Breakfast Savory Crepe Burritos

I have a stepsister who lives in Washington state. If you can believe it, I don't think I've ever actually met her in the 25-some years my mom has been married to her dad. I do know, however, through my mom that she has been a dedicated vegan for many years. She gave me a great vegetarian crepe recipe, which involves chick pea flour and several ingredients. I've had them when my mom has made them for me, and they are very good. However, I have yet to buy any chick pea flour, and I don't often like too measure too many ingredients. So I came up with a "quickie crepe" recipe for savory crepes that is pretty good, and has fewer ingredients, and no measuring at all. The numbers listed are for "parts" - so, however much you like, in the following proportions:

• 1:1:1/2 parts Bisquick, whole wheat flour, and nutritional yeast, respectively 
• 1-2 Tblesp. miso paste, whisked smoothly into a little veggie broth, then added
• water and veggie broth until the mix is fairly thin 

So, that's one part Bisquick (vegan! Yay!) to one part WW flour, to a half part nutritional yeast. I just dump some Bisquick in the left side of a bowl, then add an equal part of the flour, then a half part nutritional yeast. Totally "eyeballed." The resulting crepes are just a little "puffy," and not as paper thin as a true crepe would be. However, they are satisfying and great for filling. I made breakfast burritos out of this batch, filled with a western-style tofu "scramble," lentils, and vegan cheese.

Tofu Scramble

1 diced baked potato (a leftover)
one diced bell pepper
one small diced onion
one package sliced mushrooms
1 block of pressed and crumbled tofu
garlic powder or blackening seasoning, salt and pepper
about a cup of cooked lentils, which I had withheld from my lentil mushroom loaf

I peeled my cooked potato (I make 5 or so baked potatoes at a time in the oven, so that I have them throughout the week for use in cooking, or to top for a quick lunch) and toasted it on high heat in a little vegetable oil until well-browned. Then I added and sautéed the pepper, onion, and mushrooms first, then added the tofu and lentils just to warm them through, and seasoned the mix. I put a little filling down the middle of a crepe, and added vegan cheeses on top. I folded them up, and decided that half would be plenty for a single breakfast!

I first folded them in Glad Press and Seal, then in aluminum foil. They "peel" more easily out of the freezer this way, are protected against freezer burn, and I can drop them in a bowl and re-use the piece of Glad wrap to re-heat them (about 2 minutes a side, covered and on high power).

Mmmm, steamy.

Now I have a hearty breakfast stockpile for the next several months, since I save these for my hurried work mornings.

Mushroom Lentil Loaf

I wanted to try my hand at a veggie "meat" loaf... I do love a hearty loaf, and I love the leftovers on a sandwich. I ran across this recipe, and since I love mushrooms, too, I started there. (Vegan dishes need that umami for deeper flavor, and I figured this one would be loaded with it.)

Of course I substituted the eggs for vegan chia "eggs," and the parmesan for "parmezano sprinkles," which I make up in large batches (I use raw cashews, however). Still, I found that while this loaf came out of the oven in loaf form and had great flavor, it was much too crumbly and fell apart. I made some adjustments, and came up with the following recipe - which includes cooked lentils, breadcrumb, and lots of (chia) binder to hold the whole thing together. I also squeezed out the mushrooms and the green veggies after cooking - the veggies stay juicy but don't add extra water). I was really happy with the results.

I recommend doing some of this ahead of time to ease the prep - the peppers can be roasted the day before, and the mushrooms cooked down and refrigerated. I also use my food processor on "pulse" to do all the chopping. I do them all separately, and add them to the mixing bowl as I go.

 Mushroom Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned, chopped semi-fine
• 3/4 cup nuts (cashews or walnuts work the best) pulsed small but not too fine
• 2 blackened green peppers, peeled, patted dry and chopped semi-fine  (see link for prep - I use a plastic bag to steam them before rinsing and peeling)
• About 1 1/2 cups green beans, asparagus, cooked down spinach, or any combination thereof, squeezed in a clean tea towel after cooling and pulsed semi-fine - I use frozen veggies and just microwave them
• Binder - about 1/2 cup chia or flax powder, added to 2 cups water, whisked, and refrigerated for 15 minutes or more (this is your "egg")
• About 1-2 cups cooked lentils - I followed the instructions and cooked a whole bag, putting the leftovers in the fridge - I'll tell you what I did with the leftovers later
• About 1/4 cup Parmezano Sprinkles
• Seasoning to taste - you can taste a vegan meatloaf mix as you go! I added salt and pepper, cumin, thyme, marjoram, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and dry mustard (about a 1/2 teaspoon of each)
• 2 Tblesp. BBQ sauce
• 2 Tblesp. ketchup
• About 1-2 cups panko breadcrumb, seasoned or otherwise

Topping:

• About 1 cup ketchup
• about 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• about 1/2 cup brown sugar

So after you've given everything a good squeeze in a clean tea towel, pulsed it into the food processor and combined it, it's time to use your noodle. It's a "feel" thing. I leave the breadcrumb until last - then I add it until I feel the mixture is pasty, with enough body to be a little on the stiffer side. Your mixture shouldn't be soupy, and it shouldn't be so dry that you can construct a massive Devil's Tower out of it. Clear enough? You can mess quite a bit with the proportions, but try to make sure that the base is still mostly mushroom mix. This is what keeps it juicy, and less like a dense loaf of bread with ketchup on it, and more like an entrée.

I like to line my pan with aluminum foil, with some sticking out the sides to form handles to pull it out with after it has cooled. Then I spray the lining with nonstick spray.

Mix the topping in a separate bowl, and glaze that sucker. Next time I make this, I'm thinking of doing it in individual muffin tins, just to increase the surface area that will accept glaze. It's all about the glaze.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about an hour. If the top gets too brown, cover with more foil (mine doesn't). Shown here with purple cabbage...

Let it cool just a bit, then lift out with your foil handles, and unwrap fully.

Slice.

I like to put more ketchup on mine, because that's just how I do.

Great the next day, with, or course, more ketchup on a sandwich. Stay tuned for leftover lentil ideas.