Angeled Non-Eggs for One

You know what a deviled egg is, right? This is the vegan version. In a little dance with molecular gastronomy, these tasty little treats whip up quickly, look fabulous, and turn any snack time into a party. There’s no cholesterol, hardly any fat, and they’re pretty light in the calorie department, so you don’t even have to feel guilty if you eat all of them all by yourself!

Makes 8 egg mold halves and 1 cupcake liner.

For the Whites:

1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1 teaspoon agar powder

Pinch black salt

For the Yolks:

8 ounces extra firm tofu (that’s a little more than half of a 14-ounce tub)

2 TBLSP vegan mayonnaise

2 ½ TBLSP olive oil

½ teaspoons mustard (smooth yellow)

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

2/3 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon black salt

½ teaspoon turmeric (go easy!)

Optional 1 thin slice of yellow onion, diced (also for garnish)

Optional 2 TBLSP diced parsley (also for garnish)

Make the Whites:

1. In a saucepan, combine the milk, salt, and agar powder and bring it to a boil.
2. Pour it into molds and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set up. I have a half-egg mold, but you can use muffin cups, ramekins, or custard bowls. It’s a little harder to get the larger whites out of a stiff mold, but it’s possible!
3. Once they’re set, use a melon baller or teaspoon to carve out the space for the faux yolks. The whites are very delicate and slippery, so be gentle!

Make the Yolks:

1. Place all yolk ingredients except the optional ones in a food processor or blender and whirl until smooth.
2. Add the optional ingredients and whirl just enough to mix them in. Or don’t, if you like a completely smooth yolk.

Assemble the Angelic Little Eggs:

• If you’re fancy, put the yolk mixture into a piping bag, and using a star tip, fill the egg whites with a healthy blob.
• If you’re less fancy, put the yolk mixture into a zip-lock plastic bag and cut one bottom corner off. Pipe the yolks into the whites.
• If you’re really a down home kind of cook, spoon the yolk mixture into the whites with a teaspoon or a melon baller.

Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, super-small diced onion, or paprika. (I’m allergic, so you won’t see that last one on my eggs!)

The best thing about the recipe is that the “yolk” portion makes more than you need, so you can use it as a sauce for noodles, smeared onto a sandwich, or glopped into the seed-hole from an avocado. It makes a great dip or spread for crackers. Yummy!

This recipe doubles and triples easily. I only had a mold to make eight egg shapes, so for a party, I made enough yolk mixture to fill a triple batch, and then made eight eggs’-worth of whites at a time (three batches). You can’t triple the whites batch unless you have enough molds to do it all at once, because they set up. Reheating melts them again, but the texture and taste suffers a bit. So every half-hour, jump up and make a new batch of whites. Easy peasy!