Tried and True

Below are some recent winners, stored here more for my benefit than yours. Perhaps they'll help you in a pinch or motivate you to finally experiment with aquafaba (I'm three for three with it).

Yogurt-Honey Mustard Dressing

"The Best" Vegan Gluten-Free Waffles - these really exceeded expectations; I used fine cornmeal in place of almond flour and vanilla soy milk instead of coconut milk; batter seemed thin but they turned out great

Red Curry Vegetable Soup with Kale, Chickpeas, and Sweet Potatoes - a recent favorite; I've so far subbed red lentils or cooked brown rice for the farro

Chickpeas in Spicy Pomodoro Sauce - never underestimate the power of fennel and red pepper flakes; I've made this twice lately and both times I reduced olive oil amount to 1/4 cup and entirely neglected to add the fresh herbs (even though I bought them) and parmesan - still super tasty

Herb-Mustard Pork Tenderloins - sometimes you have two pork tenderloins in your refrigerator, so you google "Ina Garten Pork Tenderloins" and, as you likely know, she delivers

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In the throes of my aquafaba experimentation, I impulse-made vegan snickerdoodles with the older children. I started with a PPK recipe but veered considerably. I'm very happy with the results, which turned out soft, chewy, and much more domed than the original recipe, so if you're into vegan baking (and aquafaba!), have at it.

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Vegan Whole-Wheat Chai Snickerdoodles

For the topping
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

For the cookies
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons vanilla non-dairy milk
2 tablespoons aquafaba
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper (or Silpats).

Mix the topping ingredients together on a dinner plate. Set aside.

Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour through salt).

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together coconut oil (room temp) and sugar. Add in maple syrup, milk, and aquafaba and mix thoroughly. Add in dry ingredients.

Roll dough into your desired size cookies and roll in spiced sugar. Place on prepped baking sheet and bake. (1 teaspoon-sized balls took about 8 minutes; 1 tablespoon-sized took 10 minutes.) Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes (this is important - they are fragile right out of oven but will firm up while cooling), then transfer to baking racks to cool completely.