More Thoughts on Pancakes (or Waffles)

I missed meditation this morning. My group starts their work at 9am, and I woke at 8:40am. I called down to the garage for my car, through on clothes, ran downstairs, drove to The Ruby Room, and paid for a parking spot. Too late. So sad. I had such a great week and was really looking forward to this "spiritual bonding." But alas, it was not to be.

So, I slunk home, prepared to sip a cup of coffee (yes, I drink coffee and I don't apologize!). As I was walking through my kitchen I decided I wanted my Cherry Blossom pancakes. These are simply pancakes I make with my standard mix, but I add some reconstituted dried cherries (about 1/4 c), 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla and 1/4 c. chopped almonds.

It got me thinking: In the south you will often find fried chicken and waffles on the menu. And I LOVE Gardein's breaded strips, so I imagined making traditional hoe cakes, topping them with sauteed, garlicy greens and breaded chikn strips. Does that sound good? You could even add tomato slices and make a sandwich. Yum!

You could put all kinds of savory yummy stuff on top of hoe cakes. You could also make cornmeal waffles....maybe add some Daiya cheese and chopped green chiles, topped with Lightlife's Smart BBQ (I add a little Louisiana Hot Sauce to this and it's very good!).

With all the lovely summer vegetables just starting to push their way into the sunshine I can't help but think of my traditional Southern main dishes as they play so well with greens and peas and squash and all other things summery. Oh, and don't forget a side of sliced melon!

Vegan Hoe Cakes


2 cups boiling water
4 cups stone ground cornmeal
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup agave

Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a saucepan on the stove; mix that into 4 cups of cornmeal in a large bowl. Add salt, Earth Balance, and agave; mix thoroughly.
Dough should be quite stiff; if necessary, add cold water by the tablespoon until consistency is like cake batter. If you're adding things like Daiya, or Rotel tomatoes or whatever, do that before you start adding water, AND only put about 1/8 c. - 1/4c. of goodies. Drop 1/4 c. of batter on hot frying pan. Spread it around to about 3-3.5" diameter (eyeball this). When edges start to life slip your spatuala under the edge and flip.