Heavenly Chocolate Brownies

a vegan cake (or whatever category brownies fall under)

Today, I had the strongest urge to bake brownies but the last time I made them, I was still lacto-ovo.  Now that I'm vegan, though, I didn't know if flax or banana would work as an egg substitute.  As it turned out, they're absolutely perfect.  I made mine using a banana.  Flax, I read upon doing research, is a better substitute but I don't have any at the moment so I settled for the fruit-based alternative.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you will come up with half a party platter.


You will need:

- 2 cups of all-purpose flour 

- 1¼ cup of agave nectar or honey if you're okay with it (Adjust sweetness by adding or subtracting a tablespoon or two) 

- 1 unit of banana-based egg alternative OR 2 units of flax seed-based egg alternative 

- 200 grams of dark chocolate, melted (Melt using the double boil method or microwave.) 

- 1 cup of liquefied virgin coconut oil 

- 1 cup of water 

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder 

- 1 teaspoon of salt

Let's get baking:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350°F or 175°C. 

2.  In a mixing bowl, mix your agave nectar, egg alternative, water, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt. 

3.  Thoroughly mix your coconut oil and your melted chocolate.  You may use a pan over low heat or a double boiler to do this. 

4.  Pour the chocolate and oil mixture into the mixing bowl.  Throw in the flour and mix well for about a minute, preferably using a mixer but a whisk will do. 

5.  Lightly grease a baking tray (23cm x 34cm or 9" x 13") and line the surface and sides with baking paper. 

6.  Pour your brownie mix onto the tray and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

7.  Check if it's done using a cocktail stick or toothpick (i.e. it should come out clean when poked).  If done, take it out of the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting to squares. 

8.  Serve heaven.

Refried Beans

a vegan sauce

I made bean stew and soaked way too much beans for the folks in the house to consume in a single sitting.  They were beginning to sprout in the bowl so I had to do something with them and I didn't want to make the same dish again.  I remember my vegan friend, Chef Marla (who now resides in Bali), brought refried beans at a dinner party we were in.  I particularly relished that stuff so I made some myself!

It kind of looks like peanut butter, doesn't it?  If you make it without the spices, reduce the salt and use a sweetener (e.g. honey or agave nectar), it's actually going to taste a lot like peanut butter.

This recipe makes a bowl good for I don't know how many people.

You will need:

- 1 cup of dried beans 

- 3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped 

- ½ medium sized onion, coarsely chopped 

- ½ teaspoon of marjoram (dried or fresh) 

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil 

- salt and pepper for seasoning 

- water

To make it:

1-3.  Soak the beans on 4 cups of water overnight.  

or   

1.  Add beans to 4 cups of boiling water.  

2.  Bring back to the boil and boil for 5 minutes.  

3.  After 5 minutes, turn the heat off; put the lid on and leave for 2 hours to cool.  

4.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  

5.  Put the beans back in a pan and cover it well with water.  Make sure the water lever is about an inch above the beans. 

6.  Add garlic, onion, marjoram and 2 pinches of salt and a pinch of pepper and bring to the boil.  

7.  When it comes to the boil, bring the heat to low.  Cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours to tenderise the beans.  Check periodically to make sure the water does not dry up. 

8.  Drain the water out. 

9.  Heat your olive oil in a pan over low heat. 

10.  Drop in a cup of beans at a time and mash it with a masher. 

11.  Add water to increase fluidity--about ¼ cup or more based on your judgement--just not too much. 

or 

9-11.  Put beans with olive oil and ¼ cup of water in a food processor and blend away. 

12.  When all the beans have been mashed to perfection, check seasoning and serve.

Beans in Spicy Tomato Sauce

a vegan dish

I've been itching to eat vegetarian tomato sauce beans but I didn't want to have the canned ones anymore; they're rather cloying.  Also, fresh is always best, so I decided to whip up my version of the tinned favourite.  Guess what, it tasted awesome!  It takes a lifetime to make but it's totally worth it.

This will feed:

- 2 to 3 people

You will need:

- a burning passion for cooking (otherwise this dish will taste like cardboard marinated in sweat squeezed from wet old socks) 

- 1 cup of dried beans (In my case red beans, but you can use any type you want.) 

- 4 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped or pulsed to chunky bits in a food processor, seeds included (If you don't think they're large enough, add more.) 

- 3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped 

- 1 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped 

- 3 cloves of garlic, halved 

- 1 medium sized onion, quartered 

- 3 cayenne peppers, halved, de-seeded and cut crosswise (You can omit, reduce or increase based on your tolerance for spicy food.) 

-  1 tablespoon of olive oil 

- salt and pepper for seasoning 

- water (and lots of it) 

- ½ teaspoon of chopped basil 

- ½ teaspoon of dried or chopped marjoram/oregano

Let's make it:

Cooking this dish has three parts:  preparing the beans, preparing the tomato sauce, and cooking them together

Preparing the beans: 

1-3.  Soak the beans on 4 cups of water overnight 

or  

1.  Add beans to 4 cups of boiling water. 

2.  Bring back to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. 

3.  After 5 minutes, turn the heat off; put the lid on and leave for 2 hours to cool. 

4.  Drain and rinse with cold water. 

5.  Put the beans back in a pan and cover it well with water.  Make sure the water lever is about an inch above the beans. 

6.  Add halved garlic, quartered onion, 2 pinches of salt and bring to the boil. 

7.  When it comes to the boil, bring the heat to low.  Cover with a lid and simmer for about 1 hour.  We're not looking to tenderise too much because we will put them through another cooking stage later on. 

8.  After an hour of simmering, drain the beans and set them aside.

Preparing the tomato sauce: 

1.  In a saucepan, wok, or frying pan of considerable depth, sauté the chopped garlic and onion for about a minute. 

2.  Add in your cayenne pepper and sauté for 30 seconds. 

3.  Add in your juicy tomatoes and mix well. 

4.  Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. 

5.  When it comes to the boil, add in your herbs (basil and marjoram) and mix well. 

6.  Reduce the heat very low; cover the pan and simmer gently for about 1 hour.  Check on the sauce every 20 minutes to make sure the sauce doesn't dry up.  It should get thick but not to the point where it can potentially burn, so if you think it lacks fluidity, stir in 2 tablespoons of water at a time.

Putting the two together: 

1.  Add the beans to the pan where the tomato sauce is simmering. 

2.  Cover and allow to cook with the same low heat for about 15-30 minutes, until the beans are comfortably tender to the bite.  Test by biting on a bean after every once in a while. 

3.  Season as deemed necessary and serve.

Here's a green tomato version of such awesomeness!  Slightly more tart but no less blissful.

HAPPY WORLD VEGETARIAN DAY!