How to Cook Tofu // Easy & Oil-Free

Vegetarian and Vegan Meal Planning Ideas PLUS ... Dairy Free Muffin Recipe

By Rebecca Bennett

In a vegan or vegetarian diet, it may take time to explore new foods and develop some form of routine to it. There are many different products on the market today for vegans and vegetarians to choose from - keep experimenting to find your or your families personal preferences and tastes.

You should be-able to find quite a good amount of vegetarian and vegan products at supermarkets, natural health food stores and co-ops.

When baking, you can use substitutes like egg replacers, cornstarch or bananas to replace eggs.

Soy, rice and nut milks are great replacements for cow's milk. Plus there are many other dairy alternatives around like: vegan cheese, yoghurts, frozen non-dairy ice creams, and cream cheeses. These are all easily sourced through health stores or supermarkets worldwide.

If you are stuck for ideas on some quick easy menu ideas, here are some sample meal menu items for you to consider:

** Breakfast

- Pancakes

- Soy Yoghurts

- Fruit Smoothies

- Wholemeal Toast or Cereals

** Lunch/Dinner

- Veggie Mock Meat and salad sandwich

- Veggie Sausages or hot dogs

- Veggie or Soy Burger

- Simple Prepared Salads

- Tofu Kebabs or Wraps

- Veggie Fried Rice

- Tomato & Pasta Bake

- Soup or Curry Vegetables

- Veggie Stir fry with Tofu, tempeh, or seitan

- Baked Vegetables with Rosemary & Garlic Herbs

** Snacks /Dessert

- Cookies

- Cake

- Non-Dairy Ice Cream

- Dried Fruits & Nuts

- Fresh Fruits

- Chickpeas

- Popcorn

- Pretzels

- Soy or Veggie Crisps or Chips

- Vegan Pies

So as you can see there are an abundance of tasty foods on offer for vegetarians of all kinds, the tastes and wonders of one's food choices is only limited by one's own imagination.

If have you ever wondered how vegetarians, vegans or people just wishing to avoid dairy products make delicious tasting and looking cakes and sweets without much effort at all?

Unless you are a vegetarian or 100% animal free cooker, chances are that you have never cooked without animal ingredients like eggs and dairy. In fact, if you don't know any vegetarians personally you might not even be aware that you can cook without any animal by-products like, eggs and dairy.

Vegetarians are able to maintain a very healthy diet eating any number of traditional meals or sweets minus animal by-products.

And you don't have to be a vegetarian to benefit from such things, even if you'd just like to cut down on animal by-products for the many health benefits involved or if you are lactose intolerant, have vegetarian friends you'd like to cook for or are trying to avoid cholesterol . . . you don't have to feel you will miss out on all those wonderful sweets and treats you feel you can't live without. Because cooking minus animal by-products is so simple and easy you won't believe it until you experience it for yourself.

So I urge you to try the below recipe for yourself and then decide if vegetarians just eat rabbit food or not. You might be surprised. And you might even be shocked that you won't even notice these muffins are not cooked using any eggs or diary.

** Dairy Free Choc Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup coconut

1 and 1/2 cups flour

3 Tbsp cocoa or carob powder

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 190C.

2. Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl until blended through.

3. Sift the remaining ingredients and blend in bowl until just combined.

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Servings: 6 large muffins or 12 smaller muffins

If you are not a vegetarian but are considering becoming one don't let the fear of eating egg or diary free stop you. If you already are a vegetarian or don't eat dairy or eggs for other reasons, and have not tried cooking sweets, you might want to try it. It's so simple and easy if you know how and have access to proven recipes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/377121

Simple Vegan Pancakes Recipe

By Jason Frazer

So you've recently become vegan, and you don't know what to have for breakfast. Cereal is out of the question because of milk, and you don't feel like having toast. How about some delicious, easy to make, vegan pancakes! Yes it is possible to make delicious pancakes without the need for milk or eggs. This recipe makes use of soy milk in their place, and it makes for the perfect pancake batter.

Prep Time: Approx 5 minutes.
Cook Time: 10 minutes (Depending on how large your pancakes are!)
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of baking powder
1 cup of soy milk
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 cup of white flour
A pinch of salt

How To Cook:

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix until all are combined.

Next, mix in the soy milk and oil and beat until the batter has a nice smooth texture.

Take about 1/4 of a cup of batter at a time, and put onto a well greased frying pan, or a oiled griddle. Cook on one side until you see bubbles come to the surface, then flip the pancake and cook the other side for around 2 minutes. The total cooking time for a good pancake should be around 5 minutes.

If you prefer to make pikelets, pour the batter into the pan about the size of a hockey puck. If should only take a minute each side for it to be cooked.

Other Tips:

You can swap out the sugar for another natural sweetener. Not all vegans eat honey, but if you are one of them, honey is naturally sweet. Agave syrup is another natural sweetener that is pretty common to use in baking.

If you have soy allergies, this recipe works great with almond or rice milk. You can use coconut milk but the pancakes will taste like coconut. It really isn't subtle at all.

If you really want a good protein hit for breakfast, you can use hemp milk instead! Hemp milk usually has a huge amount of protein in it, even more than fortified soy milk. But it can have a bit of an after taste. I really only recommend this if you have tried hemp milk before.

Swap out the flour for gluten free flour (preferably organic) for a gluten free pancake.

Nutritional Facts:
Note this is if you follow the recipe to a tee!

Total Calories: 150
Total Fat: 5.6g
Saturated Fat: Approx 1g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sugar: 2.5g
Protein: 3.7g
Calcium: 22% of RDI
Iron: 8% of RDI

Going vegan can be a tough road at first, but it only gets easier with time. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8179733

Vegan Aubergine and Leek Lasagne

By Heloise Wright

Time From Cupboard to Plate: Approximately one hour

Serves: Four Portions

Ingredients:

- Lasagna Sheets
- About eight Aubergine
- One large sized Leeks
- Three medium sized Red Pepper
- One large sized Olive Oil
- As required

Sauce:

- Plain Flour Two tablespoons
- Olive Oil Three tablespoons
- Mustard Powder One teaspoon (alternatively nutmeg can used) 
- Soya Milk 240ml (may need more to thin sauce)

Recipe:

Slice the red pepper and lightly roast in a little oil - remove when browning.

To make the "cheese" sauce, put three tablespoons of oil in a pan and heat over a low heat. When starts to bubble add flour and mustard (or nutmeg), mix well to form a paste like consistency. Add a little more oil if needed. Then add soya milk slowly a bit at a time, stirring constantly. Cook over a medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly until the sauce is smooth and creamy. If sauce becomes too thick add a little extra soya milk. It is better sauce is too thick than too thin as more soya milk can always be added when cool.

Thinly slice the leeks and lightly fry them in oil for about 5 minutes. Slice the aubergine. Then in an ovenproof dish layer the aubergine, leeks, a little sauce, the lasagne sheets and finally full layer of sauce. Repeat as desired for the dish but usually twice. Make sure the top sauce layer is nice and thick. For added crunch try a thin layer of golden breadcrumbs on top. Cook in the oven at 190ºC for about 30 minutes or until lasagne sheets are cooked.

Serving:

Serve with your favourite vegetables and some boiled potatoes. If you have left over fried leeks, try adding some mushrooms and garlic and lightly frying together to serve on the side. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4105182

Vegan Cheesecake - Baked New York Style

By Laurinda Erasmus

Baking without eggs, butter (or margarine) and sugar can sometimes be a real challenge. However, tofu makes a great substitute for heavy, set cream and tapioca flour binds the ingredients together the way eggs would. Sugar can be replaced with a fruit syrup, or sometimes just fruit pulp which in most cases would be sweet enough.

Before I became vegan, I made my usual baked cheesecake recipe fairly often and got used (of course) to that taste. However, when I re-wrote the recipe with healthier vegan alternatives, my family and I could not believe how exactly similar in taste and texture it was. The tofu creates the same slightly dry, crumbly baked result as the traditional version, but still with the same creamy mouth-feel, sweetness and lemon flavour. I now sometimes make use of the same basic recipe, but change it into a chocolate or even strawberry version. Have fun experimenting!

Pastry base:

5 tbsp finely ground toasted, unsalted cashew nuts
1 tbsp whole meal spelt flour / oat flour / buckwheat flour
2 tsp vanilla-infused grape-seed oil / walnut oil
1 tsp light agave syrup

Filling:

1 cup soy milk
2 tsp lemon juice / orange juice / apple cider vinegar
1 lemon, juice
2 cups firm tofu, drained and patted (very) dry, chopped
1 tbsp vanilla-infused grape-seed oil / walnut oil
6 tbsp light agave syrup
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp tapioca flour
20 ml corn starch

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (360°F).
2. Make the pastry by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. It will be a firm, heavy mixture. Line the bottom of a 1 L round pie dish with the pastry and then oil the sides (or use a silicone baking dish). Press the pastry down firmly. Leave to rest in the refrigerator.
3. Thicken the soy milk by stirring in the juice (or vinegar). It will thicken immediately. Set aside.
4. If you have a food processor, fit the juicing part and squeeze out the lemon juice; or use a fork. Change to the plastic S-blade. Add the tofu, oil, syrup, zest and vanilla essence. Process until floppy. Sprinkle over the flours and pour over the thickened soy milk. Process until completely smooth. Pour the tofu mixture into the baking dish onto the pastry.
5. Place on a shelf just below the middle in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, uncovered. Reduce the temperature to 160°C (320°F)and bake a further 15 minutes. Lightly drape a sheet of tin foil over the top if the cheesecake browns too much.
6. Remove from the oven and cool completely. The filling will become firmer.
7. Decorate with lemon and lime zest. Cut into slices, or lift the cake from the mould before cutting.

Serves 8.

Cook's tip:

A cheesecake forms large cracks when the outside of the batter has firmed into a thin skin and the inner filling continues to expand with the heat. One can decrease this effect by placing a bowl of water on a lower shelf to create steam in the oven. The cracks can always be concealed by serving the cheesecake with slices of fruit on top. Or, simply don't worry about it - it still tastes delicious! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6437236