Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

No eggs, nor other dairy, and yet these muffins are still light and fluffy!

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c granulated sugar
1/3 c canola oil
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c non dairy semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease your muffin tins. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and the oil. Then add the mashed banana and chocolate chips. Stir in the water and vanilla until incorporated. Add flour mixture, a little at a time and stir until just incorporated. Fill all 12 muffin cups evenly and bake about 30 minutes, until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one or two comes out cleanly.

Chef George's Veg Paella

I was looking for recipes from real restaurant chefs, and this one comes from Chef George Krumov.


Now, I don't know if there is such a thing as vegetarian paella in the Spanish cuisine, however I created this tasty recipe for all the vegetarians who want to try the wonderful taste of the paella without all the meat and seafood.

Ingredients: 2 cups parboiled conditioned rice, 1 cup sofrito sauce (follow the link to find the recipe), 1 cup vegetable stock, 1 tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce, 2 cups mixed steamed vegetables of your choice such as broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, sweet peas, mushrooms, etc., 1 tbsp. chopped onion, 1 garlic clove, chopped, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 50 ml. dry white wine, salt and pepper.

Recipe: Rinse the rice with cold water and boil it until fully cooked but still a little bit hard, about 1 minute away from being cooked to your taste. Strain the rice and wash it with cold water. In a large non-stick skillet (or cast iron pan) saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the steamed vegetables and saute for 3 minutes more. Deglaze with the white wine and add the oyster sauce, vegetable stock and sofrito sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil and add the boiled rice. Reduce the temperature and simmer the vegetarian paella for about 10 minutes, tossing it with the skillet to stir only a few times. When the desired consistency is achieved, taste for salt and serve the vegetarian paella in two pasta bowls or directly with the skillet.