straight out the oven lovin'

i woke up from a deep food coma this morning after having voraciously stuffed myself at angelica kitchen last night.  if you've never been here or heard of this wonderful place before, you should really make it a priority to get your eat on at this adorable little vegan restaurant in the east village.  the food is always seasonal, organic, really fresh, vegan, and incredibly creative.  not to mention ohhh so delicious...and health conscious, too!  hurray!  needless to say, i end up having a hard time saying no to anything on the menu, especially when the dessert edition rolls around.  generally at this point in the meal, i'm beyond satiated (stuffed to the gills is more like it), but the sheer awesomeness of the precursing courses makes it really hard to pass up another flavor check.  i've never been disappointed.  in the past, i'd tried out a spiced bread pudding of theirs and have since been inspired to create my own healthy, vegan friendly version of the classic treat.  this morning, after fumbling out of bed to a lazy, rainy day...still a little high and inspired from my awesome dinner experience the night before...having stumbled into the kitchen to find several bananas on the counter quietly browning themselves to death from my neglect...yes, this morning seemed like a perfect time to give some warm, vegan comfort food a shot.  and so...a star was born!

spiced banana bread pudding

makes two personal sized bread puddings

• 1 or 2 pieces of bread, depending on how bready you'd like it (i used 1 slice of alvarado complete protein sprouted wheat bread, but you could use whatever bread you'd like)
• 1/4 cup soy milk (or any kind of milk)
• about 4 oz of soft tofu
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 1/2 ts vanilla extract
• 1/2 ts cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• walnuts
• raisins

preheat your oven to 350.  rip the bread into bite size pieces and put in a bowl.  add the milk and stir until all the pieces are covered and allow it to sit and get mushy.  throw the tofu, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and just 1 1/2 of the bananas (save 1/2 of one to use for layering in a minute) into your blender or food processor and blend until smooth, adding a splash of soy milk or water if you need it.  you can also add a little sweetener at this point if you'd like as well.  i found the pudding to be just right using only the bananas, but if you'd like something a little more desserty, some maple syrup, agave, or raw sugar would be good.  for the pudding vessels, i used 2 non stick, ceramic ramekins, but you could probably use a little sized bread pan or even some muffin tins.  just lightly spray your pudding cubby of choice with cooking spray if it's not non stick and start making some layers!  put a few pieces of bread-mush in the bottom, followed by a few spoonfuls of the tofu banana cream blend, a few slices of banana, walnut pieces and raisins.

making pudding nests...overlord owl mug oversees the operation

follow this up with an additional layer of the same, until all the ingredients are used up.  top off with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a some rolled oats if you'd like.

loosely cover the pudding with foil, kind of doming it over the top so you don't squish the pudding mixture down, put it in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 20-25 minutes.  remove the foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the top is slightly firm.  let the pudding cool for at least 10 minutes so it can set a little better and so you don't scald your pretty little mouth while scarfing.  breakfast injuries = no bueno!  these, however....sooo bueno!  arriba!

soft, warm, spicy, a little cakey, moist, and (sshh!) healthy!

i'm sure i'll be experimenting with  more baked puddingy things in the near future, so keep an eye out for those.  but in the mean time, try this little guy out and see what you think!  this rainy day just got a little brighter for me.  yum, yum