Power Foods for the Brain (24 page)

Serves 2 to 4

In a medium bowl, combine the buckwheat flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and salt. Whisk briefly to blend. Slowly stir in the rice milk and stir just until the lumps disappear. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat, then lightly brush with a little of the safflower oil. Add enough batter to form a 4-inch pancake and cook until the edges look dry and bubbly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Gently flip the pancake and cook on the other side until golden, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot, with warmed maple syrup.

—CW

Serves 4 (makes 4 waffles)

Freeze then thaw a banana and peel it. Mash the banana.

Preheat a waffle iron.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In another medium bowl, whip together the Ener-G Egg Replacer mixture and add the mashed banana, almond or soy milk, and lemon juice. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine them thoroughly.

Give the waffle iron a quick spray of nonstick cooking spray. Add some of the batter to your waffle iron (the amount depends on the size of your iron, but make sure the iron is covered with a thin layer of batter) and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Gently peel the waffle out of the iron with a thin blade and repeat making waffles with the rest of the batter.

Here are three ways to add a bit of zing to waffles. When using ingredients like berries or nuts, stir them into the batter after the liquid and dry ingredients are combined.

Smoked Almond and Apple:
Add ½ green apple, diced, and 2 tablespoons chopped smoked almonds to the batter.

Maple
“
Bacon
”
:
Add 2 strips tempeh “bacon,” diced, and 2 teaspoons maple syrup to the batter.

Southwestern:
Add 2 tablespoons diced roasted green chiles or rehydrated and diced ancho chiles to the batter.

—JW

Serves 4 to 6

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly oil an 8 x 8-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir until well combined. Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Cool slightly, then cut into 8 squares. Serve warm, topped with a little rice milk and extra cinnamon.

—CW

Serves 4

Place the tofu in a colander that fits inside a bowl. Put a small plate on top of the tofu. Add heavy weight, such as a few stacked bowls, on top to press the water from the tofu. Let the tofu sit for 10 minutes. Drain the tofu and crumble it into a separate bowl.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and a few pinches of the sea salt. Cook for 5 minutes, until the onion is tender. Place the drained and crumbled tofu on top of the garlic and onion mixture. Sprinkle with the turmeric, the remaining sea salt, and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes.

Place one-quarter of the tofu mixture in the middle of a tortilla. Add one-quarter of the salsa and wrap the tortilla tightly around the filling, securing it with a sheet of parchment paper if needed. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.

—CW

Serves 4 to 6

Combine 1 cup of the water and the corn grits in a medium heatproof bowl and set aside. Make sure the bowl can handle a lot of heat because you’ll be pouring hot liquid into it.

Combine the remaining 1 cup water, the molasses, agave nectar, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Add the just-boiled mixture to the water and cornmeal mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined. Stir in the cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, and cranberries.

Coat an 8½ x 4½ x 3-inch glass or metal dish with nonstick cooking spray (or use a high-quality nonstick pan). Transfer the mixture to the dish, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably 6 hours or overnight. Either remove the entire hardened polenta cake from the dish and then slice it into bars, or slice it into 4 bars directly in the dish (but not if it’s metal), and transfer to a plate to serve.

—Recipe by Madelyn Pryor

Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Put the tofu in a blender and add the turmeric and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Blend until smooth.

Cook the potatoes in a sauté pan over medium heat with a very thin layer of water until they are only slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, spinach, and green onions and cook until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes.

Add the mixture to the blended tofu and divide the mixture between a pair of 4-to 6-inch ramekins or an 8-inch ovenproof skillet. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

While the frittata is in the oven, toss the mushrooms with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Coat a sauté pan with cooking spray (or use a nonstick pan) and heat over high heat; add the mushrooms and sear them until they turn brown and slightly crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Once the frittata comes out of the oven, top it with the oyster mushrooms and serve.

—JW

Serves 2 (makes about 3 cups)

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Start your blender on the lowest setting and slowly crank it up as the smoothie starts to puree. If you start with your blender at high, you’ll end up with smoothie splattered all over the top of your blender and probably will have to stop your blender several times to get the smoothie ingredients to rest back on the blades. Once you’re up to optimal speed, blend for about 2 minutes to get everything smooth.

—JW

Serves 1

Layer ¼ cup of the smoothie in the bottom of a glass. Add a 2-tablespoon layer of oats next, followed by another ¼ cup of smoothie, then the last 2 tablespoons oats, and finish it off with the last ¼ cup of smoothie. Top with fresh berries or a sprig of mint.

—JW