Think there is only butter? Oh just wait until you experience the many, delicious types of butter.

Butter used to be persona non grata in the nutrition world, but since there has been a shift away from low-fat and instead the focus has been on the quality of the fat, recent health studies have shown that lower saturated fats in the diet may not lead to better cardiovascular health. In fact, butter may be a healthier fat choice than some of the frankenfood alternatives out there in the food aisles. Butter is a whole food, after all,  and it can and should be eaten as part of a healthy diet. Moderation, as with many foods, is the key, but first, you need to know about the different types of butter.

If you are new to butter or returning to eating butter, you may not realize that there are different types of butter available in the market. You may even find it confusing to know which one you should use for cooking, eating, and baking. Not only can you be missing out on some of the most amazing different types of butter, but using the wrong butter can lead to costly mistakes, like using the wrong butter in a recipe.

Learn about some of the tastiest different types of butter and how best to use them below.

7 Different Types of Butter

1. Grass-Fed Butter – Grass-fed butter is made from cream that comes from cows that have been allowed to graze naturally on grass. Grass-fed butter is not only better for cows; cows were not designed to grains and the other stuff in feed, but it has a distinctly fresher flavor than conventional butter. Worth the extra money.

2. Salted – Salted butter is also known as regular, conventional, or American-style butter. It is made with at least 80 percent butter fat and made from pasteurized milk. Salted butter is known as a finishing butter, or a butter that would taste great on toast and pancakes. Salt is added to temper the sweetness of the cream and to make miracles come true in your mouth.

3. Unsalted – This the same as regular salted butter, just with no salt. Unsalted butter works better in baked goods, sauces, and dishes that you don’t want to end up being too salty. After all, you can add your own salt to taste.

4. European Butter – European-style butter is the stuff of dreams. It has much less moisture content (coming in with 82-86 percent butter fat) and is much more dense as a result than American-style butter. It is also cultured, or fermented, which gives it a lovely tanginess. Butter can vary by country, so Irish, French, and German butter are all different from each other and from American-style butter. European-style butter works really well in baked goods because of the low moisture content.

5. Ghee – Ghee is clarified butter, or butter that has been rendered to remove the milk solids and water leaving just the liquid gold of butter fat. Used in Indian and Southeast Asian cuisine, ghee has a higher smoke point and is more shelf-stable–it can even be stored on the counter. Like coconut oil, if left out of the fridge ghee may become liquid at room temperature (depending on the room temperature) and will solidify when stored in the fridge.

6. Spreadable Butter – A combination of regular butter and vegetable oils, like olive oil, this butter product maintains a soft texture even when refrigerated making it ideal for spreading. Do make sure to read the label to check you aren’t buying something with other ingredients or fillers. Spreadable butter with olive oil can be a good compromise between taste and watching calories from fat. Spreadable butter is not recommended for baking.

7. Clotted Cream – Clotted cream is similar to butter, but it is made differently so that clots of cream develop, rise to the top, and are separated. It is part of a traditional cream tea in England and tastes most delicious when served on scones along with some jam.

Related on EcoSalon

The 3 Best Vegan Butters (Plus 3 Recipes!) for Your Next Grilled Corn on the Cob
Foodie Underground: Everything in Moderation
Did I Just Spend $8 on Butter?

Butter image via Shutterstock

The post 7 of the Best Types of Butter You Probably Haven’t Tried (Yet!) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Pair your grilled summer corn on the cob recipe with one of these vegan butters.

What’s corn on the cob without a rub of garlic, a touch of butter, and a dash of sea salt? For vegans, the butter part can get a bit iffy. However, the buttery taste is a crucial part of the experience and vegans shouldn’t miss out on it either. Luckily, they don’t have to. Here are 3 tried-and-true vegan butter brands and 3 deliciously animal-friendly butter recipes for you to slather on your cob without the afterthought.

3 Vegan Butter Brands

When it comes to making something as sensitive as butter, which demands a particular taste, texture, and appearance, I’d rather leave it to the pros. The following three brands are my favorite so far and pair perfectly with grilled corn on the cob!

1. Earth Balance

Earth Balance is the go-to vegan butter in the vegan world. It tastes just like butter and has the texture and aroma to match. For corn on the cob, I prefer the Original Buttery Spread version, which is made from a combination of expeller-pressed palm fruit, canola, soybean, flax, and olive oils.

2. Miyoko’s Kitchen

I love the packaging of this butter – so sophisticated! This company’s cultured vegan butter is the purest version of vegan butter I’ve seen yet. It’s made with organic coconut oil, organic cashews, organic safflower oil, organic sunflower oil, soy lecithin, sea salt, and cultures. It also melts, cooks, bakes, spreads, and tastes just like butter. Win-win in my book!

3. Nutiva

Nutiva is known for its superfood selection, but it also boasts a coconut oil with a buttery taste! It’s made from organic expeller-pressed coconut oil, organic vegan buttery flavor, and organic unrefined red palm oil. It spreads and melts a lot like regular butter.

3 Homemade Vegan Butter Recipes

If you are feeling more creative, try your hand at making a homemade version of vegan butter. The recipes are plain, but consider mixing in any of the following combinations for extra oomph and a more satisfying corn on the cob experience.

1. Go-To Vegan Butter Substitute

Fork & Bean’s makes an incredibly simple vegan butter recipe that is nut-free, soy-free, and looks and feels so much like regular butter. The recipe is based in coconut oil, non-dairy milk, canola oil, sea salt, and liquid lecithin. Simple as that!

2. Planet Pusherne’s Vegan Aquafaba Butter

Aqua…what? Aquafaba is the name given to bean juice. It is the thick substance you generally pour out when draining a can of beans. Aquafaba is a popular substitute for eggs in vegan dishes. Now, it can make butter too! This recipe from Planet Pusherne combines chickpea water with coconut oil, rapeseed oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt.

3. One Green Planet’s Vegan Butter (Nut-Based)

This vegan butter is based in raw cashews, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, sunflower lecithin, canola oil, and guar gum. Because it is based in cashews, it has a markedly thicker feel than the other two homemade butters on this list. It spreads well and stores in the freezer for up to a year!

Compound Butter Ideas

Corn on the cob is delicious with just a pat of butter and a dash of salt, but it is elevated in status with the addition of spices and herbs. Butter acts as a great vessel for whatever herbs you’d like to add onto your cob. Simply mix them in your vegan butter and lather your corn up! The following 6 combinations are inspiration for your next compound vegan butter.

1. Shiitake + Tarragon
2. Fennel Pollen + Honey
3. Sweet Paprika + Chipotle
4. Sumac + Mint
5. Basil + Pest
6. Garlic + Lemon Zest

Related on EcoSalon
Sweet Corn Recipe with Miso Butter and Scallions
Sunday Recipe: Harvest Season Fruit Butter
20 Unusual Ways to Use Nutritional Yeast

Corn on the Cob with Shutterstock

The post The 3 Best Vegan Butters (Plus 3 Recipes!) for Your Next Grilled Corn on the Cob appeared first on EcoSalon.

If you are shunning butter and looking for an oil to use for a variety of different cooking purposes as well as to benefit from healthy fats, the following list will serve you well.

I list three main oils as well as a few others that are incredibly versatile, common and cover all your fatty needs. While I am a personal fan of butter, I find that its cooking temperature is quite low and I have trouble cooking certain dishes in the manner I desire. Oil generally has a higher cooking temperature and thus stretches further than butter in the kitchen. Below are great options that keep you satisfied in the kitchen and still fuel your body with healthy fats.

Oils are generally a better alternative to butter for those trying to avoid saturated fats. However, like anything in life: everything in moderation!

These delicious oils uses stretch far and complement just about any dish you have in mind. Keep your portion sizes reasonable and use just enough oil to get the job done without overdoing it. You’ll know the line when you cross it. With that said, enjoy!

Olive Oil 

Olive oil is one of the most versatile of oils. In its unrefined, raw form, olive oil is rich in mono-unsaturated fats and phytochemicals. When put up against other fats, extra-virgin olive oil also showed to give individuals a higher sense of fullness. Olive oil is best consumed cold-pressed. This process creates little heat and thus maintains the nutritional integrity of the oil. That means you should avoid “pure olive oil,” “light olive oil,” or simple “olive oil” labels for maximum flavor and nutrition, at least when eating it cold. If you are heating the oil, a pure variation is enough, as using a high-quality oil wouldn’t make much of a difference since the heat will biochemically compromise its nutritional composition anyway.

Best when: raw or lightly cooked.

Canola Oil

This oil is a great source of essential fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which your body cannot make on its own. Canola oil is great for cooking and can resist heat very well. Omega-6 fatty acids are harder to come by, and striking a proper balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is a key to keeping health in check.

Best when: cooking with high heat, saving money

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has been written about extensively these days, and for good reason. Coconut is high in saturated fat, but not that kind that will clog your arteries and negatively affect your health. In fact, coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides that are shorter than those found in animal fats. Because of this, your body can metabolize them efficiently and not store them in the body. Other benefits are on account of its lauric, caprylic and capric acid content. Lauric acid fights off bacteria and viruses. Caprylic acid contributes to healthy digestion and balances gut bacteria. Capric acid has anti-microbial and anti-viral properties.

Best when: replacing butter, cooking with high heat, raw, looking for a unique aftertaste

Other Oils

Take your cooking to the next level by using any of the following oils: safflower, avocado, sesame, sunflower, grape seed, and almond oil. These alternative vegetable oils are high in polyunsaturated fats, which can lower blood cholesterol levels and risk of heart disease. They may be more expensive, but they are always fun to work with now and then.

Best when: splurging money, looking for a fun alternative

Related on EcoSalon

20 Unusual Uses for Olive Oil

Is Coconut Oil Good for Your Skin or Just a Pain in Your Pores?

20 Foods to Banish Belly Fat

Photo Credit: horaceko

The post Healthy Fats: A Guide to Smart Cooking Oil Choices appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnHow does a foodie decide what to eat and what not to eat?

It was early in the morning, NPR was on, and my mother and I were sitting at my kitchen table drinking tea. An interview came on the radio with an executive of a certain well known specialty food chain that prides itself on healthy foods. He was describing his diet, which was something along the lines of vegan paired with an acronym that described a diet with no oil, low salt and no refined foods. I looked at my mother and we both rolled our eyes.

Before you judge me for judging someone else and their dietary choices let me say this: I am very conscious about what I eat, and so is my mother. I live in one of those gluten free, often vegan, a little bit of lamb tagine here and there kind of worlds. If I’m in a French bakery you can be sure that I will order a croissant, and pronounce it correctly. It has taken a long time, but I know what works best for my body. You know what else works best for my body: not existing in a world of black and white. Celebrating living. Call it French, call it European, whatever it is, it’s about enjoying what’s in front of you, the company that you’re with and the moment that you’re in.

We cut things out, we add them in. One week it’s no white flour the next it’s salt. If we’re lucky enough to be in a place where we can think about what we eat, the routine becomes about determining what works and what doesn’t work for us. But how good are we at really doing that? Temptation sets in and we can’t help but each for that flour/butter/sugar/egg concoction while a little voice in our head tells us that we should know better.

We go on our quinoa rampages, but even that isn’t great. Moral of the story: there is no right or wrong way to eat. There is merely identifying what works well for you, both physically and emotionally, and incorporating that into your daily routine, while at the same time maintaining a certain level of social grace.

Here’s the real problem: We live in a society where mass media tells us we have to look one way and fast food chains encourage us to eat another. That leads to an ongoing battle within ourselves where we feel so guilty about indulgences that our only alternative is to turn to overly strict diets. We can’t commit to the personal responsibility of cutting out most processed grains, so we end up on the Paleo diet. We can’t resist the temptation of a buttery baked good so we nix out any trace of dairy in what we eat. We’re not able to turn down a second glass of wine so we go on a booze-free cleanse. Do we live with dietary restrictions, or do we restrict our diet because we simply can’t trust ourselves to eat well? In a world that we know isn’t black and white, there’s a balance to be had somewhere in the middle, somewhere that allows us to live well and eat in moderation.

There are people with real food allergies; the kind of thing that they will die or get severely ill from. Then there are the rest of us. If a certain food makes you break out in hives, don’t eat it. But if you manage to find a balance where most of the time you eat well, don’t get down on yourself because of a moment of indulgence. We all have them and we all need them. Appreciation is as much a part of good food as preparation is.

Looking through a vintage cookbook from the 1950s, I was thinking about how much butter and sugar there was, and how many variations of cookie could be had in one book. But this was back when society wasn’t facing an obesity epidemic, people ate real and not processed foods, and if you made a batch of cookies, you ate one. Not seven. There’s a lesson to be learned somewhere in those pages.

Yes, we should all eat more kale, reduce our intake of meat and stick to whole grains, but our focus on specific ingredients or beneficial elements – hey! it’s packed with omega 3 AND antioxidants! – detracts from our understanding of real food. Diets let us oversimplify, reducing what we eat to individuals elements that all put together, don’t paint the full picture of who we’re eating with, where our food came from, its effect on the planet and a whole other laundry list of items. Eating is just as much about emotion as it is about physique.

Food is supposed to give us pleasure, and while a variety of different diets certainly provide a lot of pleasure, guilt is just as much a part of the problem as individual ingredients. Know what your body needs and eat it. Eat food with friends. Indulge on occasion. Remember that eating is a multidimensional process; celebrate it.

You know what Julie Child says? “Everything in moderation… including moderation.” I couldn’t agree more.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

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Would you pay 42 cents for this 1977 version of egg nests?

A 42 cent lunch would be nice! However, I’m not quite sure I’d even fork over that amount, measly it may be, for the above egg nest featured in a March 1977 publication of Homemakers. From the looks of the recipe, there’s nothing in the dish but the elements to a satisfying breakfast! The picture is what gets me. The egg yolk looks raw and the egg white puff looks like some sort of mold overgrowth – not the best thing to imagine on a sensitive morning stomach.

My modern adaptation of an egg nest breakfast uses similar ingredients to those in this retro recipe, but the result looks a lot less worse for wear. I use the egg whites to coat the bread and seal in the moisture, form a nest for the egg yolk, and then give the dish a hint of sweetness with honey and a touch of light earthiness with the fresh mint.

French Toast Egg Nests

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon milk or cream
• Dash of sea salt
• Dash of black pepper
• 2 slices of a thick, fluffy bread
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• A few mint leaves for garnish

Directions:

Separate the egg white from the egg yolk. Reserve the egg yolks for later, keeping them whole.

In a small bowl that has the width (or greater) of the length of the bread slices, whisk together the egg whites, cream, salt, and pepper.

Over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Soak both sides of each piece of bread in the egg white mixture so that both faces’ areas are covered, and place in the saucepan.

Let the bread sit over the head for 1 minute, or until slightly browned, before flipping. Once you rotate the bread, delicately pull apart the center of each slice to create a small nest. Fill each nest with the reserved whole egg yolks, one for each bread.

Pour any remaining egg white mixture in the nests as well, equally distributing it among the two. Don’t worry about the egg whites leaking outside of the nests. Embrace the rustic look!

Immediately transfer the entire saucepan into the oven. Broil on high until the egg yolk cooks to your liking – approximately 2 minutes.

Remove from oven and present the dish in the center of the breakfast table while the toast is still in the saucepan. However, not before drizzling with honey and garnishing with mint.

Enjoy!

There is nothing quite like flipping through the pages of grandmother’s faded cookbooks in all their imperfect glory — the worn edges, the rampant sauce stains and the cluttered pencil marks. With their casseroles, ham dishes and affinity for elaborate presentation, the Betty Crockers and the Joy of Cookings provide a glimpse of food before it all became so much more complicated. At EcoSalon, we love good vintage inspiration, even when it comes to food. Welcome to Vintage Revamp, where we take old and classic recipes and refresh them with a modern-day twist.

Image: JBCurio, Aylin Erman

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Vintage Recipe Revamp: Egg Nests With Fresh Mint and Honey appeared first on EcoSalon.

Slather on the gravy…2012 style.

In the 8th edition of McCall’s Cooking School, which was published in 1981, an advertisement for Wyler’s Bouillon cubes presented a rice and gravy recipe. Despite its simplicity, the gravy calls for ingredients that put a dent in your diet and health. Here is a better, vegan alternative to gravy that keeps the creamy, buttery goodness without all the preservatives, simple starches, and hydrogenated fats.

Most bouillon cubes are high in sodium and contain monosodium glutamate (MSG). One cube has nearly 600 milligrams of sodium and MSG is a potentially dangerous additive that can cause an host of symptoms, such as heart palpitations, headaches, and numbness. There is often a large amount of preservatives in bouillon cubes as well.

And while margarine is a cheaper substitute for butter, it’s a fat you should steer clear of. During its production, vegetable oils are heated at levels that completely destroy antioxidants in the oils and virtually make them them cancerous. Then the margarine is hydrogenated, using hazardous chemicals that remain in finished product as well as create fat molecules that are unnatural and unknown by the human metabolism. White flour is also an empty substance in the human body and is hard for it to process.

We can do better. By keeping the ingredients real, we take one step, but by keeping them vegan, we go a mile. Here’s a vegan gravy recipe that’ll satisfy even the most skeptical of palettes.

Vegan Gravy

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1 tablespoon whole-wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 cup almond milk (or any other vegan milk)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• Fresh thyme for garnish

Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the 1/2 tablespoon of butter and add the crimini mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook down until the volume has reduced and the liquid from the mushrooms is cooked off.

In a separate pot over medium heat, melt the 1.5 tablespoons of butter, add to it the flour and nutritional yeast, and stir until evenly combined. This will prevent clumping later. Next add the milk, wine, and soy sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continuously stir until the mixture thickens.

When the mixture thickens to desired consistency – it should drip in clumps, not drizzle, from a spoon – add the cooked mushrooms and dried thyme. Stir over medium-low heat for 1-2 more minutes.

Garnish with fresh thyme and serve aside rice or whatever you’d like.

Bon Appetit!

Images: JB Curio, Aylin Erman

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Vintage Recipe Revamp: McCall Cookbook’s Gravy (2012 Style) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Easy substitutions for a plant-based lifestyle. 

One of the nasty pitfalls of becoming vegan or pursuing a more plant-based, healthy lifestyle is the allure of vegan or low-calorie products. These packaged goods mock the “real” thing with often not so forgiving preservatives, colorants, and other additives. That’s why one of the biggest challenges is finding simple, within-hands-reach ways to replace the most common ingredients with their vegan or healthy (and just-as-real) counterparts.

Brighten your kitchen, nourish your heart, and spread the love with these animal-friendly and nutritional kitchen substitutions.

Eggs

If you aren’t eating an egg-centric dish, chances are that a recipe calling for eggs is looking for either a binding or leavening agent. Eggs are viscous and hold ingredients tightly together, which is why they appear in most baked goods, burgers, and creams. They also help to leaven, or “rise” baked dishes. Depending on what you’re making, the replacement will change accordingly.

To replace one egg in a baked recipe, alternatives that have worked for me in include:

• 1 tablespoon a of ground flaxseed mixed in 3 tablespoons of water and allowed to sit until the mixture thickens
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or potato starch
• 1/2 large banana, mashed, but only for sweet recipes
• 1/4 cup applesauce, but only for sweet recipes

Keep in mind that the replacement should adjust according to the recipe. The flaxseed mixture wouldn’t work in a smooth batter, so opt for another alternative. If the recipe calls for more than two eggs, add some baking powder – 1/2 teaspoon per additional egg – as it will help with the rising effect.

For the pure purpose of binding ingredients in a mixture, the options are wide and varied. Instead of one egg, you could use 1/2 avocado, 2 tablespoons tahini, 2 tablespoons nut butter, 2 tablespoons bread crumbs, or 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast. Anything viscous and thick enough to hold things together without changing the taste will work. The dry replacements work best in mixtures with a liquid element.

Milk

This is probably the easiest of the bunch, because there is a hot market for dairy-free “milk” these days. Peruse the health section aisles at your grocery store and choose from the array of rice, almond, hemp, coconut, and soy milks. Avoid brands with too many additives – sugars, flavoring or preservatives.

Whenever I have the ingredients on hand, I like to make my own almond milk. All you need is 1 cup raw almonds, enough water to soak them in overnight, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and 3 cups water. Soak the almonds in the salt and water overnight. The next day, rinse them and toss into a blender. Blend them with 3 cups of water until thin. Separate the almond milk from its fibers with a cheese cloth. Drink immediately and store in the refrigerator.

Cheese

Dairy cheese can be replaced by any store-bought soy or rice-based cheese, but these often include strange ingredients that are necessary to achieve the same texture, taste, and look of cheese. They are also not much more forgiving in terms of calories and fat.

Luckily, these vegan alternatives make things a bit more interesting and are easy enough to make on the regular:

• white cheese dip
• sweet potato cheese
• basil cashew cheese

Keep in mind that when it comes to cheese, nutritional yeast is your most trusted accomplice. It has a cheesy flavor that, when paired with a creamy base, can mock cheese to the T (or C).

Gelatin

Ever wonder where gelatin comes from? It’s a protein obtained by boiling animal bones, tendons, ligaments, hooves, and skin. Not necessarily the kinds of things you associate with jellied candies, toaster pastries, cereals, and Jell-O.

Alternatives include carrageenan, agar-agar, fruit pectin, and locust bean gum.

Butter

In sweet recipes, you can replace up to 3/4 cup butter with applesauce. Replace the rest with a vegan butter substitution, such as Earth Balance. In cooking, where butter is scant, use a vegan substitution.

Oil

Oil has little benefit when it is cooked, literally, to death. Oil biochemically changes when it is heated, and it loses many of its nutritional benefits. Opt to enjoy oils in their raw, extra-virgin states. The healthiest raw oils include olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil, and peanut oil. When cooking, use coconut oil – it has a high burning temperature and can withstand heat.

Buttermilk

To replace buttermilk, simply combine 1 tablespoon of white vinegar with 1 cup of vegan milk, such as almond, soy, coconut or rice milk.

Sugar

In baked goods, marinades, and sauces, maple syrup is a great replacement for sugar. In fact, I find that it gives the dish a deeper, more complex flavor, making it more unique and enjoyable to eat. You can replace every 1 cup of sugar with 3/4 cup of maple syrup. This requires that you reduce the dominant liquid in the recipe by 2-4 tablespoons, for consistency’s sake. Pick and choose with the liquids – you don’t want to sacrifice an important taste, so don’t reduce the oil or vinegar measurements when you have 2 or 3 cups of milk to take from. To offset maple syrup’s slight acidity, you may choose to add 1/4-1/2 teaspoons of baking soda. If the recipe calls for sour cream, buttermilk, or sour milk, skip the baking soda.

In tea and coffee, there is no need to reach for sugar anymore. Stevia is the only sweetener out there that has a zero-glycemic level and zero calories – to say nothing of its a-little-goes-a-long-way poster child status. Stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar and if you find a brand that fits your tastes – I am a NuNaturals fan – you won’t be able to leave the house without it! I prefer liquid stevia, because it’s seamless to use and easy to carry around in my purse. A few drops later, and my beverages taste like liquid gold. One 2-ounce bottle tends to last me 3-4 months.

Some manufacturers have come out with powdered versions that can replace sugar in recipes. There are also sugar and powdered stevia mixes that aim to reduce sugar, but not completely nix it.

ALSO CHECK OUT: 

Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Sea Salt

Make Your Own Vegan Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Recipe: Vegan Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Images: Furry Scaly, Robert S. Donovan, Tétine, Jeffrey W, MRBECK, Aylin Erman

The post 8 Substitutions for the Most Common Kitchen Ingredients appeared first on EcoSalon.

Revamping American classics.

This recipe is taking you back to the early 1950s, a November 1952 advertisement in Woman’s Day to be exact. The ad glorifies Del Monte peaches by providing readers with a recipe for Peach Kringle, which is essentially canned peach slices baked into cinnamon and sugar-coated biscuits. I’m not going to argue with that combo – it sounds delicious! My challenge in making this recipe modern is to give it a healthier twist.

Canned peaches are peaches sliced and poached in sugar water. One cup of it is nearly 200 calories, near 40 grams of sugar and under 5 grams of fiber. In order to enjoy this for breakfast, it’d be nice to up the ante on fiber and keep the sugar coming exclusively from the peach itself, not from add-ins.

This 2012 version of the Del Monte classic addresses all of these concerns. Using simple and makeshift whole-wheat biscuits and fresh, unadulterated peaches, this Peach Kringle deserves an ad of its own for both its taste and sight. Enjoy!

Peach Kringle

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, chilled
• 3/4 cup almond, rice, or soy milk + 1/4 cup
• 2 large peaches
• Drizzle of honey (optional)
• Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until evenly combined. Add the butter, breaking it up with a fork or your fingers with the flour. Pour in the milk and use your hands to form a ball.

Break the dough into 6 pieces. Roll them into biscuit-sized balls and place them equal distance apart in a glass baking dish. Core and slice the peaches into wedges. Disperse them throughout the baking dish and in the crevices between the dough balls. Pour about 1/4 cup of milk into the bottom of the pan – I find that this helps keep the biscuits most while cooking and steams the peaches.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits brown. Drizzle with honey and give it a dash of cinnamon. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

There is nothing quite like flipping through the pages of grandmother’s faded cookbooks in all their imperfect glory — the worn edges, the rampant sauce stains and the cluttered pencil marks. With their casseroles, ham dishes and affinity for elaborate presentation, the Betty Crockers and the Joy of Cookings provide a glimpse of food before it all became so much more complicated. At EcoSalon, we love good vintage inspiration, even when it comes to food. Welcome to Vintage Revamp, where we take old and classic recipes and refresh them with a modern-day twist.

Images: JB Curio, Aylin Erman

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Vintage Recipe Revamp: Del Monte’s Peach Kringle appeared first on EcoSalon.

Cake for breakfast? Of course.

It’s a shame that so many cake recipes call for eggs, cream, and loads of sugar, when the same texture – fluffy, moist, flaky, and rich – can be matched sans the heavy ingredients and dangerous boost in blood sugar levels. Sure, there’s room for those kinds of desserts too, but if you’re anything like me and need dessert everyday – that is, require for basal human function –  then it helps to have an arsenal of silhouette-forgiving, vegan dessert recipes on hand.

This vanilla cake recipe is a simple, foundational recipe that can be altered according to your tastes. Like chocolate? Add cocoa powder. Like more texture? Add dried fruit and nuts. Like things bigger? Buy more pans for layering. But what I’ve written here is a mild, flaky cake that is a lot like a soft, light, and slightly sweet bread to be complemented with tea, coffee or almond milk.

I added a personal touch to the cake by baking it over pineapple slices, which add moisture and make for a great presentation. I chose pineapple for its taste, but the diamond-under-the-rough fruit is also packed with immune-boosting vitamin C, promotes healthy gums and teeth, sharpens vision, improves digestion, and alleviates arthritis symptoms.

Pineapple also contains the enzyme bromelain, which helps to break down protein. This knowledge comes in handy after you’ve eaten a hefty meal – chewing on a bit of pineapple can help to make room for dessert, because foregoing dessert is seldom an option. And lucky for you, this recipe cuts to the chase and adorns the top of a vanilla cake with brown-sugar glazed pineapple slices, so you make more room for dessert whilst eating dessert. Pure logic, my friends.

Note: If you want a caramelized effect, use a metal spring-form pan and the brown sugar is a must, since it helps to caramelize the pineapples. I personally like my pineapples to tenderize without becoming too sweet, since I treat this dish more as a “S’pose-I’ll –just-have-this-here-cake-for-breakfast-since-it’s-so-clean-and-healthy” item than a dessert item. For this reason, I use a glass pan and sometimes forego the brown sugar. When I do want the cake for dessert, I warm it up and drizzle with honey for that extra sweetness.

Pineapple Bread Cake

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter + 1/2 tablespoon for coating baking dish
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup almond milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat the bottom and sides of baking dish with 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle brown sugar on top, evenly across the area of the dish. Skin a pineapple and cut along its width as thin as possible, making 4-6 discs. Place pineapple on the bottom of the baking dish.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using your hands, cut the vegan butter (I like to use Earth Balance) into the dry mixture, using your fingers to create a meal-like texture.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients, except for the almond milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until pasty. Add the almond milk a little at a time until the mixture reaches a thick, but easily spreadable texture.

Carefully spread batter over the pineapple slices in the glass baking dish.

Bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

After you remove the cake from the oven, loosen the edges with a knife and let cool down. When cool enough to handle with your bare hands, use a cutting board to help flip the dish over so that the pineapples are exposed.

The result is a light but comforting bread-like cake that has just the right touch of pineapple to keep things interesting. Cut a piece and serve warm with almond milk for dipping or enjoy aside a morning coffee.

Enjoy!

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Recipe: Vegan Pineapple Vanilla Bread Cake appeared first on EcoSalon.

Rethinking breakfast, one egg at a time.

Pizza for breakfast. We’ve all been there, but this time it doesn’t involve you shamelessly munching on the cold leftovers from last night’s dinner. Instead, it’s a fried egg, cheese and tomatoes served over a whole-grain toasted bagel.

The whole-grain bagel provides you with the fiber your body craves in the a.m. and the protein-packed egg and cheese are sure to keep you fuller for longer, all the while offering the comfort of a flavor combination you know all too well. Sometimes a savory breakfast fits the bill and this recipe takes pizza and gives it a morning makeover.

Egg Sandwich Pizza

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 1 whole-grain/whole-wheat bagel, toasted
• 1 thin slice of parmesan cheese
• 1 slice tomato
• 3-4 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, pulled from stems

Directions:

In a saucepan over high heat, add the butter. When melted, crack open the egg into the saucepan and let cook. Pull in the edges of the egg white as it cooks and break open the yoke slightly with a spatula to help it cook through.

When the egg is cooked through, but still soft on top, season with salt and pepper and remove the saucepan from the stove and set aside.

Over a toasted sliced bagel half, begin to add the fillings – the fried egg, then the cheese, tomato slice, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh oregano.

Cover the sandwich with the other half of the bagel and slice along the middle before serving.

Bon Appetit!

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

The post Sunday Recipe: Egg Sandwich Pizza appeared first on EcoSalon.