Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 1 hour

The choice (unless medically necessary) to switch to a vegan lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to give up all that you hold dear. It just means you have to find new ways to prepare the things you love. That’s why I thought it might be a grand idea to create a day of comfort.

Yes, a whole day of eating the foods we loved as carnivorous beings, except, without the carnivorous aspects. Thusly, I’d like to present to you: Pancakes, Sandwiches and Non-Meat-Loaf. Enjoy!

Eggless, Yet Fluffy, Pancakes

Pancakes were the Saturday morning go to, along with bacon, but that’s another recipe altogether. So, having desired those fluffy disks it seemed prudent to locate a means in which to savor them once again, as a vegan. I think these should do the trick!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 T sugar

1 T baking powder

Fine salt

1 ½ cups unsweetened soy milk (I used plain, but vanilla might be interesting)

1/3 cup virgin coconut oil (melt it)

1 t pure vanilla extract

4 t vegetable oil

Nut butter, Maple syrup or jam for topping

Directions:

If you want to keep the pancakes warm while you’re cooking the next batch, then pre-heat your oven to 250°, otherwise don’t worry about it.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and 1 teaspoon (t) salt with a whisk. Get a second bowl and whisk the soy milk, vanilla and coconut oil (don’t freak out if it’s clumpy). Slowly fold the soy mixture into the flour (again, don’t wig out about lumps). Make sure it’s all combined.

Get out your griddle and turn it to a medium-low temp. Use the vegetable oil, about 1 teaspoon, to grease it up. Once it’s good and hot, pour some batter on. You should be able to get three pancakes on there if you shoot for ¼ cup mounds. Here’s where your cooking skills should come in. When the pancakes bubble and brown, flip ‘em.

As they reach a satisfactorily golden state, you can choose to place them in your pre-heated oven, or serve them with nut butter, jam or Maple syrup. Yum!

Un-Chicken Salad Sandwiches

No doubt the joy of pancakes has satisfied your longing for comfort foods. However, once that noon hour rolls around, you may find yourself wishing you could bite into a delish chicken salad sandwich. I know that’s something I miss! Here’s a wholesome way to feel the comfort without the guilt.

Ingredients:

12 ounces cubed tempeh

1 celery stalk (minced)

1 big dill pickle (also minced)

2 T bell peppers (preferably red, to make it pretty and what do you know, mince them too!)

2-3 minced scallions

1 T chopped parsley

½ cup soy mayonnaise, more or less, to taste

1 T your choice: yellow, or spicy brown, mustard

1 t lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper and salt (to taste)

Directions:

Boil some salt water and place the cubed tempeh in it. Then reduce the heat and simmer for somewhere around 12 minutes. Drain the tempeh and let it cool (maybe even stick it in the fridge to speed up the process).

Combine parsley, scallion, pepper, pickle and celery in a large bowl. Add the chopped tempeh, mayo, lemon, mustard, salt and pepper and fold it all together. Stick the completed mixture, covered, in the refrigerator so that the flavors will combine (at least 30 minutes).

This is delicious on wheat bread, a lavash wrap, sesame sandwiches rolls, or in a pita pocket and it will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.

Non-Meat-Loaf

No doubt you totally loved your lunch, and are thrilled that there’s enough left over to eat it again tomorrow. But, dinner will arrive in a few short hours and the possibility of eating another vegan-take on one of your old favorites is making your mouth water. Therefore, I bring you: non-meat-loaf, to satisfy that ketchup-py goodness you’ve got a hankering for.

Ingredients for loaf:

1 cup oats

1 diced small onion

½ of a large green pepper (dice it up)

2 cloves garlic

½ cup sunflower kernels

1 can (drained and rinsed) chickpeas

1 can (drained and rinsed) pinto beans

2 T chili powder

2 T (vegan) Worcestershire

Salt and pepper (to taste)

For the Glaze:

½ cup ketchup

2 T molasses

1 t chili powder

2 T mustard

¼ cup water

Directions:

Get the oven hot, 375°. Then take a small bowl and whisk all the glaze ingredients together. You can set that aside.

Use your food processor to chop the oats up really well, but not into a powder, so keep an eye on your pulsing. Then, add in the garlic, sunflower kernels, pepper and onion and pulse some more.

Hopefully you’ve got a large food processor because you’ll also be combining the peas, beans, chili powder, Worcestershire and salt and pepper until it’s nearly pureed. Leave some texture though; remember, you’re trying to get a meatloaf consistency.

Put your mix into a greased loaf pan, smooth it out so that it looks right and then pour the glaze over it.

Bake until the glaze is caramelized and the loaf looks good, about 30-35 minutes. Chow!

Comforted, the Day Comes to a Close:

With a full belly, you can now retire to your couch to watch whatever new-fangled nonsense they have on the boob-tube. Of course, you could start an intellectual revolution and refrain from encouraging the advertisers to fill your head with idiocies. Perhaps, along with your vegan lifestyle you can add in a book-reading agenda? Food for thought.

*Image from Flikr