Sunday breakfast meals bring out the "made-from-scratch" in me and I think with Mother's Day just around the corner we should all make an effort to cook a nice meal for our mums, good friends or just for ourselves!  Vegans and Non Vegans alike will enjoy these great recipes I always use! Below I share two recipes: My vegan Hollandaise and a super tasty Polenta-like pâté made from ground sunflower seeds, cornmeal & potatoes.  And, of course, how can you make Eggs Benedict for your friends without HOMEMADE English Muffins. I made these foods from scratch from tried and true recipes that I love! BUT, of course, I alway give any recipe a bit of my own twist.  You should, too!  Have fun! and celebrate mothers past, present and future on May 11th - they make our wold a better place!

Another terrific appetizer, snack or protein main dish on Brunch Day is this wonderfully delicious Sunflower pâté. So flavorful and satisfying!  You will not believe it's vegan. Nutritional Yeast is what gives this pâté a rich, cheesy, nutty flavor. I LOVE this dish for picnics, lunches or parties.  See this and my Mock Arugula Hollandaise recipe below. 

This recipe is from one of my favorite vegan cookbooks that I picked up at the bottom of a pile in a thrift sale.  It's called Vegan Delights by Jeanne Marie Martin and was published in 1993.  Wonderful recipes in this book.  

Serves 6-8 people 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup Sunflowers seeds, finely ground
  
• 1/2 cup corn meal
  
• 1//2 cup yellow nutritional yeast  - click here for more information on nutritional yeast
  
• 3 tsp. dried parsley flakes (I didn't have any but if you do, great!) 
  
• 1.5 tsp dried basil
  
• 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
  
• 3/4-1 tsp sea salt 
  
• 1/2 tsp dried sage leaves (I didn't have sage on hand and it still tasted great!)
  
• 1/4 tsp sea kelp powder
  

• 1 Cup finely grated potato (I just used grater on food processor)
  
• 1 and 1/3 cup water
  
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil or other natural oil (you can reduce this amount if you wish)
  
• 2 TBS soy sauce or Tamari
  

Optional: 3-4 tsp prepared horseradish.  I didn't have this on hand either so did not include this. Other things you could add include some finely chopped onions or minced garlic.  Keep the wet veggies to a minimum. 

DIRECTIONS: 

• Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Grate the potato and rinse it thoroughly to remove excess starch.  Squeeze and drain it after rinsing.  Add the remaining ingredients in the order given above, stirring in the potato last. Mix well. 

• Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Generously oil a 9" glass pie plate and scoop in the pâté mixture. Put it in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees.  Bake 35-45 minutes until well browned. 

• Let the pâté cool 1-2 hours and then chill it thoroughly before serving to set it completely.  It may be reheated later if desired.  It is tastiest when served at room temperature.  Keeps up to 7 days refrigerated or may be frozen in pie wedges (with reduced oil and no onions or garlic)
  

Makes about 1 cup

INGREDIENTS

• 3 TBS Earth Balance or Butter Alternative.  Or - use Ghee or Butter - whatever suits you!
  
• 2 TBS Flour (I use gluten free flour)
  
• 1/4  to 1/2 tsp Turmeric (this creates the hollandaise color)
  
• 1 Cup Milk Alternative (Soy, Almond, etc) - I use homemade almond (none of the flavored stuff from the store:(
  
• 2 TBS Nutritional Yeast 
  
• Pinch cayenne
  
• 1/2 or 1 TBS Veganaise (Vegan Mayo - I use Wildwood Vegan Aioli) 
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  
• Small handful of baby arugula. 

DIRECTIONS

• Sizzle "butter" in heavy skillet on stove over med high heat
  
• Add flour & turmeric to butter and mix thoroughly to create a paste - (do not burn paste)
  
• Whisk in almond milk and keep whisking until smooth
• Remove from heat and add the nutritional yeast and pinch of cayenne
• At this point your "hollandaise" should be smooth, colorful and flavorful.  Next step is to the food processor 
• In a small bowl of your food processor add your hollandaise, handful of arugula and 1/2 TBS or 1 TBS of Veganaise. Blend thoroughly and add water by the TableSpoons to reach the correct consistency you desire.  I thinned mine a bit with water.  It will thicken each time your reheat it - you can add water likewise each time you reheat. 
• Add salt and pepper to taste.  Reheat when ready to serve.  Taste to your liking and add things you prefer!
  

This is a good one! A vegetable (vegan) "meat" Ball that is packed with so much flavor you will never eat a meat ball ever again!  This is also a terrific recipe for your non-vegetarian/vegan friends, too!  They will truly be amazed by the flavor and texture of these vegetable balls. I especially love the texture - as this is so essential to my food eating enjoyment! The veggie balls have a much better texture, I think, then meat balls - they are a bit softer but keep together and have such a great, flavorful bite! I eat these just as they are (heated or cold) or serve them with a simple vegan sauce (like a "creamy" (tofu) green onion sauce or tomato sauce).  I usually make a batch that I eat as snacks or as a quick meal and I freeze the others for later dinner quickies.  

I am grateful for finding this recipe in a cookbook I purchased at a yard sale.  The cookbook was published in 1990 and is called Vegan Delights by Jeanne Marie Martin.  Her recipes are terrific in this book --- best I have seen and tried yet ... and I always put my own variation on these recipes.  Thank you Jeanne Marie! 

Madge's Simply Satisfying Menu Idea of the Day
"Dinner with Friends"  
Be sure to keep appetizers to a bare minimum as your main course will be filling & hearty! 
For your starter course: 
Freshly tossed, peppery arugula or mixed baby green salad with a lemon or mustard vinaigrette 
(get those digestive juices flowing!) 
Main Course:
Fettuccine & "Meat" Ball main course with a nice Cream or Tomato sauce (comforting and filling). 
Rest for a bit before your final course! (play a round of cribbage or sip some wine) 
*As a lighter alternative - skip the pasta and serve wrapped in lettuce or with steamed veg that's
topped with your favorite sauce! 

Dessert: 
Lemon or basil sorbet!   
Check out the recipe below! 
Another great way to serve these to your heavy-duty meat eater friends would be as "Meat" Ball Grinders (sub sandwiches) with a good o'l New England Italian Gravy Sauce!  - and make sure it's TOASTED!

Note: You can use Millet, Quinoa or Short Grain Brown Rice.  Make sure your Brown rice is cooked with a little extra water for extra tenderness (I use my rice cooker as per instructions and this was perfect) and if you use Quinoa make sure it is actually a bit less tender than normal (1 and 1/8 cup quinoa to 2 cups water) - I haven't tried the Quinoa yet but this is the recommendation in Jeanne Marie's cookbook.  

ALSO - I HIGHLY recommend the use of a food processor to process the vegetables for this recipe - it is best that each vegetable is pulsed to a small size (chopping would take a long time) and it makes things go quickly - IF YOU DON"T have a food processor - try grating the vegetables on a large grate setting (except the onions).

• 2 Cups cooked Short Grain Brown Rice
  
• 1/2 cup hazelnut flour OR 1/2 cup ground almonds (I used ground almonds - ground in my processor)
  
• 2 TBSP arrowroot powder OR unbleached white or kamut flour
  

Note Below - I pulsed each veg separately in my food processor

• Preheat Oven to 400 degrees F. 
• 2-3 TBSP natural oil (grapeseed, etc)
  
• 1 Cup chopped Onion
  
• 1 Cup chopped Carrots
  
• 1 Cup chopped Broccoli 
  
• 1 Cup chopped Celery
  
• 1/2 Cup chopped Kalamata or Black Olives (I use Kalamata)
  
• 2 Cloves minced Garlic (I use about 1 tsp of Hing)
  
• 2 minced Green Onions (all parts)
  
• 3 TBSP minced/chopped Cilantro
  
• 2 Vegetable Bouillon cubes (you can use low sodium - but be sure to use high quality bouillon)
  
• 2 tsp Miso paste (I used a chick pea miso paste that was totally delicious)
  
• Dash of Soy sauce
• 1 tsp dried dill weed
  
• 1 tsp paprika
  
• 1/2 dried thyme
  

Optional - 1/2 cup chopped nuts of choice.... I did not use nuts and found that these "meat" balls great texture!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the first three ingredients separately.  
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and saute' the onions, broccoli and carrots until semi-tender.  Add the other vegetables and saute' 1-2 minutes (if you are lazy just plunk all your veggies and olives into your preheated, lightly oiled pan and saute' until tender). 
3. Add remaining ingredients (spices, bouillon, etc.) and mix thoroughly (break up that bouillon! and be sure to mix in the miso paste)) and saute' for another couple of minutes until the flavors all blend - DO NOT SALT - those bouillons and miso paste should be more than enough!  
4. Remove the saute' from the heat and mix it well with the brown rice & flour mixture. I use a hard paddle spoon and "cut" in the ingredients, you want to make sure you maintain the integrity of the cooked rice grain.  Roll into small balls (about 1/8th of a cup).  Bake balls at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes... don't move them - the bottoms will brown nicely - just leave it at that and don't mess with a great thing:)

Remove when done and serve as desired... I just plunk a couple on a plate with a nice salad and have lunch right then and there... I then save the rest for later or for a dinner party (see my storage of them below)!  ENJOY these as much as I do!  

Last night we had friends over for a vegan-style, Kick Butt meal!! My theme was "Upper Crust Diner Food". 
Our starter was a deeply-mushroomy mushroom soup followed by our main course: A vegan version of a tasty Muffaletta (a New Orleans antipasto-like sandwich normally with meat, cheese, olive relish and more).  I did mine with a locally made crusty baguette (thank you Two Fish) filled with an herbed olive relish, roasted eggplant, roasted red peppers, pickled garlic & spinach. I made the Muffalettas well in advance and weighted the sandwiches down so the bread could soak up all the olive oily goodness.  

And joining the main course: A mixed greens salad with Madge's Miso dressing (minus the ginger) and some roasted fingerling potatoes.  I also included some of my homemade pickled veggies (carrots, cabbage, red onion & hot chili peppers) as an additional tarty side dish. And for dessert ... a Gluten Free Black Pepper spiced shortcake with Black Berry Basil Compote - topped with a cashew whipped vanilla & nutmeg cream!  Can you say ... Yummy Happiness:). Thankfully, our guests were sated and happy, too. 

I am so grateful to have enough food in my life.  Something not everyone has BUT should have.  I always cook with this in mind and am forever grateful for what I am able to put on the table for family & friends.   I only wish I had a better photo to show you - I usually put everything on big platters and let everyone have at it. By the time I pulled out the camera the food was already a little picked over ... but that's how I like it!