Corn Fritters You Can Bring to a (Vegan) Hillbilly Hoedown

The first time I heard of corn fritters was as a little girl, thumbing through The Beverly Hillbillies Cookbook (yes, it's real. My mother used to have it. Ours was from the 1970's, but there appears to be a newish version from the 1990's). It was one of the first recipes I ever made on my own (with the exception of the frying in oil part- for that I was an eager spectator).

What I loved about corn fritters is that they combined two of my favorite things: corn, and deep frying! There were times as an adult that I had to admit I'd eat just about anything if it were deep-fried, and at least corn fritters started with a somewhat healthy vegetable.

When I thought about updating this to be vegan-friendly, I focused on more healthful choices of ingredients. What I didn't want was to essentially lose the guilty pleasure of eating them, though. So, suffice it to say these aren't going to melt your inches away. But they ARE chock full o' fiber, so there's that!

My favorite way to eat these is cold, but I'm told I'm weird that way. They're just fine hot, too. This basic recipe can easily be altered. For instance, use unbleached white flour instead of spelt for a "lighter" fritter, or add some cilantro and cumin, or you could omit the tumeric and peppers and sprinkle the finished fritter with vegan powdered sugar for a sweet treat. Whatever you do, be sure to drain them thoroughly after frying.

Corn Fritters

1 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons golden flax meal mixed with 6 tablespoons of water (let it sit a few minutes to thicken)
¼ cup non-dairy milk, unsweetened
2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
15 ounces canned corn, drained
1 tablespoon (more or less to taste) diced cherry peppers
Oil for frying



1. Blend flour, baking powder, salt, tumeric and nutritional yeast in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat prepared flax meal with milk and oil. Stir into flour mixture and add corn and peppers. It might be easier to mix gently by hand. Mixture will be fairly wet and thick.
3. Drop by tablespoonful into hot oil. Press dough until it's flattened a bit while it fries. Cook on medium-high until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Drain thoroughly on paper towels. Serve hot, or chill for an hour or so in the fridge and serve cold.

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Tofu Scramble (with Saffron, Because I'm Worth It!)

I'm in love with my new Tofu Presser, and to celebrate I made a tofu scramble just for little old me. It was my first time making one on my own. Now, to all the experienced vegans out there that's about the equivalent of saying to a non-veg that you scrambled an egg for the first time. It's not exactly the hardest dish to prepare.

Even so, I decided to make a scramble that I thought was blog-worthy. As I opened my spice cabinet to grab the tumeric, I noticed my bottle of saffron right next to it. "A bottle of saffron" is an inaccurate description. What I had was an empty bottle save one wee little pinch of incredibly-expensive red filaments. I pushed the tumeric aside and decided to splurge- it was the first day of my 30-Day Vegan Challenge, after all (I'm trying it on my own, without following a set program. Wish me luck!).

Tofu Scramble with Saffron, Spinach and Hashbrowns
¼ block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into chunks
1 cup Imagine Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth
½ tablespoon minced (packed in oil) garlic
1 pinch saffron
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 handful fresh baby spinach
1 (individual size) prepared hash brown (optional)

I’ve started relying a lot on vegetable broth in place of oil or other fats when sautéing. I love the flavor it adds, and when it reduces down it’s really a nice complement to whatever is in the pan. Using it for this recipe made the tofu somewhat creamy, and very much like the texture of well-made scrambled eggs.



1. Heat the broth, garlic and saffron over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reduces by about half.
2. Add the nutritional yeast, stirring to mix well.
3. Add the tofu, breaking some of the chunks up to get to a “scrambled” consistency, stirring to coat with the broth mixture.
4. When tofu is almost heated through, add fresh spinach to pan, gently mixing it in as it wilts down.
5. Break up the hash brown and add to scrambled tofu. Salt and pepper to taste (taste it first- you may not need the salt). Serve with homemade bread slathered with Earth’s Balance.

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Spinach-Quinoa Powerhouse Patties

Spinach-Quinoa Patties.

Spinach patties have always been one of my comfort foods. I'll eat them hot or cold, in a house, with a mouse, yadda yadda yadda. In my previous life, my spinach patties were equal parts spinach, egg, and sausage. I suppose calling the old version spinach patties was a lot like calling a Snickers a peanut bar.

My new version is vegan, and in place of the eggs I use flax meal and water. Then, since flax is so crazy good for you, I added even more. The nutritional yeast gives a great flavor with the added bonus of packing in B12 (something that vegans need to supplement for a well-rounded diet). Spinach is a super food by itself, but adding quinoa raises these patties to super-hero food in my opinion. Spinach, quinoa, flax meal and nutritional yeast . . . I think I created a patty that can provide complete nutrition in a little round package! (Probably not- but they were so good I'm feeling a little full of myself right now)

Adding the fennel and Italian spices created an almost sausage-like patty. Adjusting the spices used could produce all sorts of different flavor combinations.

Spinach-Quinoa Patties

2 cups fresh, raw spinach
1 cup prepared quinoa (I used red quinoa which made the patties look really nice)
3 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons flax meal, divided
2 small shallots
2 baby portobello mushrooms
½ tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
½ to 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed (to taste. I put whole seeds in a pepper mill and coarsley ground them, so I had some broken seeds as well.)
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for frying




1. Put 1 tablespoon of flax meal in a bowl and mix in 3 tablespoons warm water. Leave it to thicken for about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, slice shallots and mushrooms and sauté with garlic in a little olive oil until the shallots are starting to soften and the mushrooms just begin to carmelize.

3. Add all of the ingredients (except oil), including the flax mixture and cooked shallots and mushrooms, into a food processor. Pulse until it's coarsely mixed (but not liquified).

4. You should have enough to form four good sized-patties. Scoop mixture out by the tablespoon-full, and form into patties about the size of your palm. Fry them in a little hot oil, cooking for about three minutes on each side until they begin to brown up a bit. If you try to turn it the first time too quickly it will fall apart, so take care to cook it long enough so it holds together, then gently work the patty up with a thin spatula before you turn it. You could also divide the mixture in two and have some pretty darn tasty veggie burgers.

5. Drain on paper towels when done and serve with your favorite mustard or whatever you like.

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Sweet Potato Stew for When You’re Feeling Blue

I’ve had a crappy week. I’ve been sick, I’ve had family issues, my career is sort of sucking right now, and to top it all off, it’s raining today. I have not felt like cooking at all, either. It's just been a funk, filled with Diet Coke and handfuls of trail mix. But a girl's gotta eat, right?

I've been known to medicate with food. In the past, I thought a lot of “medicine” was the way to cure what ails you. Now when I medicate with food, it’s mostly through cooking and savoring a small serving of something special.

Today’s stew was just the thing for a dreary afternoon pity-party. It was easy and thrown together with things I had in the pantry and refrigerator. The whole house smells like sweet potato pie. I had lunch with all my menfolk surrounding me. My husband asked for seconds, which always flatters and makes me happy. My tummy’s full, I feel better and I’m off to take a nap.


Sweet Potato Stew

1 carton Imagine Organic Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
½ tablespoon Berbere' Spice Mix*
½ tablespoon minced garlic (I used minced garlic packed in olive oil)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes (or Parmesan cheese)
1½ cups cooked grains (I used a brown and wild rice blend)
1 head of pre-steamed broccoli, chopped
Sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes, for garnish

1. Heat all ingredients in a soup pot over medium heat. When soup begin to boil reduce heat to low and simmer for a few minutes more, until the grains absorb some of the liquid and the stew thickens.

2. Sprinkle a little bit of red pepper flakes over each bowl and serve with some good bread. We ate my latest experiment, made with leftover cashew cheese in the dough (posted here).

*I’ve been using this in everything! I made one batch and put it in a small canning jar in the cupboard.

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