A Very Vegan Thanksgiving

 This year Izzy and I had the AWESOME privilage of having out siblings make the trek out here to San Diego for Thanksgiving. Izzy's brother Joey flew in from our hometown of WI and my sister Lindsay drove in from Tucson where she is going to nursing school.

Here is Lindsay, Me, Izzy, and Joey....please note the awesome artistic work of Izzy on the chalk board ;-) No turkeys were harmed in the making of this meal! (see the turkey giving a thumbs up?...ha!)


I did some pre-planning on the internet and complied a bunch of recipes from various sources. Most of them were modified based on tastes and the fact I like to go rouge a lot when cooking. The food was devoured, so I took that as a great sign ;-)

On the menu:

Mashed Potaoes
Mushroom Gravy
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Tempe Meat Loaf
Cranberries

Mashed Potatoes: I used a recipe from my Happy Herbivore book. I modified by using red potatoes. I also added 1/4c of nutritional yeast to make them creamy and some parsley flakes for a pop of color.

Cranberries:
4 cups of cranberries
1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup orange juice (I used simply orange)
*bring to boil, then reduce to simmer until all berries pop. about 10-15 min
 


Mushroom Gravy:
1/2 cup dried mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
1 1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 cup water
2 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 Tbs. margarine
1/4 nutritional yeast
*bring mushrooms, broth, and water to boil. then, reduce to simmer and whisk in flour, margarine, and nutr. yeast. Let is simmer until desired consistency.


Green & Yellow Beans:
16 oz of Geen & Yellow Beans
1 T Olive oil
6oz mixed nuts (browned in oven for 6min @ 350)
Salt & Pepper to taste
*Steam beans, then transfer to bowl and toss in oil, salt, pepper, and top with nuts.

Sweet Potatoes: (recipe from this site)
4 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
5 TB Earth Balance butter
2/3 C maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place potatoes in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Combine butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour this mixture over sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Cover dish well with foil.
Bake 50 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until potatoes are tender and syrup thickens a bit (basting occasionally) about 20 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 500°F. Top sweet potatoes with pecans and bake until nuts begin to brown, about 3 minutes.


Country ‘Meatloaf’   (from Chef Chloe's article in the NYtimes)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 cups diced celery
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 (8-ounce) packages tempeh
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 cup cooked brown rice, warm
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large deep-sided skillet and sauté onion, carrots and celery until soft, about 15 minutes. If vegetables begin to stick, add a little bit of water to the skillet. Stir in garlic, thyme, basil and parsley. Let cook a few more minutes. Crumble the tempeh into the skillet and add soy sauce and broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
3. Add warm brown rice and bread crumbs to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. The more you mix it and mash it, the better it will hold together when you bake it. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and pack it down very firmly using the back of a spoon. Cover the top of the loaf pan with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, covered, then remove foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before unmolding. Run a knife around the edges of the cooked loaf to loosen, then flip onto a serving plate to unmold. Slice and serve.

Easy Veggie Stuffing (from this site) 

1 Tbs. olive oil 1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil 1 large onion, chopped 1 c. fresh mushrooms, chopped 1 cup celery and tops, chopped 3/4 lb. bread or cornbread cubes (or both) 1 ½ c. vegetable broth ½ tsp. each of sage, thyme, and savory 1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped salt and pepper (to taste)
Sauté the onion, mushrooms, and celery in a large pan with olive oil until softened; add some broth if necessary to keep from sticking. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients, and mix well (bread should be moist). Grease a casserole dish with sesame oil, pack in the stuffing, and brush with more oil. Cover with foil and bake at 325-375 degrees for about 1 hour.

Halloween Party!

I love to host a party, and this weekend was my first time hosting as a vegan. To make it even more of a challenge, all our guests were carnivores. So, I decided I had to make EXTRA delicious vegan food to distract them from the lack of meat....and egg, cheese, milk, etc..

On the menu:
Black Bean & Butternut Chilli
Corn Bread Muffins
Spiced (and Spiked) Apple Cider

For Dessert: 
Brownies
 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

For the Chili, I used THIS recipe from Bon Appetit. To make this Gluten-Free, I used Red Quinoa instead of Bulgur. I obviously also omitted the sour cream and cheese as recommended toppings. ;-)
I also didn't use quite as much oil. Just a few drops to cover the bottom of the pot.

I made this in a pot over the stove, and then transferred into a crock pot to keep warm (and free up space on my stovetop).

For the Cornbread I used a recipe from my new favorite cook book, The Happy Herbivore. She has the most amazing blog with a ton of her recipes.

For the Spiced (and Spiked) Apple Cider, I sort of punted for a recipe. After scouring the internet, I only ended up confused. There were a million different recipes, and all of them were way too different. So, I decided I'd throw things in a pot a see...it ended up DELICIOUS!

2 Qts Honeycrisp Apple Cider
1t Allspice
1/2 t nutmeg
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1/2C Woodford Reserve Bourbon

So far I've made these brownies twice. Both times they were a hit with the non-vegan crowd....a true test in my book.

They are the perfect blend of soft & chewy with a little crispy top. And, they are super quick and easy to make. They don't have a lot of ingredients and it's all pretty basic stuff you should already have in your cupboards.

The highlight of my evening was making a winning batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. Pre-Vegan, I was quite the cupcake baker. So, giving up dairy and eggs seemed like doomsday on my cupcake obsession...

UNTIL....I got the best cookbook ever, "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" . (Yes, that is it's actual title) And, I must say in my world, they definitely have.

1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1 c granulated sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 350.

2. in a med. bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir together with a fork -- don't use a mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let fullly cool before icing.

These were the perfect blend of pumpkin and chocolate. They were moist, fluffy, and delish! In the book it recommends a cinnamon glaze, but wanting to decorate them with webs, I opted to try making my own vegan "butter cream":

1/2 c Eath Balance Margerine
2 T Soy Milk
1 t Vanilla
Add Powdered Sugar to desired constancy (about 2 C)

I made the webs by drawing 2 circles on the cupcakes (like a target) and then dragging a toothpick through them. My non-vegan guests didn't even know they were vegan...well, until we told them :-)