Sunday Brunch, Vegan Style

With friends in town over the weekend, we were all in the mood for brunch. How better to cap off a weekend of wine, laughter and catching up on old times?

Given my vegan diet, brunch is one of the hardest meals to eat out. It's a total shame, considering how much I love waking up on Sunday mornings—err, afternoons—and meeting friends for mimosas and pancakes.

It was a huge adjustment for me when I stopped eating eggs. Yes, there is usually oatmeal on hand, but why pay $10 for something I can so easily make at home?

Whether you enjoy brunch with friends or making pancakes with your kids in the morning, don't let a vegan diet take away the fun. There are countless—yes, countless—vegan pancake recipes. I'm also a big fan of tofu scrambles, though they really don't compare to the egg versions we grew up on.

This pancake recipe comes from a good friend, who recently had to start monitoring her iron intake. She doesn't like taking the doctor-recommended iron supplements, so she's fortifying her mainly-vegan diet with all kinds of iron-rich foods. These pancakes feature teff flour, an Ethiopian variety that we order off Amazon.com. I have yet to find it in any stores in Somerset County, but will keep you posted as soon as I do.

The recipe is adapted from one on the Bob's Red Mill website. Bob's Red Mill offers the flour, though Maskal is less expensive. We devoured these, making two batches for our group. And we all added our own yummy stuff to the batter - some preferred hemp seed, others went for strawberries and vegan chocolate chips. Whatever you choose, you really can't go wrong with pancakes rich in iron, protein and calcium.

Teff-Banana Pancakes

• 2 cups Teff (Tef, T’ef) Flour
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 2 cups Water
• 2 Tb Vegetable Oil
• sliced banana
• agave syrup to taste

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add liquids and whisk to mix.Preheat pancake griddle until a drop of water will “dance” on it. (Oil or spray griddle as needed).Spoon batter onto hot griddle to make pancakes about 4-5-inches across. Turn when edges seem dry (they won’t brown much because they don’t contain sugar).Keep cakes warm while you cook remaining cakes (or cool on racks to use as flatbread). Batter may thicken as it stands. Before spooning subsequent rounds of cakes on the griddle, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of water as needed. Once cooked, top with bananas and agave.