Gluten Free Corn Pancakes with Beans and Kale

This breakfast was another “what do I have in my kitchen” recipe. It was a Sunday and I thought I wanted something brunch-y and I still wanted to feel good after. This was the perfect strange combination for me.

For the Beans and Kale- you could use any kind of beans. I was planning on black beans and I apparently ran out. After a quick search I discovered a can of white beans I forgot about. Yum! Since the beans were salted- I soaked and rinsed them a few times, and found I didn’t need any added salt at all. After deciding to just add a little pepper, I was particularly please when Brian asked what I seasoned them with because they were so good. I occasionally need to remind myself that sometimes simple is better!

Gluten Free Corn Pancakes

1-½ cups of masa

½ cup corn meal

2 cups boil water

¼ coconut oil (My favorite but you can use any kind)

Egg replacer for 2 eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ agave nectar

1.     Boil the water

2.     Mix masa and corn meal

3.     Add water to masa mixture and stir just until combined

4.     Add other ingredients stir gently.

5.     Cook like pancakes, I melt a little more coconut oil in a pan and fry them up.

6.     Add more agave like syrup for eating!

White Beans and Kale

1 Can of White Beans

3 Leafs of Black Kale (torn up into bite size pieces)

Olive Oil

Pepper

1.              If the beans have salt added, rinse them really well. Heck- even soak them for a few minutes. Drain them and put them in a pot on medium heat.

2.              After a few minutes add a little oil and the kale.

3.              Sautee until kale has softened in texture.

Adventures of the Corn Dog into My Belly

I started eating a vegetarian diet very young. I never liked meat, but looking back on what I did enjoy is pretty scary. I would eat cheeseburgers from McDonalds (not even real burgers at a BBQ, I thought those were gross!), tuna salad, and corndogs. Not hotdogs, I never liked hotdogs, but yummm corndogs and the rest of the icky processed food I enjoyed.

I never even considered vegetarian corndogs until I was at my friend Lauren’s house and she offered me Morning Star’s mini corndogs. Oh my gosh, so delicious. But as I am foraging into this vegan adventure- I read the ingredients: milk, eggs, corn syrup, sugar, hydrogenated oils, and enriched bleached flour. A bunch of stuff I’m trying to cut out!

So while I was searching for a name for a blog, I was getting discouraged, because a ton of my ideas were taken by dead urls, twitters, or advertising sites. I finally thought “Happy Herbivore” would be great! I plugged it in, and the first thing I see? “Popular Recipes: Vegan Baked Corndogs.” Okay so the name I was stoked on was taken- but I had inadvertently come across what I didn’t even realize I was longing for.

Here is Happy Herbivore’s recipe for VEGAN baked corndogs.

I tried it with Smart Dogs (Not gluten free, but still pretty healthy), almond milk, corn flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour, and agave instead of raw sugar. Pretty good- but because I had changed the flour around I added more almond milk and the texture of the batter was a bit off. They tasted pretty good... but my corndogs were hideous.

Not to be discouraged, I noted that the Happy Herbivore suggested that a Twinkie pan makes cuter corn dogs. While searching Amazon, I noticed that not only did they have a pan, but they also had a pigs-in-blanket cooker "Appetizer Maker" that had great reviews. About $25 later I had one on it’s way to me.

When the "Appetizer Maker" arrived I was so excited I pulled it out right away and needed corn dogs that second. I wanted to try a slightly different recipe so this time I tried a recipe from the mini book that came with the “Appetizer Maker.” It called for egg, milk, cornmeal, salt, flour, baking powder, and sugar. So I mixed egg replacer, vegetable broth, cornmeal, salt, gluten free flour, baking powder, agave, cinnamon. It was okay, Brian thought it tasted exactly the same as the previous one. But we both agree they were cuter!!

A little overflowed but who doesn't love the corn mixture!

So today, determined to end this war or corn dogs, I tried combining what I liked from the separate recipes, learn from my gluten free mistakes and finally make the ultimate gluten-free-sugar-free-vegan corn dog recipe.

On the dogs . . . I have been using Smart Dogs for a while since I originally just cut out white flour. However, now that I’m moving towards gluten free I haven’t found any vegan and gluten free dogs at my local grocery store. After some research I found that www.soyboy.com and Tofupups are vegan and gluten free but I haven’t tried either yet. Have any of you?

Vegodactyl Vegan Gluten Free Sugar Free Corn Dogs

1 ½ egg recipe

2/3-cup cornmeal

4 tbsp coconut flour

2-teaspoon baking powder

1/2-teaspoon baking soda

A dash of paprika

A dash of dry mustard

A dash of onion powder

A dash of black pepper

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons agave

A sprinkle of cinnamon

1/3 cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1/3 cup water

4 veggie dogs cut into thirds (If you want gluten free, here is where you need to be careful!)

1.            Grease Appetizer Maker with a little coconut oil or prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. To Preheat Appetizer Maker or oven to 450.

2.            Mix all dry ingredients together. Add vegetable broth, coconut oil and stir well. Slowly add water until batter is just combined and all lumps are removed.

3.            If cooking in an Appetizer Maker place a little batter in the cavities, place the dog on top and a little more batter on top. Cook according to the directions.

4.            If cooking on a cookie sheet, dip the dogs and place on parchment paper, if necessary add a little more batter to the top.

5.            Bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown.