Recipes

Baked Pumpkin Mac and Cheeze

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Baked Pumpkin Mac and Cheeze

4 small servings or 2 large

½ lb WW Penne

Salt & Pepper

1 T Olive oil

1 T Margarine (I prefer Earth Balance)

1 small Onion, diced

1 t Dried Thyme

3 T AP Flour

1 C Vegan “chicken” broth (I used Imagine No Chicken Broth)

1 small Pie Pumpkin, roasted* or 1 can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie)

½ C Unflavored Soy Milk (or non-dairy milk)

½ C Vegan Cheese Spread (I used Wayfare cheese spread however you can use any  vegan cheese spread you like or vegan cream cheese would work great as well)

1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

¼ t ground nutmeg

Topping:

1/3 C WW Bread Crumbs

1/3 C French Fried Onions (I like the Trade Joe’s Brand)

Mix together.

*For the pumpkin: Preheat oven to 350F.  Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds.  Lay cut side down on a baking sheet and place in the oven to roast for 35-40 min, until the pumpkin can easily be scooped out of it’s skin.  Scoop the pumpkin out and set aside.

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425F
  2. Heat a pot of water to boil for the pasta.  Salt the water and add the pasta, cook until al dente (will cook a bit more in the oven).
  3. While pasta is cooking, heat a medium heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.  Add the oil and margarine.
  4. Add the thyme and onion to the melted margarine/oil and cook for 2 minutes.
  5. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
  6. Whisk in the stock.
  7. Stir in the squash and soy milk and bring to a simmer.
  8. Stir in the cheese spread, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  9. Once everything is well combined stir in the drained pasta.
  10. Transfer the mac and cheeze mixture into a baking dish and top with the bread crumb mixture.
  11. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 min, until browned and bubbly.
  12. Remove from oven and let sit for 5minutes before serving.

Dinner for my Mum

4 Comments

Last night my mum and dad came over for dinner for my mum’s birthday.  Her birthday dinner consisted of greens tossed maple balsamic dressing, Thanksgiving Tart from Vegnews and rutabaga and turnip toss.  For dessert we had peanut butter mousse pie topped with peanut brittle and chocolate sauce.

 

 

 

Balsamic Dressing:

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 3 T balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 T Dijion mustard
  • 1 T maple syrup

Whisk together.

 

Rutabaga and Turnip Toss 

  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 2 small rutabaga, peeled and sliced
  • 5 purple topped turnips, peeled and sliced
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 t cumin
  • 1 t chili powder
  • 1 t thyme
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1/4 t pepper
  • 3 T nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 c water
  • 1 T earth balance

Heat oil over medium-high heat and add the onion, rutabaga and turnips.  Cook for 7 minutes until slightly soften.  While the onion, rutabaga and turnip cook mix together cumin, chili, thyme, salt, pepper and water together.  After the 7 minutes add the cumin mixture to the rutabaga mix and toss.  Cook together for 3-5 minutes until all cooked through.  Add the nutritional yeast and earth balance toss to coat.

CSA: Celeriac Mash

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We did not eat the cat!

We did not eat the cat!

Last night marked the beginning of week two for our CSA “Winter Food Basket”. Every two weeks we get a basket full of assorted winter/fall veggies from many different local farms. As we began the second week, we had mostly root vegetables and squash left as greens and other veggies obviously don’t last as long.

So, last night was a fairly quick and easy dinner made (mostly) out of our CSA items. We roasted up some delicata squash rings (although, these delicata are different than ones we’ve had in the past. more stringy like spaghetti squash) and a Celeriac and Potato Mash. We were originally thinking celeriac soup, but were more in the mood for a quick meal. So, Lindsay whipped this up while I did some dishes.

In addition to the veggies, we had some “light life ginger teriyaki tempehtations”. I found them to be quite dull. The flavor was weak and the tempeh was dried out and definitely of a lower grade than we are used to.

Below, is the recipe for the mash:

Celeriac Potato Mash

2 medium sized celeriac (celery root), peeled and diced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
¼ cup sour supreme
¼ cup nondairy milk
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
2 heading tablespoons nutritional yeast
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.Boil the potatoes and celeriac until fork tender.
2.Drain the potatoes and celeriac and add back to the pot.
3.Mash in the sour supreme, nondairy milk, margarine and nutritional yeast. Mash together- I like to keep it a little more chunky but if you like it whipped you’d like.
4.Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe: Pulled Mushroom Sandwich

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The other night for dinner my husband asked if we could have Pulled Mushroom Sandwiches.  Now these are a play off of a pulled pork sandwich and are delicious!  We received a bunch of shiitake mushrooms in our CSA this week and I had some left over cremini mushrooms as well so it was a prefect time to make these yummy sandwiches. I served them with a side of sweet potato fries and steamed brussels sprouts. 

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Pulled Mushroom Sandwiches with Quick Napa Slaw and Spicy Agave Mustard Dipping Sauce (for the sweet potato)

Makes 4 Servings

Pulled Mushrooms:

  •  
    • 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
    • 8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced 
    • 1 lg onion, thinly, sliced
    • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
    • 1/2 T safflower oil 
    • 2 T garlic A-1 steak sauce
    • 2 T BBQ sauce
    • 1 T dijion mustard
    • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat the oil in a cast-iron pan over medium high heat and add the mushrooms and onions.  Sauté for 2 minutes.
  2. Turn the heat down to medium low and stir in the garlic. Cook for 20-25 minutes until the mushrooms and onions have caramelized, making sure to stir occasionally. 
  3. While the mushrooms and onions are cooking in a small bowl mix together the steak sauce, bbq sauce and dijion mustard.
  4. When the mushrooms and onions have caramelized add the steak sauce mixture and stir together. Turn to low and let simmer while you prepare the slaw.

 

Quick Napa Slaw

  •  
    • 1 cup shredded napa cabbage
    • 1 T reduced fat vegenaise
    • 1 T Drew’s Smoked Tomato Dressing
    • Salt and Pepper to taste
  1. Toss everything together.

To assemble the sandwich:

Take 2 rolls and place 1/4 of the slaw on the bottom.  Top with 1/4 of the mushroom mixture.

 

Spicy Agave Mustard Sauce- this goes great with the sweet potato and brussels

  •  
    • 1/4 cup of Dijion mustard
    • 1 T agave
    • 1 t chipotle chili powder
  1. Mix together.

Kimchi Fried Brown Rice

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So, I don’t know about you guys, but I really love Korean food, kimchi especially. The issue I usually have with Korean food is that a lot of it has fish sauce. We recently received a bottle of fermented, raw kimchi from for review, so I decided to put it to good use by making some Kimchi Fried brown rice.

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I decided to substitute the scrambled egg you typically find in Asian fried rice dishes with crumbled tofu and the meat you may typically find with white mushrooms.

2-3 cups of cooked rice (I made mine in a rice cooker)
1/2 C to 1 C of Kimchi
1/2 onion
4-5 small mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 T veg oil/olive oil
2 T soy sauce
1/4 block of tofu
1-2 T Sesame Oil
S+P to taste

1. Slice the mushrooms, mince the garlic and chop the onions into small pieces
2. Heat the veggie oil in a wok/skillet and sautee the mushrooms, garlic and onions for a couple minutes.
3. Crumble the tofu into the mixture and add the soy sauce and some pepper.
4. Add the kimchi to the pan and warm it up.
5. Add the cooked rice and stir in the mixture of the tofus and vegetables.
6. Once warmed, add sesame oil to taste.
7. Add S+P to taste.
8. Add fresh kimchi to top as garnish.
9. Enjoy!!

Zeppoles

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For a really fun dessert (and super easy) I’d try Italian Donuts (Zeppoles).
This is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis (I love to veganize her recipes however this one just happens to be vegan!)
Italian Doughnuts
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Prep Time:15 min
Cook Time:15 min
Level:Easy
Serves:18 doughnuts
Ingredients
1 pound prepared pizza dough
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Olive oil, for deep-frying
Directions
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out doughnut rounds. Using a floured 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and reroll. Cut out more doughnuts.
Whisk the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend. Set the cinnamon-sugar aside.
Pour equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, generously coat each 2 times with the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.
Alternately, cool the fried doughnuts to room temperature. Stir 3 ounces of milk (dark) chocolate and 1/4 cup of whipping (soy creamer) cream in a heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until the chocolate melts. Set aside until the chocolate sauce comes to room temperature but does not set. Dip 1 side of each doughnut into the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle with finely chopped toasted almonds or crushed espresso beans and set aside until the chocolate is set.

 These are also great if you serve them traditionally in a brown paper bag because they are tradtional street food in Italy and then have chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces on the side.  This is one of my favorite (fun impressive and interactive desserts to make for guest).  It’s easy and who doesn’t love a doughnut…..especially a vegan one!

 

@gomelissago is making these tonight and serving them with a lemon basil sauce! sounds great doesn’t it?

Vegan Mofo #25- Double Garlic Broccoli & Asparagus 2 Ways

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One of my husband and my favorite places to dine in Burlington is A Single Pebble this amazing family style authentic Chinese Restaurant that has a great number of vegan options.   Our favorite dish, well one of them we have so many, is Double Garlic Broccoli  which is broccoli, garlic, cashews and chili flakes and this delicious soy based sauce.

I was rummaging through my fridge last night trying to decide what to make for dinner based on which produce needed to be used first and I remembered I had bought some broccoli at the Saturday farmers market that I hadn’t used yet. As well I had a huge bunch of Asparagus that was in need of being cooked up,  I decided I would make my version of Double Garlic Broccoli and cook the asparagus 2 ways.

Double Garlic Broccoli

Makes 4 large servings, can easily be cut in half

 Ingredients:

  • 4 Cups broccoli florets
  • 1 Tbl vegetable oil
  • 8 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp chili flakes, more or less based on how hot you like things
  • ¼ Cup of  water
  • 2 Tbls soy sauce
  • ½ Cup raw cashews
  • ½ tsp toasted sesame oil

Directions:

  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a walk over high heat.
  2. Add the garlic and chili flakes and let cook for 30 seconds then add the broccoli and toss together.
  3. Turn down the heat to medium-high and add the water, for 4-7 minutes until the broccoli has softened.
  4. Add the soy sauce, cashews and sesame oil.
  5. Serve as a side dish or as a main over brown rice.

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Cheezy Asparagus

Makes 4 small side servings

 Ingredients:

  • 15 spears of asparagus
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • 2 Tbl nutritional yeast
  • ½ Tbl goya adobo (if you don’t have this use salt& pepper & a pinch of garlic powder)

 Directions:

  1. 1.Heat oven to 375F. Place the asparagus in a baking dish.
  2. Toss the asparagus with the oil, nutritional yeast and adobo.
  3. Place dish in the oven and bake for 15min
  4. Plate and garnish with chopped scallions.

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Garlicky Asparagus

Makes 4 small side servings

Ingredients:

  • 15 spears of asparagus
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • S+P

 Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375F. Place the asparagus in a baking dish.
  2. Mix together the oil, garlic, S+P and pour over the asparagus
  3. Place dish in the oven and bake for 15min
  4. Plate and garnish with the garlic that has been left at the bottom of the pan.

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