Quick and Easy Vegan Recipe: Zoe's Vegetarian Chili

From The Savvy Vegetarian Kitchen

Makes 12 big muffins

Muffins are so yummy & easy to make! My daughter Sarah has turned into the Muffin Ma'am, and we eat them several times a week, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. These banana nut muffins are divine all by themselves, or go with all kinds of other food, such as soups, salads, fruit, smoothies, cheese, yogurt, eggs, or nut butters.

Feel free to tinker with this recipe and make it your own - it'll work as long as you keep the basic proportions and muffin method. The vegan version works well, though it's denser. Bananas are sticky enough to hold the muffins together without using cornstarch. Fill the pans to the top the muffins should double in size.

Judy Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups pureed ripe banana (3 small, spotty but not mushy)
• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• OR: 1 c. wh. wh. fl + 1/4 c. spelt flour + 1/4 c. amaranth fl.
• 1 1/2 c. unbl white fl. You can use all whole grain flour, but expect a much denser, chewier muffin
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 - 1/2 c. unbleached cane sugar or brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup buttermilk + 1 egg + 3/4 c warm water OR: 1 1/3 c non-dairy milk (room temperature)+ 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 c melted butter or oil
• Optional: 3/4 c. chopped dried apricots. These are a delicious addition - if you use unsulfured apricots, be sure to soak them in hot water for an hour or so to soften.

Muffin Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees & oil a muffin pan
2. Chop & measure the walnuts, and the apricots if you're using them
3. Measure & mix the dry ingredients, including the nuts
4. Mix the wet ingredients, including the banana - a blender works like a charm, otherwise, mash the bananas, then whisk in everything else except the chopped apricots if you're adding them
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix lightly with just a few strokes, adding the optional apricots halfway through
6. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin cups
7. Bake for 25 min, middle of the oven, until browned & firm to the touch
8. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the muffins & turn them out on the rack. May be eaten immediately.

*For soups to eat with the muffins, go to:
Cream of Broccoli Soup - Vegan
Barley Bean Veggie Soup - Vegan

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