Say 'no' to National Egg Month with better vegan choices

You don't need eggs to make chocolate chip cookies.

It may be National Egg Month, but conscientious consumers are finding ways to get eggs off their plates. Eggs just aren't worth it when you consider their cost in terms of animal suffering. Even on cage-free farms, chickens are routinely and painfully debeaked; some starve to death because they can't eat with their painful broken beaks. Male chicks are tossed into piles, and then gassed or macerated (ground up) within hours of hatching since they have no role in the egg production industry.

Fortunately, there is no need to include eggs in your diet. From a nutritional standpoint, there is nothing in an egg that you can’t easily get elsewhere.

The egg’s main claim to fame is its role as a functional participant in cooking. In baking, it helps with leavening, and in savory foods, like veggie burgers, it is a binding agent. But other ingredients have those same properties, and there are plenty of interesting ways to replace eggs in cooking.

For baking, you are likely to get better results by using refined flours since they are lighter and more easily leavened. (It’s fine to use whole grains, though, just as long as you know to expect a somewhat heavier product.)

Look for recipes that call for just one or two eggs since it is easy to replicate them with a vegan version. Most cake mixes lend themselves very well to vegan baking. For foods that don’t need a great deal of leavening, like pancakes, you can simply eliminate the eggs and add an extra 2 tablespoons of water or soymilk.

Try one of the following to replace eggs in baked goods.

For each egg:
• Grind 1 heaping tablespoon of whole flaxseed in a blender until it becomes a fine meal. Add 3 tablespoons cold water and blend until thick and viscous. The consistency is just like raw egg.
• Beat together 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp oil, and 2 tsp baking powder
• Whip 1 tbsp plain agar powder (a seaweed product found in most natural foods stores) with 1 tbsp water. Chill and then whip again.
• Mix 1 tbsp full-fat soy flour with 3 tbsp water
• Mix together 1 tbsp white vinegar and 1 tsp baking soda; it makes an instant light foam.

Natural foods groceries also carry commercial products like EnerG Egg Replacer and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer.

To keep vegan loaves, burgers and croquettes from falling apart, add a little bit of flour or some bread crumbs. Rolled oats are good, too, since they form a gel when heated with moisture.

Finally, when it comes to replacing eggs on the menu, there is nothing like tofu. Mash soft tofu and sauté it in vegan margarine with mushrooms and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for Better Than Scrambled Eggs. Or chop firm tofu and mix with onion, celery and Vegenaise (vegan mayonnaise) for You’ll Never Miss the Egg Salad.