by : Reiko Breakfast, Gluten Free

Carrot Cake Scones
キャロットケーキスコーン

Tomorrow is Easter.

It’s one of the holidays I have a hard time coming up with ideas of food to make for.

Especially as a plant-eater, ham and eggs are out, and there aren’t too many options left.

But I like carrot cake, and it’s an acceptable dish for Easter, I believe.

Since I wanted something for breakfast, I decided to make carrot-cake inspired scones, instead of a carrot cake itself.

In the batter you’ll see shredded carrot, dry cranberries, almond slices, sunflower seeds, and spices.

They turned out great!

It’s made of rice flour, so it’s gluten-free.

This is one of my favorite mugs.

Details are amazing.

Even on the bottom!

I usually buy small inexpensive decoration for holidays.

They are easy to store, and if my taste changes, I won’t feel too bad switching to something different.

I found this pair of bunnies at Target for $3, and I absolutely love them.

Their details are amazing, they look like they are about to jump (love their facial expressions too!), and they have nice heavy weight.

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by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast, Gluten Free

V/GF Tofu-Oatmeal Cinnamon Rolls with Blueberry Jam
豆腐オートミールシナモンロール、ブルーベリージャムがけ

I’ve been quite busy at work lately.

Since we came back from our long winter vacation, I’ve been really enjoying being productive.

I like the feeling, but at the same time I haven’t had a lot of time to cook or bake at home.

Finding the right balance between work and home is absolutely important, but also hard to do.

This morning I made time to make breakfast instead of just making a toast.

These cinnamon rolls’ main ingredients are tofu and oatmeal, which makes them perfect for breakfast.

Just out of the oven.

I’m not a big fan of smearing icing or frosting on my cinnamon rolls.

I mean they are good, but they will instantly turn them into a dessert instead of a breakfast food.

So this time I lightly spread some vegan butter.

Then I realized that my husband’s friend just recently gave us this beautiful homemade blueberry jam, and I thought it would be fun to drizzle it over the cinnamon rolls.

Doesn’t this look great?

It was nice to sit down and enjoy a hearty homemade breakfast like this at the end of the week.

With a cup of coffee.

I haven’t had time to make coffee in the morning all week, and I needed it!

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by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast, Gluten Free

Tofu Oatmeal Bagels
豆腐オートミールベーグル

My husband and I like this bagel so much that I decided to triple the recipe this time.

I wrap each with plastic and freeze them so that we can microwave them when we want to eat.

They are good any time of the day, but they are really perfect for breakfast because you can get the nutrition like carbs (we need carbs for energy especially in the morning, everyone!) and protein.

This time I made plain and curry bagels with three toppings, black sesame, white sesame, and parsley.

I forgot to mention, but another reason why these are perfect for breakfast is because it has a nice dense texture, just like regular bagel, and it’s so satisfying.

I said that the five aprons I have had were enough and that I was refraining from buying any more, but I just recently found several more I had bought a long time ago and forgotten about!

I definitely can’t go apron-shopping for a while.

By the way this is one of the aprons I had bought and forgotten about for years.

It’s a shame, because I really liked it.

The colors suit the spring season, too.

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by : Reiko Bread, Gluten Free

V/GF Pink x White Rolls
桃白パン

I thought it would be pretty to have two-tones, white and pink.

The pink color turned out to be much more vivid than I anticipated, but I think they are still pretty.

16 white balls and 16 pink balls.

Here is a unique thing about this recipe.

These rolls are baked in a pan.

The pink color is not beets.

This is one of my favorite rice flour bread recipe ↓

https://www.instagram.com/p/CamcXMhP9JP/

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*I also have an Instagram account. ↓　There I post some pictures and videos that you don’t see here at the blog. If you followed me there as well, I would love that! When you stop by, say “hi! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

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by : Reiko Bread, Gluten Free

Dark Oatmeal Rolls with Cranberries
クランベリー入り色黒オートミールパン

I’ve made this so many times.

These are so hearty and perfect for breakfast, and I love having them in the freezer.

This time I used date sugar for the sweetener.

Date sugar is the best, the most nutritious sweetener, and I like to use it as much as possible.

You can see the culprit for the dark color.

I triple the recipe, but I may have to double-triple the recipe soon!

The base recipe is here (Japanese) ↓

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUHuZmvhp98/

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by : Reiko Gluten Free, Pizza/Flatbread

Tofu-Rice Flour Vegan Pizza
豆腐と米粉のかりっとピザ

Initially I made this crust during our vacation because I only bought rice flour and not wheat flour.

I wanted to make pizza, and I experimented with rice flour and tofu to make the crust.

The dough feels different from the wheat flour dough.

It’s not as elastic, but it’s easy to spread on a pan.

I oiled the pan before placing the dough, and I also brushed olive oil on the dough before putting it in the oven.

I cook the dough without sauce or toppings first for about 10 minutes at 400-425F, and then for another 10 minutes or so with sauce and toppings.

This is what it looked like when it was out of the oven and I drizzled the vegan cheese and sprinkled Shiso leaves.

As you can see, the crust is very unique.

Crispy outside and somewhat chewy inside.

It’s frustrating that I cannot describe it better because it’s so wonderful and we love it.

For the crust I use this “Rice Flour Focaccia” recipe (I double the recipe and it fits this sized pan perfectly). ↓

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQF3XLPB6o0/

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*I also have an Instagram account. ↓　There I post some pictures and videos that you don’t see here at the blog. If you followed me there as well, I would love that! When you stop by, say “hi! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

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by : Reiko Bread, Gluten Free

Stovetop V/GF Curry Rolls
フライパンで米粉カレーパン

Once you mix all the ingredients and form balls, you place them in a frying pan.

You let them rise and then “bake” them in the same pan.

So easy!

Perfecto!

I wish you could smell these rolls.

It’s crazy to think that you can make bread without an oven.

The roll recipe (Japanese) ↓

I just added curry powder and turmeric.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CamcXMhP9JP/

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*I also have an Instagram account. ↓　There I post some pictures and videos that you don’t see here at the blog. If you followed me there as well, I would love that! When you stop by, say “hi! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

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by : Reiko Gluten Free, Sweets

Dippin’ Donuts: V/GF Kinako Donuts with Kuromitsu (“Black” Syrup) Cream Dip
ディッピン・ドーナツ：きなこドーナツを黒蜜クリームにディップする

This is dedicated to all the Kinako lovers out there.

Kinako, soybean powder, is in the donut batter, and the baked donuts are coated with Kinako.

They were finished with a drizzle of Kuromitsu (Japanese “black” syrup).

This is a classic combination, Kinako and Kuromitsu, in Japan, and it has been used in various traditional sweets for many many years.

But I wasn’t done yet.

Kuromitsu was mixed in whipped coconut cream.

This is a winner!

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*I also have an Instagram account. ↓　There I post some pictures and videos that you don’t see here at the blog. If you followed me there as well, I would love that! When you stop by, say “hi! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

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by : Reiko Bread, Gluten Free

V/GF Orange Almond Oatmeal Rolls
オレンジアーモンドオートミールパン

Another oatmeal roll, and this was delicious!

This was another oatmeal roll I made a few weeks ago.

They are both good but different.

This version contains yeast unlike the other, which gives the yeast-bread-like taste and smell.

It also gives pleasant chewiness.

To this one I added dried orange and almond slices.

It smelled and tasted amazing.

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*I also have an Instagram account. ↓　There I post some pictures and videos that you don’t see here at the blog. If you followed me there as well, I would love that! When you stop by, say “hi! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Gluten Free, Tofu

Chicken (no, I lied, it’s Tofu!) and Waffles
チキンみたいな豆腐＆ワッフル

Even before I started the plant-based diet, I never had Chicken and Waffles.

But I always thought it was an interesting dish.

The only thing I wasn’t so sure was that it was so “brown”, and I knew if I ever decided to make one myself, I would add some color to the plate.

So, first I made this bright-colored coleslaw.

Now about the chicken.

Remember the new tofu Costco now carries?

Their extra firm tofu is VERY firm.

Probably the hardest tofu I’ve ever had.

But you know what?

It’s perfect to use it as “chicken” because of its very texture.

You may think I cooked it with an air fryer.

But no, I didn’t.

There have been so many times I almost bought an air fryer, but every time I was this close to purchasing one, I had this whispering voice in my head (that actually was real voice first from my husband), “it’s pretty much the same as the convection oven.”

So finally I decided to make crispy tofu using our convection function on our oven, and it worked great.

What do you think?

This is how I made it.

Tear the tofu with fingers into bite-sized pieces.

Microwave for a minute or so to remove extra liquid.

Put the tofu along with soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, salt, and corn starch in a plastic bag and make sure that the tofu is coated with the mixture.

Place the tofu on a foil (oiled)-lined sheet pan, single-layered, and cook in the convection oven at 400F for about 15-20 minutes or until crispy.

I sometimes use the broiler at the end to make it even crispier.

The tofu sticks to the foil, but it will come off easily once cooled.

This is so tasty, and you can use this for so many different “chicken” dishes.

My “Chicken” and Waffles is definitely not brown.

It was served with spicy, tangy, sweet, fruity gochujang-passion fruit glaze.

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*I also have an Instagram account. ↓　There I post some pictures and videos that you don’t see here at the blog. If you followed me there as well, I would love that! When you stop by, say “hi! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

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