Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Time for Vegan Omelettes is NIGH! *jamming out on omelettey air guitar*

Let us flash back for a moment to reminisce about my vegan omelette-making attempts from about a year ago, otherwise known as The Omelette of Ugly Fat Stupidness.

If you'll remember: not once, but TWICE, I attempted to make a vegan omelette with HORRIBLY DISASTROUS RESULTS.

This disaster:



The same disaster, close-up:



Another disaster, unrelated:



(Oh, I kid, JSimps! I love ya!)


Anyways. The problem: Nothing congealed.

So I went into my third attempt, this time using the VEGAN BRUNCH omelet recipe, with some SERIOUS trepidation.

And holy-crap-with-an-8-foot-woody!

Magic:

                          from Vegan Brunch


And not only was it pretty (we all know how that goes: looks pretty on the outside, is an evil, conniving, nasty bitch on the inside) but IT TASTED SO MOTHERF-ING GOOD I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU.

Seriously.

Omelets were always one of my comfort foods. And not only did this vegan omelet fool me into the old arms of omelet-comfort, it also tasted damn good EVEN WITHOUT CHEESE.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 garlic cloves

  • 1 lb. silken tofu, lightly drained (not the vacuum-packed kind) or soft tofu; Nasoya brand is recommended

  • 2 T. nutritional yeast

  • 2 T. olive oil

  • 1/2 t. turmeric

  • 1 t. fine black salt, plus extra for sprinkling (optional)

  • 1/2 c. chickpea flour

  • 1 T. arrowroot or cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

Chop up the garlic, if using, in a food processor (I used a blender). Add the tofu, nutritional yeast, olive oil, turmeric, and salt. Puree until smooth. Add the chickpea flour and arrowroot and puree again for about 10 seconds, until combined. Make sure to scrape down the sides so that everything is well incorporated.

NOTE: The original recipe also has a note in case you use soft tofu (which I did), and it's essentially that you will need to add/adjust water to your mix. Start off with 1/4 cup and test it out by heating up a skillet and cooking up 1-2 T. of it according to the directions below. If it spreads and congeals as it cooks, you can move on to the big versions. If it doesn't spread at all but just sort of sits there and doesn't congeal, then add up to 1/4 cup more water. I think I used nearly 1/2 cup in total to my soft tofu.

OTHER NOTE THAT'S NOT THE NOTE THAT I NOTED IN THE ABOVE NOTE: I forgot what it was dammit. Will add if I think of it. =P Aha! Remembered! I don't know why most tofu recipes call for a stupid pound of tofu since they only ever seem to come in 14 oz or 15 oz packages, but worry not: I used a 14 oz package and kept all other measurements the same, and it still came out delish.

Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the pan with cooking spray. (The less oil the better for the nice brown speckles we're going for.) ALso, make sure that you use a large skillet, as you need room to spread out the omelet and to get your spatula under there to flip.

In 1/2 cup increments, pour the omelet batter into the skillet. Use the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula to spread the batter out into about 6-inch circles.

Let the batter cook for about 3 to 5 minutes before flipping. The top of the omelet should dry and become a matte yellow when it's ready to be flipped. If you try and it seems like it might fall apart, give it a little more time. The underside should be flecked light to dark brown. Flip the omelet and cook for about a minute on the other side. Keep warm on a plate covered with tinfoil as you make the remaining omelets.

Fill omelet with the filling of your choice, then fold it. Once the omelet has been filled, sprinkle with a little extra black salt, since some of its flavor disappears when cooked.

Makes 4 omelettes.

(Recipe originally from Vegan Brunch, posted at Jaclyn's Vegan Yumminess)

9 comments:

Vegan said...

I must try this! It's one thing to see a recipe in a cookbook, and another to read such a glowing review and photo from someone just trying out the recipe. Thanks!

wildsoda said...

I tried another vegan omelette recipe I found online and came up with the same congealed mess that you did. Then I tried yours -- though I couldn't find chickpea flour, so I used wholemeal flour instead -- and it came out great. Thanks so much for posting it! I've never had a real omelette before (I'm vegetarian but have always hated the taste of eggs), but always envied what a flexible and filling meal they made, and now I can make my own. Cheers!

Edward Tennyson said...

Hi! Love the recipe but when I made it it came out tasting like raw flour. I cooked it for 5 minutes on one side and 3 on the other. Ideas on what happened? Oh I used white flour.

Lindy Loo said...

ET: Not sure. I've cooked it with white flour before too and it's been fine, though not quite as tasty. Maybe you needed more water? Is hard to say, but I'd give it another try. Once you get the knack, you'll see how tasty it is!

Anna S. said...

I just made this and it's awesome! It's easy. It looks good. It tastes good, too.

I didn't have nutritional yeast, so I omitted it. I didn't have chickpea flour, either, so I substituted falafel mix. (Actually a tablespoon of falafel mix is the secret to a fluffy non-vegan omelette.) It still turned out great!

Anonymous said...

You had me at 8-foot-woody

LesliePVD said...

I used this recipe to make some "eggs" for a breakfast wrap. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Black eyed peas, salsa, avocado and this fluffy, lovely, warm golden goodness. Also took the pressure off of it to make something big enough to hold the filling of an omelet. But I could tell how it would be totally possible! Thanks for the great recipe!

LesliePVD said...

Yum yum yum yum yum! I made these "eggs" for a breakfast wrap. Avocado, black eyed peas, salsa and this fluffy, warm, golden goodness! Making them this way took some of the pressure of them having to be big and perfect for filling, but I know it would work and I look forward to going all the way next time. Thanks for a great recipe and for all the suggestions.

lindas5589 said...

Tried this recipe yesterday for my son and I. OMG was it the best! Put it on a bagel (which I don't usually have, oh well, this was a splurge), with carmelized onions, red bell pepper and some morningstar "hamburg" crumbles along with a little Daiya cheddar inside of the folded omellette. Unbelieveable! Been vegan for less than a year and can't believe the great food I've been enjoying (and I was a pretty significant meat eater all my life (now 57). This morning I threw leftovers in microwave, toasted another bagel (my bad) and had another fantastic breakfast!