Apple Cinnamon-Kissed Vegan Gluten-Free Waffles

Make yourself feel better about having a desserty breakfast: put something fresh and crunchy on the plate!

I’ve been a bad, bad bloggeuse. Very neglectful and very uninspired. Je suis désolée. I now have a profound respect for those hardworking bloggers that come home from their nine-to-fives and tirelessly churn out innovative and delicious recipes, and then even have time to write about it!

Not I. I am having a hard time even finding the energy to make a meal that is passable. Which is why I have been raiding the not-so-distant archives of The Keen Kitchen to remember my tried and true favourites, like my Creamy Coconut Chickpea Curry. Weeknight yums.

Well, inspiration finally struck this morning when I decided to use my new-to-me waffle maker. My inner waffle monster has wanted one for a really long time. Waffles on a whim? Stupendous!

This is my first foray into the vegan gluten-free waffle world. I have to admit, I was filled with trepidation and have been putting off making waffles for a good month. So, to all you waffle-phobes out there, give it a try! These are no more complicated than your average vegan gluten-free pancakes (which are admittedly kind of complicated by nature), and they have super fun maple syrup-holding crannies.  Plus, they cook themselves in the waffle iron. No flipping required. Take that, pancakes!

Waffles smugly demonstrating their superior maple syrup-holding pockets.

These waffles contain apple and cinnamon, although not overwhelmingly so. They also are a nice balance of hearty and fluffy. These days, when I make pancakes or waffles, I like to feel like I’m getting some fibre, so I always include buckwheat flour. Special thanks to Iris at The Daily Dietribe. I followed her basic waffle guide, and so can you! This is the kind of recipe that you can play around with to suit your tastes.

Ingredients:

Dry

2/3 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

1/3 cup millet flour

3/4 cup tapioca starch

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

Wet

1/2 cup fresh apple juice

1 cup soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Preheat (plug in) waffle iron.

Preheat oven to 200°.

In a medium bowl, whisk all dry ingredients.

In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together all wet ingredients.

Whisk wet into dry until just mixed.

Grease waffle iron before cooking each waffle. I used my silicone brush to spread a small amount of coconut oil onto the griddle.

Pour on enough batter to cover the griddle. My waffle iron could handle around 2/3 cup batter each time.

Cook waffle until done.

Gently open waffle iron and loosen the edges of the waffle. I used a knife.

Keep waffles warm in the oven while you make the rest. If you put them directly onto the oven rack, they will stay nice and crisp. If you put them on a plate, they will get sad and soggy.

Serve with vegan margarine and real maple syrup!

This recipe made 8 small waffles. Two of us finished them all, but this recipe could potentially serve 3 or 4, I suppose. 

 

‘Orange You Glad It’s Vegan’ Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Spicy. Creamy. Vegan.

Cheesy title. Groan. I am a little too giddy for my own good, for it has been a long while since I have posted a recipe! Vacation, shift work, and lack of enthusiasm are all to blame. The good news is I just got the fantastic day job I’ve been yearning for (hi, new coworkers!), and am pretty excited to come home and cook every evening after work. Oh, I also have inherited a new kitty. He is currently perched right beside me and is purring his little heart out. Love it.

Anyhow, enough about me! Let’s get to the good stuff. Like soup. My Oma had a pretty delicious sounding soup recipe kicking around and I snagged a photocopy of it. It is called “Asian Pumpkin Soup.” I have no idea where she got it, so I can’t really give anyone credit for it. I changed the ingredients quite a lot, though, as I had to omit the curry powder, cashews and whipping cream. Jack is allergic to curry powder that has turmeric in it, so I get my curry fix with thai curry paste.

I am pretty pleased with how this soup turned out. It is velvety and has a slightly sweet and tangy flavour thanks to unlikely (to me) suspects orange juice and banana. It’s also pretty spicy, so please reduce the curry paste and jalapeño if you don’t want that extra kick! Also, be careful. As I was seeding the jalapeño, some of its juice squirted into my eye. It hurt  a lot and I started panicking, thinking it would just keep hurting more. I started picturing myself with a horribly red, burnt eyeball. I started wondering how I would ever work in a place where I have to deal with the public now that I was horribly disfigured. Um, the burning stopped like five minutes later and my eye is totally fine. But please, be careful.

I really wanted to serve this with latkes for some reason. It seemed like a harvest-y combo. Has anyone ever made sweet potato latkes?

Creamy Curried Pumpkin Soup: Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil (or other mild-tasting oil)

1 onion, diced

1 jalapeño, seeded and minced

1 walnut-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1 banana, sliced in rounds

1 tbsp red thai curry paste (use less if your paste is really spicy. Mine isn’t crazy hot. Or substitute 2 tbsp regular curry powder.)

4 cups water

2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

2 tsp salt

1 large (796 mL)  can pure pumpkin

1 (400 mL) can coconut milk

200 mL orange juice

fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Heat coconut oil on medium heat.

Add onion, jalapeño and ginger. Sauté for around 6 minutes.

Add banana and curry paste and stir until the curry coats everything evenly.

Add water, bouillon and canned pumpkin. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Take pot off heat and blend soup with a hand blender.

Stir in orange juice, coconut milk and salt. Taste for salt and add more if you like.

Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Makes a good-sized pot of soup.