The Perfect Vegg Omelette

Breakfast, again? Well, as my roommates like to point out, it's not exactly breakfast because I don't cook before 10 am. One way I can look at this is that by then I am absolutely famished, so at least all my "non" breakfasts are holiday-sized feasts and who can complain about that? It also means that unless I'm expecting potatoes and veggies in bed, I want to be finished cooking and elbows-deep in the scarfing down part of my first meal within thirty minutes. 

Enter, this wonder product:

I randomly bought this stuff online from Vegan Cuts, which is essentially an online Grouponesque marketplace for vegan products and deals. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a "product" person; from my first few weeks of recipes, it's obvious I like creating from scratch as much as possible. Aside from vegan marshmallows, The Vegg is the only other special vegan thing I've purchased online and I will say I absolutely love having it on hand. It lasts forever, and is perfect for enhancing recipes and transforming tofu and other ingredients into eggs. I have yet to make straight eggs with it, because it requires some major science experiment skills and since the Breaking Bad finale have yet to ascend to Heisnberg, myself. 

Now, you don't totally need this product for the omelette, but I've done it both ways and using The Vegg is both easier, quicker, and just that much more authentic. My only complaint is that I have never really liked scrambled eggs in the first place, and the omelettes produced from this recipe are so similar in taste and texture I have to cram a ton of fillings into it. Oh, the travesty. Anyway, that's enough product review. Wait- can they pay me or something for that advertising spot?

The best part about making omelettes is basically going through your fridge and pulling out anything and everything that could possibly be stuffed into a giant breakfast egg-y quesedilla. This particular morning I analyzed my bounty and immediately thought: oh hell yeah, Mexican it is (I consequently put back the mozzarella cheese, eggplant, and after much begging by my boyfriend, the bacon bits). 

Also, if you are doing this Vegg-free, you'll need a few extra ingredients for the batter: cornstarch, nutritional yeast, and turmeric. 

note: before you do anything, drain your tofu and wrap it in paper towels. Set it on a plate, with a heavy pan or plate on top to extract some of the moisture out of the tofu. It really doesn't need to be done for very long, just while you are setting up and gathering ingredients and preparing your Vegg yolk. This will help to avoid your batter being too watery. Tofu liquid is not as tasty as almond milk, or so I'm told. 

First, make your Vegg yolk by blending 1 tbsp of the powder with 1/2 cup almond milk for about a minute. 

Crumble your tofu into the yolk mixture along with 1 tsp oil (or the alternative ingredients) another minute or so until nice and smooth. 

It should resemble batter, but you should already be able to smell a hint of egg- trust me, this stuff will totally freak you out. 

Heat a large skillet with a generous amount of coconut oil or earth balance butter (here I love my coconut oil spread) on medium heat. Use a decent pan or your omelette will be over-salted with tears of frustration. Pour the batter and spread as evenly as possible over the skillet with a spoon or spatula. Like any batter-based breakfast, this is a skill that may take mastering. Sprinkle some black lava salt on top. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the edges turn a golden color and begin to harden and set, exactly like a pancake does. 

Sidenote: you need black lava salt in your life. I love experimenting with different salts like seasonings (I know, it's kind of weird...I have a salt fetish). Anyway, this isn't weird- this is a staple. It has a deep sulfur scent and makes any egg-like dishes skyrocket to tasty authenticity. Mmmm salty goodness. 

In the meantime, chop up your veggies.

And cook up onions and garlic if your heart so desires. I like to have a mix of raw green onions and caramelized yellow onions, personally.  

Once your omelette is looking like its ready to marry the good stuff, sprinkle all your fillings on top. Technically, I think you are supposed to only cover half of it. But, there is a fat kid that lives in my head. His name is Roy, and he wanted to cover up the whole damn thing. This, by the way made my already extremely low omelette skills plummet to new records, as it made it ridiculously difficult to fold, flip, and make it to my plate. I can't say I won't over-fill it every time despite this, however. Fat kids always win food battles: fact. 

Fold the "empty" side of the omelette over the "filled" side (good freaking luck), and cook with the lid on a few more minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is cooked through, while keeping an eye on the bottom browning too much. If you are brave, flip halfway to evenly brown both the top and the bottom. This was hard for me. I was seconds from throwing my hands in the air and turning the whole damn skillet into a scramble. In my defense, this is literally the second omelette I've ever made in my entire life. And like crepes, omelette art takes practice. Stick with it. It's so worth it. I believe in you, Breakfast Master.

The Perfect Vegg Omelette 

Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 15-20 minutes 

Total time: 20-30 minutes

Makes 2 large omelettes 

Ingredients:

1 package firm or extra firm tofu

1 tbsp The Vegg powder

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp olive oil 

black lava salt (to taste)

Alternative ingredients:

1 package firm or extra firm tofu

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp black lava salt

1/2 tsp turmeric 

Coconut oil or butter (for frying)

Fillings:

caramelized onion, green onion, bell pepper, avocado, baby spinach, jalapenos, mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus, bacon bits, sausage crumbles, daiya cheese, etc. 

Directions:

Drain tofu and wrap in paper towels on a plate to set. 

Prepare Vegg yolk by combining powder and almond milk into the blender for 1 minute. 

Add crumbled tofu into blender along with oil (or alternative ingredients). Blend until totally smooth. 

Heat skillet to medium heat with a liberal amount of coconut oil or butter. Pour batter all over skillet, spreading evenly across the pan. Sprinkle black salt on top. Cook until edges become slightly golden and begin to set, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare fillings. 

Add fillings of choice to half of omelette. Using a good spatula, fold the omelette in half. Cook on medium-low until cheese is melted and/or everything is cooked through to desired hardness.

Potato Taquitos with Salsa Verde

It's finally not in the triple digits here in sunny southern California, so I can finally start using the oven without causing the whole house to strip down to their chonies. And good thing, because I have been craving potato taquitos for weeks, and when I finally got around to it, I had no oil to fry them up. Which actually turned out great, because baked taquitos are astronomically healthier and we better try and avoid those holiday pounds to come while we still can (and make up for the calories in cheese). 

Here, I created a spicy, herby smashed potato filling, baked the little dudes and topped them with gooey Daiya pepperjack cheese and my favorite homemade salsa verde, made with roasted tomatillos. Dip them in fresh guacamole, and living in Southern California is suddenly worth 90 degree Octobers.

Start by preheating your oven to broil (for the tomatillos). Then, fill up a large pot of water to boil the potatoes. 

Now, peel 3-4 russet potatoes and go ahead and chop them into large chunks so they'll cook all the way through faster. 

Instead of watching the water boil for what will likely seem like all night, prepare the tomatillos. Around here, these are dirt cheap- I got the two pounds needed for this recipe for close to a dollar. Peel off the papery skins and wash.

Then slice in half like this. Freaking adorable little guys, huh. 

Place them face down on a baking sheet, along with your 4 peeled garlic cloves and chopped jalapenos. De-seed the jalapenos if you don't want as much heat. I used 2 1/2 jalapenos with the seeds for this batch and it was spicy as all hell for me, but as chola-bred as I am, I actually have no tolerance for chili heat. So it's all personal preference. 

By now, the oven should be preheated. Drizzle with olive oil and throw it in the broiler for 5-15 minutes until blackened. Like my mother, I always forget when I put things in the broiler, so setting the timer for every five minutes might be helpful. 

They should look beautiful and roasted like this once done. Let them cool enough to handle while you finish the potatoes. Also at this time, turn your oven down to 350 degrees.

If you timed it right, the potatoes would have been put in the boiling water about the same time as the peppers in the broiler. After being boiled for 15 minutes, drain the potatoes and put them back in the pot. 

Add 3 tbsp butter and smash them up a little. Add 3/4 cup almond milk and continue to smash them until you get the consistency you like. I like mine a bit chunky. 

Stir in chopped green onion, jalapeno, and salt and pepper. Remember this recipe for smashed potatoes for the future, because it is really damn good. 

By this time, the chili's and peppers should be cooled enough. Dump the whole pan of garlic, jalapeno and tomatillos in a blender, along with all the juices and seeds. Add 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro and 1/2 tsp or so of salt and blend away. You don't want it totally pureed, but salsa-like. Set aside while you assemble the taquitos. 

Now to assemble the goods. Microwave your corn tortillas and keep a warm towel over them while working with them to prevent them from cracking (note: as you will see soon, some of my last few tortillas still cracked when rolled, and as you can see in this picture, I didn't do a very good job at keeping them covered. Also, they were the end of the package of tortillas so I'm sure that didn't help).

Using your fingers, coat each tortilla with oil. You only need a tiny bit. Then scoop about 2 tbsp. of the potato filling into the tortilla. Roll, and stick with a toothpick and place on a baking sheet.

I made a dozen, but had some leftover fillings and plenty of salsa (but ran out of tortillas). All in all, you should be able to get about 20 taquitos.

Put in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they start to turn a nice golden brown color. 

Sprinkle Daiya pepperjack cheese allllll over. 1/2 cup went good for a dozen, but I probably would've used half the bag if I had enough. 

Pop back into the oven for another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is perfectly melted and oozing all over the toasty, crunchy heaven-filled taquitos. At this point, I poured my salsa verde on top before I served them, to warm up the salsa a bit. But, they are just as scrumptious dipped in the salsa as well. 

Serve with guacamole and extra salsa. Sour cream would be divine, too. Voila!

Potato Taquitos with Salsa Verde
Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes 15-20 taquitos 

Ingredients:
1 package corn tortillas
1/2-1 cup Daiya pepperjack cheese
2 tbsp olive oil

For the salsa verde:
2 lbs tomatillos (about a dozen)
2-3 jalepenos 
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp salt 

For the potato filling:
3-4 russet potatoes
2 green onions, sliced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
3 tbsp butter
3/4 cup almond milk
salt and pepper (to taste)

For the salsa verde:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees (to broil). 

Peel off skins of tomatillos and slice in half, horizontally. De-stem jalapenos and slice in half long-ways. De-seed if desired. Peel garlic cloves. Place all on a baking sheet face down, and drizzle with olive oil. 

Broil for 5-15 minutes, checking every so often, until blackened. Remove from oven and cool before handling.

Place all roasted veggies into a blender, including all juices and seeds from the baking sheet. Add salt and chopped cilantro. Blend until desired consistency. 

For the potato filling:
Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Peel potatoes and chop into large chunks. Boil in water for 15 minutes, until soft. Drain and put back into pot. 

Add butter and milk into pot and mash with a potato masher until desired consistency. Stir in sliced green onions and minced jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Assembling the taquitos:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Microwave corn tortillas, wrapped with a moist paper towel a few seconds to soften (keep tortillas covered with paper towel while working to prevent cracking).

Place olive oil in shallow dish. Using your fingers, lightly coat each tortilla with oil. Scoop 1-2 tbsp of potato mixture into the center of tortilla and roll. Stick with a toothpick and place on baking sheet.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until the tortillas begin to develop a golden brown color. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and the taquitos are brown and crunchy.

Serve with salsa verde, guacamole, sour cream, and any other toppings or dips of your choosing.