Chickpea Flour Scramble - With Breakfast Taco Option...

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while now, but I’ve found myself preoccupied of late. Sorry for the long absence, but I hope this recipe will make up for it. So, on the 23rd of April I really wanted a hearty breakfast. I woke up ravenous and desiring a scramble of some sort. Unfortunately I didn’t have any tofu on hand, neither did I have any canned chickpeas to make Isa’s Chickpea Scramble. However, it occurred to me in a brief moment of culinary genius that if I could make a scramble with whole beans, why couldn’t I make a scramble with chickpea flour? I had heard of it done before, and didn’t think it could be all that hard. I imagined it was somewhat like making a socca - which I love - and so I set to the task of making a chickpea flour scramble.

I was very skeptical that it would work out, especially in the beginning when I realized that the chickpea flour mix just didn’t want to break apart. The whole thing clumped together and wasn’t cooking. I thought I was going to have to scrap the whole endeavor - and no doubt if you try this recipe you might just think the same thing at first, but trust me, it works! - lucky for me I have patience - which is what this recipe needs - I kept at it and was rewarded by one of the most brilliant breakfasts ever. In fact I loved it so much I ended up making it the next day for my husband and I, as he hadn’t been home when I made it the first time. Skeptical as he was, he loved it too, and we devoured this scramble in taco form, though in my opinion it’s also just as good without the tortillas and extras.

What I love about this recipe is you can make the chickpea flour taste like whatever you like, I kept it simple and kept a traditional scramble flavor but you can literally add anything. You can add any spices you can add any vegetables and it creates the perfect gluten-free, and soy free scramble alternative for those who have allergies or sensitivities. More and more people are avoiding soy and gluten but that doesn’t mean they have to cut scrambles out of their lives too.

Personally I think this scramble has a better texture and mouth feel then a tofu scramble. Don’t get me wrong I do love tofu scrambles but I prefer a slightly dryer scramble and tofu scrambles usually have a bit of wetness to them. Also I think that the chickpea scramble mimics eggs better then tofu as it gets firm, but also retains that spongy, springy, softness of an egg. So if you’re looking for a new scramble to try give this one a go. I know it probably sounds weird but trust me the reward is worth it, I know you’ll love it.

Chickpea Flour Scramble 

1 ½ C Chickpea Flour
2 ½ C Water
1 tsp Black Slat
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Turmeric
½ tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4 tsp Black Pepper

3 Green Onions diced
1 Ripe Tomato Diced

For Tacos 

Corn Tortillas
Shredded lettuce or Salad Mix
Vegan Cheese
Ketchup
Hot Sauce


- Lightly oil a medium sized pan, and heat over medium heat.

- In a bowl combine the chickpea flour through the black pepper and mix until thoroughly combined.

- Once the pan is hot add the chickpea flour mixture to the heated pan. Cover the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes until the top looks glossy and the edges look cooked.

This is how it'll look when you first pour it into the pan

- Using a metal spatula begin scrambling the half-cooked mixture as you would scrambled eggs. Begin by folding and flipping the mixture over. Let it cook another 2 minutes or so and begin flipping again. Bare in mind that the mixture will be sticky and it will only be partially cooked making it difficult to fold, and separate but keep at it. It does take some time but use your spatula to continue to break the mass into smaller and smaller chunks, flipping them and cutting them. It should take at least 10 minutes.

After about 10 minutes

- After 10 minutes the mixture should be a bit dryer and it should be easier to break into pieces. The pan may well be very dry at this time and you can add a touch more olive oil to the pan to help prevent sticking as well as to help crisp up the chickpea mix. About a tablespoon of oil should be more then enough. Continue to flip and break up the chickpea mixture into smaller pieces with your spatula. Another 10 minutes and you should have some small and medium sized chunks, it should by now resemble a more traditional tofu or egg scramble.

Another 10 Minutes 

- When you have the chickpea mix broken into the size chunks you prefer, and they’re nicely dried and cooked through add in your green onions and cook another minute.

We're almost there, it's time for green onions!

- Add in your tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes.

Just about done, add your tomatoes!

- Your scramble should be more then ready now, and you can eat it as is - as you would any traditional tofu scramble. You can eat it on toast, as a side with ketchup, or as I did in tacos.

The finished product, so worth the effort!

- For Chickpea Flour Scramble Tacos spoon some of the chickpea scramble into a corn tortilla, top with your favorite shredded vegan cheese, a handful of shredded lettuce or salad mix, and then drizzle with ketchup or hot sauce as you desire. It would probably even be good with salsa.

Tacos anyone?

ENJOY!!

Spanish Style Scramble with Piquillo Peppers and Spinach...

A few months ago I was in the grocery store and I just happened to stumble upon a large jar of Piquillo Peppers. I immediately became excited about this because I had a recipe for Stuffed Spanish Peppers that I really wanted to try out but it called for Piquillo’s and I couldn’t find them anywhere. Then suddenly here they were. The jar however was massive, and my recipe only called for six peppers. No matter - I bought the jar anyway and thought I’d figure out something to do with the rest another time.

Well strangely even though I was super excited to try out these Piquillo Peppers, once I got the jar home and put away in the pantry I kind of forgot about it. Until earlier this week anyway when I finally made that stuffed pepper recipe. Which was phenomenal by the way, the only problem was what was I going to do with the rest of the peppers?

Piquillo Peppers are a really delicious sweet chili, cultivated in Northern Spain,  though their flavor is more reminiscent of a roasted red bell pepper then a spicy chili. After they’re picked they’re roasted over embers which gives them a distinct smokey and even slightly spicy flavor. Though when I say spicy, think Paprika not Jalapeno. Once roasted they’re seeded, peeled and packed into jars or tins for sale, and if you can find a jar or a can anywhere definitely pick it up because they are divine. I could eat them plain straight out of the jar, they’re that delicious! Of course I didn’t want to just eat them all straight out of the jar, because what If I never find Piquillo peppers again? I wanted to take advantage of them while I had them, and so I started dreaming about Piquillo pepper combinations.

The first thing that popped into my head was spinach. Piquillo’s and spinach I thought would make excellent partners and then from there I began thinking about onions, and olives. Eventually I worked my way around to Piquillo’s for breakfast and naturally came to the conclusion that they’d be excellent in a scramble. Though Piquillo’s are typically stuffed and eaten as tapa’s in Spain I wanted to do something a little bit different, besides I was really in the mood for a scramble, and who doesn’t love a good hearty veggie stuffed scramble?

The Piquillo’s really add a unique flavor component to a scramble, making it slightly sweet and slightly smoky, combined with the earthy mushrooms, the leafy spinach, the cheesy nooch, and the tart olives it’s a winning combination. You can serve your scramble over toast, or for a really heavy and hearty breakfast do what I did and serve it with avocado toast. A super simple and delicious way to eat your avo. Mashed with lime juice, sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes spread nice and thick on a piece of crunchy toasty bread. YUM!

Spanish Style Scramble with Piquillo Peppers and Spinach 

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ Large Yellow Onion Diced
6 Garlic Cloves Minced
3/4 C Baby Bella Mushrooms Chopped
14oz Extra Firm Tofu drained and pressed
1/8 C Nutritional Yeast
½ tsp Thyme
1 tsp Black Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp turmeric
3oz Fresh baby Spinach
5 Jarred Piquillo Peppers Chopped
1/3 C Spanish Olives with Pimento sliced


*** Note -  To press the tofu either use a tofu press or place it between two sheets of paper towel and load some heavy objects on top of it. ***

- Heat olive oil in a medium sized pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute for 4 minutes until beginning to get soft. Add in the garlic and the mushrooms and saute another 4-5 minutes until fragrant and mushrooms are soft.

- Crumble the pressed tofu in to the pan, and add the Nutritional yeast, thyme, chili powder, paprika, turmeric, cumin, black salt and pepper. Stir until well combined and the tofu mixture begins to look the color of scrambled eggs.

- Add in the Spinach and Piquillo Peppers. Stir to incorporate then cover and cook until the spinach has wilted. 3-5 minutes. Fold in the olives and serve.

Enjoy!

Vegan Mofo #27- Joni’s Bacon and Egg Breakfast Burger...

Vegan Mofo #27- Joni’s Bacon and Egg Breakfast Burger 

The Book - The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet
The Author - Joni Marie Newman
The Recipe - Bacon and Egg Breakfast Burger
Page # 22
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 30-40 minutes

One morning a week or so ago I was looking for something relatively quick and easy to make for breakfast that would also be delicious and filling. If I could some how manage to find another recipe that would fit into Mofo as well as fit into the parameter of those guidelines so much the better. Half heartedly and not expecting to find anything I picked up my copy of The Very best Veggie Burgers in the world and gave it a flip- through. The picture of the Bacon Egg Breakfast Burger immediately caught my attention. I’d seen the photo before of course, I’ve owned the book nearly a year and flipped through it on many occasions, but something about seeing the picture on that morning had me craving a bacon egg burger.

The recipe is pretty simple. The dough comes together fast and then it needs to rest for fifteen minutes which is no big deal. During that time if you wish you can saute up some onions and peppers as suggested in the book, which is what I did. Once the dough has rested you form it into patties and fry on each side until nice and golden, then you serve on a toasted bun or bagel - bagel in my case, and serve with fixin’s of your choice. I decided to give my bacon egg breakfast burgers a bit of a Mexicali feel and took the suggestion of adding salsa.

I smeared one half of the bagel with vegan mayo, the other half with salsa, added a patty topped it with sauteed peppers and onions then finished it with spinach. Delicious! It definitely had the texture of and egg burger, though I thought the bacon flavor was a bit mild, and it could have used a bit more black salt in my opinion, but with the toppings it all came together really well, and my husband and I devoured these morsels.

The one thing I really liked about these was that they were tofu based rather then gluten-based. They’re simple to make with a block of tofu, all purpose flour, vegan bacon bits - I used home made ones - onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, sea salt - black salt in my case - turmeric and that’s it. Only a quarter cup of bacon bits is used although next time I might be tempted to use a third cup instead.  Over all though these were a really surprising and delicious breakfast, and I think a little avocado would go pretty well with them too!