 | Growing up -- Lox, Bagel and Cream Cheese, was my favorite breakfast. In my family, it was our special Sunday morning treat to be enjoyed alongside the Sunday edition of the newspaper (which had a full color comics section.) So coming up with a healthy, plant-based, gluten-free, oil-free, sugar-free alternative that is delicious and satisfying, brings me great joy! I hope that you enjoy these too! |
Bagel Ingredients:
2 cups of red lentils
1/4 cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
1 TBS raisins
1/2 cup psyllium husk powder
1/2 cup ground golden flax seeds
1 TBS onion powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 TBS chia, poppy or sesame seeds (optional)
2 cups of red lentils
1/4 cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
1 TBS raisins
1/2 cup psyllium husk powder
1/2 cup ground golden flax seeds
1 TBS onion powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 TBS chia, poppy or sesame seeds (optional)
| Bagel Directions: 1) Pick over and rinse the red lentils in a strainer, then transfer to a bowl and cover with water and allow them to soak for 4 hours or overnight. (Do NOT skip this soaking or shorten it -- it is critical to the outcome!) 2) After lentils have soaked 4 hours, place the water, lemon juice and raisins into a powerful blender and blend on high until the raisins are completely blended with the liquid. 3) Drain the lentils and add them to the blender and blend again until completely creamy. If you don't have a blender with a tamper -- stop the blender and scrape down the sides and blend again. 4) Measure the psyllium and flax into a large bowl and measure the baking soda and onion powder into a strainer over the bowl -- and use a spoon to push them into the bowl (this prevents chunks of these ending up in the finished product.) Mix these well with a wire whisk 5) Preheat the oven to 400, and get a wide pot boiling briskly with about 3 inches of water in the bottom. Also line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mats. Then set a bowl with water in it to dip your hands into as you make the bagels, to keep them from sticking to you. 6) Once the water is boiling, mix the contents of the blender into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula until well blended. Dip your hands into the bowl of water and then grab about 1/2 cup of the lentil mixture and roll it into a thick snake -- about 5-6 inches long, (if the dough is too soft to form like this, add another TBS of psyllium to it, and/or wait a couple of minutes for the psyllium to better soak up the water and firm up) then join the two ends together to make a donut shape and place it gently onto the baking sheet while you form the next bagel. Once you have about 3-4 of these formed, drop them into the pot of boiling water. They will sink to the bottom and then float -- let them boil about 2 minutes, then flip them over with a slotted spoon and let them boil another two minutes, then remove them to the cookie sheet and boil the next batch of 3-4. 7) Once all the bagels have boiled, sprinkle the chia/poppy/sesame seeds (if using) on top of the bagels and gently press them in with dry fingers. 8) Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake 20--25 minutes (depending upon how accurate your oven thermostat is) the bagels should just start to brown. |      |
And what about Cream Cheese?
There are many great plant-based cream cheeses you can buy at the store now, however most of them have ingredients I'd prefer to avoid, and they tend to be kind of pricey too. So I was thrilled to find a truly delicious and simple recipe to make your own tofu cream cheese in Joanne Stepaniak's Uncheese Cookbooks. I have both editions of this (out of print) book and they are still my favorite cook books. Stepaniak was the first to publish a book of vegan cheese recipes, which was revolutionary at the time, especially since her recipes were all really terrific and tasty -- using mostly whole foods! They are always my first "go-to." She has slightly different recipes for her tofu cream cheese in the first book compared to the second. Here I have adapted her recipe more to my nutritional preferences. But I will warn you, my husband prefers the flavor of Stepaniak's recipe in the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook to mine LOL. So if higher fat, salt and sugar are what you desire -- I'd recommend you go straight to the Uncheese Cookbook --- it will probably taste better to you.
Tofu Cream Cheese:
12 oz of extra firm tofu -- boiled and drained
1/3 cup raw cashew pieces (if using whole cashews -- use slightly more to get 40 grams)
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast powder
1 tsp maple syrup
3 TBS lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt (NaCl)
1/4 teaspoon potassium chloride (KCl -- salt substitute)
Directions:
1) Break the tofu into chunks and put into a pot and cover with water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Then drain through a strainer-- pressing down with a slotted spoon to squeeze out extra water, then weight out 12 oz and put this into a powerful blender.
2) Place the remaining ingredients into the blender and blend well.
3) Drain the tofu and add it to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
For the full Lox, Bagel and Cream Cheese experience, you can get a jar of roasted red pepper slices (Woodstock organic fire roasted red peppers are delicious) cut these into strips and serve like lox. But a perfectly ripe summer tomato is almost as good!
12 oz of extra firm tofu -- boiled and drained
1/3 cup raw cashew pieces (if using whole cashews -- use slightly more to get 40 grams)
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast powder
1 tsp maple syrup
3 TBS lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt (NaCl)
1/4 teaspoon potassium chloride (KCl -- salt substitute)
Directions:
1) Break the tofu into chunks and put into a pot and cover with water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Then drain through a strainer-- pressing down with a slotted spoon to squeeze out extra water, then weight out 12 oz and put this into a powerful blender.
2) Place the remaining ingredients into the blender and blend well.
3) Drain the tofu and add it to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
For the full Lox, Bagel and Cream Cheese experience, you can get a jar of roasted red pepper slices (Woodstock organic fire roasted red peppers are delicious) cut these into strips and serve like lox. But a perfectly ripe summer tomato is almost as good!
