whole foods again, of course<3 In all the excitement I didn't get tons of photos but I went to some of my all time favourite vegan spots in Vancouver so I thought I'd share it with you! If you haven't been , please go. You will never want to leave. I never do. 

First stop! Deserts 905 Commercial Dr, Vancouver BC

http://vancityveg.com/deserts-the-falafel-oasis/

This is truly the falafel oasis. The food here is WAY TOO GOOD. Its so cheap too! You can see the two owners make your food while you're there. The wraps are the biggest falafel wraps I've ever had. They put pickles in them which is my FAVOURITE thing. They always have tons of veggie samosas and veggie pakoras ready in a glass case so you can stop in there if you're in a rush. Its pretty hard to spend over 20 dollars there and thats with two people. My boyfriend and I got one of these wraps each and two samosas for 15 bucks! If you buy 4 samosas its a deal too. The chutney is off the chain. Which is an absolute must for me while eating samosas. If you love indian food or you're looking for a cheap, healthy lunch this is the place to stop. The service is always good and theres a large menu with tons to choose from. I wish I got more pictures but I was so excited I kind of forgot! Hehe. :)

Second stop! Bandidas taqueria 
http://www.bandidastaqueria.com/
Now I know I have posted this place before but its seriously one of my favourite breakfast places in the world. Its a must go everytime I go to Vancouver. The breakfast there is some of the best you'll get ever. With so many different things to choose from and most can be made vegan or vegetarian. The prices are great. The inside of the restaurant is super funky and always has the best art on the walls. Everytime I go there I want to take a piece home hehe.

Coffee and their homemade salsa. That salsa is seriously spicy and its VERY rare I find things spicy.. I'm fijian haha

Reece had the "egg mcmuffins" Instead of using english muffins they use their own homemade cornbread buns and its the best thing i've ever had!! I want the recipe so bad. I could eat them every morning. When you make your meal vegan they automatically add guacamole, no charge and you can add some veggie bacon or sausage on the side:)

I got "the breakfast" made vegan. This is a lot better picture of their AMAZING cornbread muffins. I love some purple cabbage with my breakfast and a little apple salad on the side makes this the perfect meal. The hardest part is trying to eat it all! The portions are great! Thanks Bandidas.

Third stop! The Sweet Cherubim 
http://www.sweetcherubim.com/

I seriously love this place. It holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first vegan places I came too in Vancouver and I never wanted to leave. With an organic grocery store attached you could live there. Their baked goods are especially amazing. They have a huge glass case when you walk in that holds tons of different vegan treats including nanaimo bars, bird nest cookies(my favourite), raw bliss balls, muffins, chocolate carrot cakes. ANYTHING, you name it , they will have it. Not to mention they look absolutely amazing so well done Sweet Cherubim. Ive always wanted to work there. Its an absolute must go everytime I come to Vancouver. A little bit pricier than the other places I mentioned but really worth it! Their veggie rolls are to die for. They have one of the largest vegan menus to choose from too. Why not support a vegan restaurant/health food store that started in 1980? Id pay any amount to keep that going!

Is that not the best veggie roll you've ever seen!?

My lovely boyfriend drinking one of their raw vegan shakes :) 

While my boyfriend and I were there too we also stopped at Vandusen Botanical Garden. I had never been there before and we had lots of down time before our comedy shows so we thought it would be a fun adventure. Wow. What a beautiful place. I went there in February and it was amazing! I can't wait to go back in the summertime when everything is blooming. I really appreciate living in BC for the amount of nature I get to see. I think i would go crazy living in a city without any green. If you haven't been there before you need to check this place out. Its 7.75 to get in for an adult. Theres so many different sections to look at my boyfriend and I didn't even get to them all! All in all it was a magical place though. Even the building there is beautiful. Check it out.

Heres a couple snapshots from there. British Columbia will always be my home. THE WEST IS BEST. :)