Cauliflower Quiche

A few weeks ago my mom sent me some vegetarian recipes she had torn out of a magazine. I was intrigued by "Yotam Ottolenghi's Cauliflower Cake," a savory quiche made by the famous Israeli chef. Egg texture tends to be a bit difficult to replicate with plant-based ingredients (not to mention the original recipe also called for a ton of parmesan cheese!) but I attempted this one and was so pleased with the result. It's savory and unctuous and has a great mix of textures. I will definitely be making this again!

Cauliflower Quiche (serves 4)

4 cups small cauliflower florets (about 1 small head of cauliflower)
1 red onion
5 Tbls. olive oil
1/2 tsp. finely chopped rosemary
1 package silken tofu
3 Tbls. nutritional yeast
3 Tbls. hummus (I used my own recipe)
2 1/4 tsp. sea salt, divided
1/2 Tbls. lemon juice
2 1/2 tsp. vinegar
1/2 cup basil leaves, chopped
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. ground turmeric
1 Tbls. white sesame seeds
1 tsp. nigella seeds*
Black pepper, to taste
Vegan butter for lining pan
Chopped parsley for serving (optional)

*I had to google what these were. Apparently they have an onion/garlic taste. I didn't have them so I substituted celery seeds, which were great.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Toss the cauliflower florets with 1 tsp. salt in a microwave-safe bowl and add a bit of water. Microwave for 4 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until the cauliflower is tender. Drain and set aside.

Cut the onion in half on it's side so that it looks like tree rings.

From the larger side of one of the halves, cut a 1/4" thick slice.

Set the slice aside and peel and chop the rest of the onion.

Heat the oil in a pan large enough to hold the onion. Saute the onion with the rosemary until soft, about 10 minutes.

While the onion is cooking, blend together the tofu, nutritional yeast, hummus, 1/4 tsp. salt, vinegar, and lemon juice. This will be the egg and cheese substitute.

Transfer the egg mixture to a large bowl and whisk in the onion and basil.

Whisk in the remaining teaspoon of salt, flour, baking powder, turmeric, and black pepper to taste. Gently stir in the cauliflower.

Rub the sides of a round baking pan with butter and pour in the mixture. Take the onion slice you set aside and separate into rings, arranging on the top. Sprinkle the sesame and nigella (or celery) seeds around the edges.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is set. The original recipe calls for it to be served just warm (not hot) or at room temperature but I loved it hot.

Cut into 4 slices, top with parsley if desired, and serve.

For the record, this is the picture of Chef Ottolenghi's original creation:

Aaron's Cornbread

I've mentioned in more than a few posts that Aaron makes the most delicious cornbread. He hasn't wanted to blog about it so I'm taking over that duty. This was one of the first, if not the first, vegan recipes he created for me when we started dating. He tweaked it over several months before he was finally satisfied with it. He makes it all the time! His original recipe has wheat flour in it, but I'm blogging about the gluten-free version I made today to take to our Super Bowl party tomorrow (the host is gluten-free). But I've also included the note for the original version if you'd prefer to use wheat flour. As a side note, I quadrupled the recipe when I took the pictures so it looks like a lot more than the ingredients describe!

Aaron's Cornbread (serves 9-12)

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (soy works best)
Large splash apple cider vinegar
1 Tbls. ground flax seed
3 Tbls. water
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 Tbls. tapioca starch*
2 Tbls. rice flour*
3 Tbls. oat flour*
1 Tbls. chick pea flour*
1 tsp. arrowroot powder*
1 tsp. baking soda
Dash of salt
1/4 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
Dash of vanilla extract

*If you're making this with gluten, sub 1/2 cup wheat flour for all of these ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. If you want these to be muffins, line and grease 9 muffin tin wells. If you want these to be squares, grease a 8"x8" or 9"x9" square pan.

In a small bowl combine the milk and vinegar. Set aside. It will curdle and become like buttermilk.

In another small bowl combine the flax seed and water. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the cornmeal, all of the flours, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl melt the butter. Cream with the sugar, applesauce, and vanilla. Then stir in the flax mixture.

Stir in the dry ingredients along with the buttermilk.

Pour evenly into muffin wells or into square pan. (I used two large pans here because I quadrupled the recipe!)

Bake for 10-15 minutes if making muffins or 20-23 minutes if making it in a pan. If you've multiplied the recipe and are using a 9"x13" pan as I do here, bake it for 30 minutes.

Cool, cut into bars, and serve. Excellent with chili.

Apple Crisp

Last week my friend Ashley moved to the Chicago area from California with her family - including her adorable newborn. They were so nice and invited us to come over about 48 hours after they had arrived, which is quite impressive. We brought lasagna and this apple crisp, and everyone agreed it was a hit. I took a risk making something off the top of my head that I hadn't tried before but hey, now we have an awesome new dessert recipe! In a year or so when her baby is eating solid foods we'll have to make it again to see if she's in agreement :)

Apple Crisp (serves 8-10)

2 apples, any kind (I used pink lady)

1/4 cup + 1 Tbls. brown sugar, divided

1/4 cup + 1/2 Tbls white sugar, divided

2 Tbls. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 Tbls. coconut oil (liquid)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Tbls. frozen butter, divided

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine in a large bowl with 1 Tbls. of brown sugar, 1/2 Tbls. of while sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves, and coconut oil.

Peel the apples and slice thinly. Toss with the mixture, along with the walnuts. Set aside.

In another bowl combine the flour, oats, salt, and remainder of the sugars. Grate in the frozen butter (or chop it up as small as you can) and combine with a fork until the mixture resembles large crumbs.

Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan. Spread the apple mixture in evenly.

Spread the flour mixture on top. Chop up the remaining frozen butter as small as you can and evenly place over the flour mixture.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, then broil for a few minutes to caramelize the top. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn!

It's good at any temperature, but we like it best warm :)

Almond Maple Mini-Scones

Shameless plug for the blog Donatella Says, which is written by my college friend Doni. We haven't kept in touch since our undergrad days but her blog is 100% her. I don't know if "lifestyle blog" is the correct term, but at any rate her posts are hilarious and you read every one thinking "Thank GOODNESS there is someone out there who also thinks those things!" A couple months ago she posted an almond milk tutorial, which I read and thought "Wow, she is so much cooler than me because I just buy almond milk." Flash forward to last night, when Aaron and I faced the stark realization that we were almost out of almond milk and *gasp* we are too lazy to go to the store in sub-zero temperatures and how will we have breakfast without almond milk?! As I was falling asleep I remembered Doni's post (true story, Doni) and mumbled something to Aaron about googling it, which he did. So this morning before we left for work we fired up the Vitamix and made ourselves the freshest almond milk you've ever had.

If you read her almond milk post you will note that she says "Some people use the remaining almond pulp for baking, but I am not that brave." Challenge accepted, Doni. I intended for these to be cookies but Aaron said they tasted more like scones, so scones they are. Thanks, Doni, for the inspiration!

Almond Maple Mini-Scones (makes ~20)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 Tbls. maple syrup* (use the real stuff, none of this corn syrup garbage)
2 Tbls. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 cup almond pulp from making almond milk
1/2 cup almond milk* (you just made it!)
1 Tbls. frozen butter
1/4 cup slivered almonds

*These scones have just a hint of sweetness. If you want them sweeter, trade some of the almond milk for more maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a large baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cloves using a fork until it looks fine and there are no clumps.

Just as an fyi, this is what almond pulp looks like.

In a small bowl combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, almond extract, and almond pulp.

Add the maple syrup mixture into the flour mixture using a fork until it looks like large crumbs.

(This is my favorite part). Using a zester or micro-plane grater, grate the frozen butter into the mix (how cool does it look?!). If you don't have a fine grater, chop it as small as you can. Mix using a fork until it looks like more large crumbs.

Finally, add in the almond milk, mixing with a fork until it is almost fully mixed.

Using your hands, press the mixture onto the pan about 1/4" thick. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top and press lightly.

Slice the dough into whatever shape you want your scones to be. I did rhombuses that are small enough to fit int the palm of your hand but do what you like.

Bake for 20 minutes. Immediately after the scones come out of the oven re-slice on the original lines you cut. Enjoy!

Banana Sesame Muffins

Happy new year! I took a short blogging hiatus to enjoy the holidays, including spending time with Aaron's family in sunny Florida. Which I am missing like woah now because it's flirting with negative temperatures here in Chicago at the moment. But we've got snow so I can't complain. Anyways, back to the recipe...right before we left for Florida we had a banana that was at prime baking ripeness and I wanted to use it before it went bad. Banana goes well with various nut flavors and thus I got the idea to use pair it with sesame, which is quite nutty for a seed. Veganness and bananas tend to make for quite a dense muffin but this one is surprisingly light and fluffy. Enjoy for a hearty breakfast or snack and keep the dustpan handy to clean up the sesame seeds that will inevitably end up everywhere.

Banana Sesame Muffins (makes 12)

1/2 cup sesame seeds, divided
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 Tbls. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste, find it near the peanut butter. Stir well before using!)
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly toast the sesame seeds while you prepare the rest of the batter.

In a small bowl combine the milks and vinegar. Let sit for a couple minutes, it will curdle and become like buttermilk.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl mash the banana and combine with the tahini and sugar.

Add in the milk mixture.

Stir in the flour mixture. Set aside 1 1/2 Tbls. of the sesame seeds and stir in the rest of them.

Line a muffin tray and divide the batter equally among the wells. Top with the remaining sesame seeds.

Bake for 25 minutes and cool on a wire rack.