I guess it’s Christmas time

Philadelphia experienced its first brutally cold temperatures this week (it dropped to 14°F!) and we even had snowfall yesterday! So this weekend was spent indoors, listening to holiday albums of my youth. (Hanson’s “Snowed In,” anyone?) Yesterday, my boyfriend made us biscuits and mushroom gravy (with my homemade seitan & bean sausage) for breakfast and it was the absolutely perfect way to begin our lazy Saturday. (Though, admittedly, it was noon when we ate.) Today, I wanted to make pancakes but he requested waffles–with chocolate chips! So I obliged. This is what I came up with:


  • 1-1/4 C flour
  • 1/2 C rolled oats
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C semi-sweet non-dairy chocolate chips
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1-1/2 C non-dairy milk (soy, almond, rice, etc.)
  • 1/4 C canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


  1. Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk with a fork until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
  2. In a separate bowl, mash the banana with a fork until smooth. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla extract, whisking with a fork until combined.
  4. While the batter rests, begin pre-heating your waffle iron to your desired crispness. If necessary, spray with oil to prevent waffles from sticking.
  5. When the light turns green, use 1/3 cup scoops of the batter to fill each waffle mold.
  6. The waffles are ready when steam stops rising out of the iron.
  7. Top with vegan butter, maple syrup, and powdered sugar, or any toppings of your choice.

They are perfection! They are so light and fluffy yet still have that delectably crispy shell. I didn’t even take any pictures because they were devoured so quickly >_<

Now to continue this lazy weekend with some reading and knitting, while listening to ‘NSync’s “Home for Christmas” album…

Tempeh Hash with Poached Avocado and Hollandaise Sauce

Last weekend, Alex and I were in Philadelphia. It was our first time visiting the city so we did some research and made a list of all the vegan restaurants within 5 miles of our hotel. (Quite serendipitously, the current issue of Chickpea Magazine had a vegan guide to Philly! I took copious notes as I made my lists in Evernote.) One restaurant that did not come up on our radar during this research, however, was Vegan Commissary. It only opened in December 2013 so it is brand new, explaining why we only stumbled upon it on Saturday morning as we searched for a place to get vegan breakfast/brunch. For such a new restaurant, though, it already had a lot of good reviews on Yelp so we decided to go there.

…Man, oh, man, was this place amazing! I had the breakfast wrap while Alex had the tempeh hash with poached avocado. We then followed that up with cinnamon rolls and quinoa porridge. (Walking everywhere, especially in snow and slush, works up quite an appetite!) We were in absolute vegan food bliss.

Now, I didn’t get to try the tempeh hash with poached avocado but I decided to recreate it—or my version of it—for breakfast today. The following is what I came up with and it was quite divine, if I do say so myself.

Tempeh Hash with Poached Avocado and Hollandaise Sauce
Serves 2
My attempt at recreating a delicious brunch item from Vegan Commissary, an amazing vegan restaurant in Philadelphia.
Write a review
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
973 calories
59 g
0 g
72 g
39 g
12 g
621 g
404 g
5 g
0 g
55 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
Amount Per Serving
Calories 973
Calories from Fat 620
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 72g
Saturated Fat 12g
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 14g
Monounsaturated Fat 41g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 404mg
Total Carbohydrates 59g
Dietary Fiber 19g
Sugars 5g
Protein 39g
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Tempeh Hash
  1. 8-oz tempeh, cubed
  2. 1/4 C onion, chopped
  3. 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  4. 1/2 C potato, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces
  5. 1/2 C sweet potato, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces
  6. 4 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds, chopped
  7. 2 Tbsp, rounded, nutritional yeast
  8. 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
  9. 2 Tbsp olive oil
  10. salt and pepper, to taste
  11. paprika, to taste
Poached Avocado
  1. 1 avocado, halved and peeled, pit removed
  2. 2 Tbsp water, divided
Hollandaise Sauce
  1. 1/4 C cashews, soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours
  2. 1/4 tsp turmeric
  3. pinch sea salt
  4. pinch cayenne pepper
  5. 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice
  6. 5 Tbsp water
  7. 2 Tbsp olive oil
  8. 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
To serve
  1. 1 handful of baby spinach
  2. 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  3. Sriracha, to taste (optional)
Tempeh Hash
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Combine all ingredients except paprika in a bowl and stir until everything is well coated in oil. (Add more oil as needed.)
  3. Lay out in a thin layer on a cookie sheet or in a shallow, wide dish. (If the dish is too deep, the top will brown and the rest will simply cook. You want to achieve maximum crispiness here.)
  4. Dust with paprika and bake for about 18 minutes, or until beginning to brown.
Poached Avocado
  1. While the hash is cooking, take out two square sheets of foil.
  2. Place an avocado half in the middle of one foil sheet, drizzle with 1 Tbsp water, and seal it (like a roomy pouch). Repeat for the other half.
  3. Once the time is up on the hash, stir the tempeh mixture and place the foil packets on a separate rack.
  4. Crank up the temperature to 400°F. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Hollandaise Sauce
  1. Drain and rinse the cashews. Place them in a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
  2. Just before serving, heat the sauce in a microwave until warm (15-20 seconds).
To serve
  1. Divide the spinach among two plates.
  2. Spoon tempeh hash onto the dishes.
  3. Top with poached avocado.
  4. Drizzle with hollandaise sauce and sriracha (if using).
  5. Sprinkle on the fresh parsley.
  6. Enjoy!
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When I make this next, I’ll try to get some photos before Alex and I gobble it all up.