Caramelized Onion Upside Down Cornbread

This is a fun recipe, a full meal in one slice of flavorful Onion Upside Down Cornbread.  The onions are perfectly caramelized,  the cornbread is light and the broccoli adds a nice touch. It's really pretty when it comes out of the pan. From a distance the whole dish looks like cinnamon rolls. In fact, when Scott came home from work Friday and saw it on the stove-top he said "Yum, cinnamon rolls tonight". Nope, something quite different.

I saw this recipe online while looking for some interesting polenta ideas. I decided I could veganize it pretty easily. I recently bought some wonderful stoneground polenta made from heirloom Abenaki corn from Lonesome Whistle Farm.  It's much more colorful than the usual polenta we buy at the market.  I ground it a little finer into more of a fine cornmeal with my Vitamix. If you make this cornbread, yours will probably turn out a little more golden brown then mine if you are using the conventional bright yellow cornmeal.

This is what happened when I made this recipe without the dairy products asked for in the original recipe. 

Vegan Onion Upside Down Cornbread

   Original recipe by Demetra Overton - Sweet Savant.com
You will need a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet for this dish. 

Ingredients

2 Onions, sliced thin, about 1/4"
4 TB toasted sesame oil (I used sesame oil because I like it, you can use olive oil)
1 1/2 cups of fine ground yellow or white cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour, I used an heirloom wheat. For gluten free cornbread, use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/3 cup raw cane sugar
1 TB baking powder
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
Egg Replacer for 4 eggs (I used EnERG egg replacer, it's a tapioca and potato starch blend)
1/2 cup filtered water to mix with egg replacer
16 ounces silken tofu soft or firm, drain and rinse the tofu before using.

Preheat oven to 400º

Slice the onions into rings leaving the rings in order.

Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet and place the onion slices in the hot oil, cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Dice remaining onion pieces and set aside.

While the onions are cooking, mix the batter.  In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients:  cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

Mix the egg replacer with filtered water and whip until it's foamy. I like using this egg replacer when baking as it whips up like frothy egg whites.

Next, crumble the tofu into the egg mixture and blend together into a batter.  Toss this mixture with the chopped onion pieces and the chopped broccoli.

Add the broccoli mixture to the cornmeal mixture and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. You might have to get in with your hands and mix this a bit. It's a pretty thick batter.  Pour the batter over the onions.

Bake the cornbread for about 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cornbread cool for about 10-15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and carefully flip the pan over and remove the cornbread from the pan.

We enjoyed it with some sweet potato kale stew.

West African Vegetable Stew

It's getting colder and we're spending more time inside.  The electric company is threatening to raise the bill 16% so I'm trying to be a little more aware of our usage.  Keeping the thermostat down, I'm wearing a sweatshirt vest in the house and when I want to get warm, a little romp on the elliptical device turns the heat up.  Our granddaughter was working that thing hard and I asked what she was doing.  She told me she was turning the heater on.  Apparently grandpa told her that's how we turn the heater on.  I just smiled and asked her if she could fee the heat coming on.  That's how we do it.

Another way to warm the insides is with a good, warm pot of vegetable stew simmering on the stove-top.  I noticed some yams on the table and remembered a recipe I had for African Vegetable Stew.  It's a very easy meal that only takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, 15 minutes prep time and about 30 minutes cook time, if you use canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans).  I cooked some up the night before.

West African Vegetable Stew

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 large onions, sliced (about 2 cups)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 sweet potatoes (about 1½ pounds), peeled and cut in half lengthwise and sliced

1 large tomato, coarsely chopped (1½ cups)

10 oz vegetable stock

½ cup water

½ teaspoon each of: ground cinnamon and crushed red pepper

½ cup raisins

4 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach leaves

1 can (about 15 ounces) chickpeas (garbanzo beans_, rinsed and drained

Hot cooked rice, quinoa,  or couscous (optional)

1.  Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium  heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are tender.

2.  Add the potatoes and tomato.  cook and stir for 5 minutes.

3.  Stir the broth, water, cinnamon, red pepper and raisins into the saucepan.  Heat to a boil.  Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

4.  Stir in the spinach and chickpeas.  Cook until hot.  Serve over rice, quinoa, or couscous, if desired.