Recipe: Red Lentil Breakfast Pudding

I know it sounds a little crazy - who eats red lentils for breakfast? I certainly haven't! I forget who suggested doing this last night, but what started out as a simple experiment turned into a delicious morning treat that everyone loved.

This recipe is so lovely that I can't wait to experiment some more with it. Next time I want to try cooking the lentils with grated carrots for more sweetness and an added nutritional punch, and maybe some cardamom if I can get my hands on some.

//Addendum 5/14/2013: We're working on cleaning up our eating, and so consuming no added oils. I made red lentil pudding this week without the coconut milk/cashews (used soy milk instead) and without the coconut oil, and it was just as tasty!//

Red Lentil Breakfast Pudding

Makes 4 generous servings

Soaking raw cashews in advance will help them blend up smoother and faster, but if you don't have time for this (or forgot!), they'll just need to blend a little bit longer. if you don't have cashews on hand, you can replace cashews with coconut milk in this recipe. See my note about soaking lentils below.

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups red lentils (preferably soaked in advance), rinsed*
1/2 cup raw cashews (preferably soaked in advance), or 1 cup of coconut milk (omit or use soy/almond milk for a low-fat version)
3 Tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional)
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1-2 Tablespoons coconut flour (optional)
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or Earth Balance (omit for low-fat version)
salt to taste

 

Directions

Add red lentils, flax, raisins, and 3 cups of water to a large pot or dutch oven and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once the lentils begin simmer, add the coriander and a pinch of salt. Lower heat slightly to maintain a slow simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until lentils break down and the pudding begins to thicken.

In the meantime, blend 1/2 cup of cashews and 1/2-3/4 cup water in a blender until they form a smooth cream (cashew cream). This may take several minutes depending on the strength of your blender and if you've soaked your cashews in advance.

Once smooth, add the cashew cream to the red lentils, which should be done cooking by this time and stir to incorporate. If your pudding seems on the thin side, add 1-2 Tablespoons of coconut flour and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Take the pudding off of the heat. Stir in maple syrup and coconut oil or earth balance. Let pudding rest for five minutes and serve, drizzling more maple syrup over the top if desired.

Regular Version: 450 Calories, 14 grams of fat, and 23 grams of protein per serving. Good source of calcium, vitamin C, and Iron (39%). 


*A note on this recipe: Ian and I are huge proponents of soaking grains, nuts, and legumes with a little bit of acid (we favor lemon juice or apple cider vinegar). Soaking makes for shorter cooking times, but more importantly it breaks down the phytic acid and lectins in foods that make it harder to both digest the foods and get all of the nutrients they have to offer. So what are the benefits of soaking? Easier to digest (less gas!) and greater vitamin and mineral absorption. It also improves the texture of legumes as they cook. As we used soaked lentils, the cooking times may vary if you use grains that haven't soaked. I haven't posted a soaking 101 yet, but this website has!

Recipe: Creamy Green Smoothie

I get headaches. Lots of headaches. Most of them are pretty low-grade, but I also get migraines on a regular basis. Someone suggested that I try trace minerals as a way to prevent headaches and shorten their length. I'm willing to try pretty much anything at this point, so I purchased a three-month supply (with only the happiest and best of thoughts).

I'm on the fourth day of adding trace minerals to my day... and no headache today (I've had a headache almost consistently from Thanksgiving). I'm optimistic. In full disclosure, I've also started (and had my dosage upped) a prescription to try to break the headaches, so it could be that as well, or the combination of the two. I'm also trying to be really intentional about drinking lots of water, though this hasn't seemed to make any difference in the past.

The trace minerals are a little disgusting-tasting. I tried adding them to water, but it made it taste like really strong well water. No bueno.

So I've been making daily smoothies to put by drops in. I thought tonight's was particularly yummy and tangy, and so I'm sharing. Granted, as I parsed out the calories in this bad boy, it would be a much better breakfast smoothie, but it seemed like a better nutritional choice than the coconut sorbet in the freezer, so we'll call it a win-win.


Creamy Green Smoothie
One large or two small servings. You can use a whole avocado if you want to, just be aware they are quite calorie-laden.

1/2 avocado
2 kiwis, peeled
1/4 cup chopped pineapple (frozen, preferably)
1/3 cup chopped mango (frozen, preferably)
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup unsweetened soy, almond, or coconut milk

Pop everything in your blender, adding water as needed until you've reached your desired consistency. If you don't have frozen fruit, you may want to add some ice as well.

Nutritional Information (for 1 serving):
380 Calories
18 grams of fat
8.4 grams of protein
Good source of dietary fiber and iron, and very high in Vitamin C

Recipe: Green Breakfast Smoothie

This is a breakfast favorite that I really ought to make more often. Much healthier than the bagels and toffuti cream cheese we've been obsessed with lately.

Green Breakfast Smoothie

Originally posted on This, That, and the Other
 

Blend the following:
1 sliced banana (could be frozen)
1 apple, cored and in large chunks
1 1/2 cups chopped kale (stems removed)
1/4 cup soymilk, coconut milk, or almond milk
3/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
Dash of salt (optional)
10-12 ice cubes

This is seriously delicious and an excellent way to start the day. Serves two!

About 200 calories per serving, 4 grams of protein and lots of vitamins and nutrients to get you going.

Variation: Peanut Butter Green Smoothie
Add a 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter for some extra protein.  

Recipe: Mocha Java Cake

I requested and received a copy of Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body & Soul by Julie Hasson when we first returned to New York City a few weeks ago. This cookbook has some seriously yummy recipes, and we've had a whole lot of fun cooking out of it.

Ian's favorite recipe so far is the Mocha Java Cake. I made it for our breakfasts last week (it's technically in the 'Breakfast' section, so we felt justified eating this in the morning), and currently have another loaf in the oven for a potluck brunch we're attending today.

I didn't have french roast or espresso coffee, so I ground the darkest blend I had, as finely as I could. I also don't have canola or vegetable oil in the house, so both times I've made this, I've subbed 1/2 cup coconut oil, and 1/2 cup applesauce for the oil. 

Mocha Java Cake
From Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons soymilk, heated to steaming and kept warm
1/4 cup finely ground espresso or French Roast coffee
2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons soy flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 5-inch metal loaf pan with parchment paper and grease well with vegetable shortening. This cake will have a tendency to stick if not greased and lined well.

In a small bowl, whisk together the soymilk, espresso, and instant coffee until smooth. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, soy flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, mixing well.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar canola oil, and vanilla, whisking until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, alternating with the milk mixture, stirring just until mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the top of cake is puffed with a crack down the center, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and remove to a rack to cool to room temperature.
 

Recipe: Coconut Banana Scones

I love scones. There is nothing quite like a scone on a cool, stormy morning. To sit and sip tea, while eating a flaky, slightly-sweet pastry is a little blissful.

I made my first batch of vegan scones about a week ago, based on a mostly-healthy blackberry scone recipe I enjoyed awhile back. They didn't turn out great. It was probably because I wanted to experiment with not using an egg replacer (EnerG), and so replaced my eggs with applesauce and almond yogurt. The scones were too moist, and the texture was all wrong. We still ate them, of course, but it wasn't a success. I will probably try again with EnerG (sigh), who knows.

When I woke up this morning, it seemed like a good time to try again. Ian was sleeping in, so I put Felicity in the kitchen with me (to play in a box, I'm not going to lie), and got to work. I'm pretty proud of what I came up with.

Coconut Banana Scones
These scones have a nice texture with small pieces of coconut throughout. If you would like a more consistent texture, you could mix the dry ingredients in a food processor, and process in the coconut oil, and the banana mixture. You would just need to be very careful to not overmix.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2  tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)
1/4 cup sucanat (can be eliminated if you prefer more of lightly sweetened scone)
1/4 cup coconut oil, in solid form
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup coconut milk

Heat oven to 375F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper

Combine the flours, salt, baking powder, coconut flakes, and sugar (if using). Stir in coconut oil until mixture forms into small crumbs.

Whisk the mashed bananas and coconut milk until well blended. It is okay if your mixture has some banana chunks. Pour this into the dry mix, stirring until just blended.

Drop dough onto well-floured surface and shape into a disk about 1 inch high, 9 inches round. Slice into triangles (batter will be very loose, so this may be a little difficult), and slide them carefully onto your prepared pan.

Alternatively, you could just drop the dough onto your prepared sheet, I imagine about 1/3 cup of batter would be about right (?).

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Enjoy!