After a few days away from home, it’s a little hard to rev up the engines, but it’s good to get back into the kitchen and back into the world of vegan blogging and vegan bloggers. Despite a long list, I only managed to get to one vegan restaurant while in San Francisco – Millennium (outstanding) – but overall, it was fairly painless to find places where both my carnivore friend and I could dine in peace together. A few standouts, besides Millennium, were Panama Red Coffee which consistently served up a smooth soy mocha (and they also offer almond milk) and Strizzi’s, which despite the vegan-hostile menu, cheerfully created a pasta for me with whole wheat penne and their raw “sauce” of capers and fresh tomatoes.
The Bar at Millennium
As usual, the most problematic meal was breakfast, so as usual, I “imported” what I needed. So it seemed appropriate to jump start my blog with a breakfast recipe – and one of my favorite things to eat any time of day: waffles.
Recently I found myself with the wonderful predicament of having too many blueberries. I thought about pie; I thought about cobbler. And then I ran across a recipe for waffles smothered with a warm blueberry sauce. It spoke to me, and I listened. While the orange poppyseed waffles were baking, this sweet, gorgeous, easy sauce was simmering on the stove. Waffle and blueberry met at the breakfast table and all was right with the morning.
Orange Poppyseed Waffles with Blueberry Sauce
Makes 3 8″ round waffles
Blueberry Sauce:
1/2 lb. fresh blueberries
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tbsp. orange juice or water
Waffles:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tbsp. poppyseeds
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. egg replacer + 9 tbsp. water (whisk together until frothy, then set aside for a minute)
1/2 tsp. stevia liquid (or 6 tbsp. maple sugar)
1 cup soy “buttermilk”
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 tsp. orange extract
1 tbsp. orange zest
In a small saucepan combine the blueberries through the maple syrup. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the 1/2 tbsp. orange juice or water and add to the blueberry mixture. Stir until mixture thickens. Keep warm until ready to serve the waffles.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, poppyseeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, combine the egg replacer mixture, stevia liquid, “buttermilk,” applesauce, orange extract and orange zest. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients, stirring until just combined. Set aside for 15 minutes.
While the waffle mixture rests, heat up a waffle iron and turn the oven to 200F and get your plates in there to warm.
Lightly spray the waffle iron with cooking oil and ladle batter into the center of the iron, spreading until it reaches nearly to the edges. Close the waffle iron and cook for about 4 minutes. Gently remove the waffle and set directly on an oven rack to keep warm and crispy while you finish making waffles.
Serve with plenty of blueberry sauce.
(This is a version of the Epicurious recipe for lemon poppyseed waffles. I’ve veganized it and unrefined it.)
