Blueberries and Hushpuppies

Blueberries and Hushpuppies

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I’m a bit late for this one, but eh, it’s aight. This week was extremely busy with school, but on Tuesday we went back up to Williamsburg and bought our very first boat! We went for a little sunset sail and it was a lovely evening. After a few more practice sails we will be ready to sail her down to her new home!

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Then on Friday we got to go blueberry picking, which made the entire week better. It even happened to be National Pick Blueberries Day, what a coincidence! Last year we went picking twice and got 15 pounds each time, for a grand summer total of 30 pounds. This year we want to pick even more since we had to start rationing the ones in the freezer around February to make sure they lasted until the summer!

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On our first picking trip we ended up with about 22 pounds, so we are definitely going to beat last year’s total!

Oh and earlier in the week we started getting our first couple of cucumbers from the garden! So far we have gotten around 10 cucumbers, 6 okras, a purple bell pepper, and 4 or 5 tomatoes (which the squirrels snacked on a bit, but are salvageable). I’ve been snacking on the cucumbers just about everyday. Just peel ’em, sprinkle on some salt, and eat it like a banana. My favorite snack! The tomatoes have been enjoyed on some toast with hummus and a homemade vegan cheddar cheese, which is a super fantabulous combination. Oh and the okras will get used once we have enough to make a serving of roasted okra, mmmmmm.

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Other than all the fresh fruits and veggies, this honestly wasn’t the most eventful week I’ve ever had, but I’d like to blame school for all the studying and homework I got stuck doing. But oh well, at least I’m keeping busy 😛 Once the weekend rolled around my mom and I decided to take it easy and watch Netflix all weekend. We finished up Luther and started Broadchurch, both of which are very good shows and I would recommend them if you’re looking for a new show to watch!

My dad was also out of town all weekend kayaking and that always means mac and cheese for dinner! He hates mac and cheese, can you believe that??? This weekend we tried the recipe for the Ultimate Cheese Sauce from Veggies Don’t Bite. This sauce definitely has the cheesey texture, it even sticks to the roof of your mouth. This is the only mac and cheese recipe I’ve run into so far that doesn’t have nutritional yeast, so if you don’t like nooch give this one a try! I found it to be a bit too bell pepper tasting, but I still really enjoyed it. I’m a huge fan of nutritional yeast, so I think next time I’ll throw a bit in there. Definitely gets a thumbs up though!

To go with our mac and cheese my mom requested some hushpuppies. I grew up eating hushpuppies just about everywhere we ate, especially when getting BBQ sandwiches or something of that nature. I hadn’t had on in over 4 years probably and just the mention of them made me crave them so much! The only thing was that I really didn’t want to fry them. Over the past year I’ve really moved away from fried foods. They now tear my stomach up and just taste like straight up oil to me, so I wasn’t about to fry them. Instead I tried baking them and they still came out yummy and delicious. Just like I remember.

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If you’ve never had a hushpuppy you’ve seriously been missing out. They’re sweet and savory at the same time, warm and fluffy, and just plain delicious. I used to put a little butter on mine, but I just smeared a little Earth Balance on these and it was the same taste I remembered.

At this point we’ve closed the window that had the recipe for the hushpuppies on it, so I honestly do not remember where my mom found the recipe. I do remember the recipe, but I do not in any way, shape, or form take credit for this recipe. I simply took the recipe and made it vegan and baked instead of fried. I hope you enjoy these just as much as we did!

Vegan Hushpuppies 

Makes about 32 Hushpuppies

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 Cups Cornmeal
  • 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 1/4 Cups Non-Dairy Milk + 1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar = Vegan Buttermilk
  • 1 White Onion, very finely chopped (the best way to do this is to pulse it in a food processor or blender)
  • 6 Tablespoons Aquafaba (or any other egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs)

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk together.

In a separate, smaller bowl, combine add the milk and apple cider vinegar and let it sit for a minute to allow it to curdle. Once the mixture curdles, add the onion and aquafaba and whisk to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together, making sure not to over mix.

Using a tablespoon measure, form balls of dough and place them on the baking sheet about half an inch apart. I managed to get about 12 per baking sheet. Some of them I shaped into cylinder type shapes to resemble the hushpuppies I’m used to, but you can just leave them in the shape of the scoop if you’d like.

Bake the hushpuppies for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned on top. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool, so they don’t loose crispiness. These get a little bit dry after the first day, so I recommend serving them immediately. They’re still good heated up a few days later and topped with a bit of vegan butter, though!

Enjoy!

-Hunter