Why My Mom Rocks Harder Than Your Mom (Unless Your Mom Is, Say, Joan Jett, or Some Other Rocker-By-Title, But Even Then Maybe Still)

Oh, look at that. One blog-entry ago, you thought I was a liar. You thought to yourself, That bitch, Lindy Loo. She tells us on Monday to stay tuned for vegan T-day recipes later in the week AND THEN SHE NEVER ACTUALLY POSTS THEM. That's exactly why I hate her and want to rub orange oily feces all over her and her cats.

Well, touché, friends. Touché.

Because my mom TYPED UP AND EMAILED ME EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HER VEGANIZED THANKSGIVING RECIPES TODAY, so rather than spread them out over four days, I am just gonna blow your mind with them ALL IN THE SAME POST.

In yo' face, 4-times over!!!!!

(And seriously--isn't she a goddess??)

VEGAN GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE




INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz green beans cooked or steamed then drained


instead of one can cream of mushroom soup:


• 8 0z container of tofutti, and


• 1/2-3/4 c. soy milk




• 1 T. of hummus (or more to your taste )


• (if mix is too runny you can add a tsp of flour to thicken slightly)


• Salt/pepper to taste


• Large can of Durkees french fried onions

DIRECTIONS:

Scoop cream cheez into a bowl and add 1/2 to 3/4 cup soy milk to it gradually, stirring each time to avoid it lumping.

Combine all ingredients but 1/2 can of the onions in a 2-quart baking dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees..25-30 minutes..

Add rest of the onions as topping & continue baking 5 more minutes.

Bon appetit!





VEGAN STUFFED SHROOMS



INGREDIENTS:

• 16 large mushrooms


• 1 T. olive oil


• 3 T. dry sherry or white wine


• 1/4 c. finely chopped parsley if desired


• 1 T. vegan parmesan


• 1 T. unseasoned bread crumbs


• 1 clove finely minced garlic


• 1/4 t. dried thyme


• 1/4 t. oregano


• salt & pepper (or my mom used equivalent of Mrs Dash & seasoned to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

375 degrees..15-20 minutes.. 13 x 9 pan..cooking spray

Finely chop stems. Set caps aside.

Combine oil with wine. Reserve 2 T. of oil/wine mixture. Pour 2 T. of oil/wine mixture into 8" skillet & warm over low-medium heat. Saute stems six minutes until mix is dry. Add finely chopped parsley, cheese, crumbs & seasonings. Remove from heat. Stir in wine.

Spoon mix into caps using teaspoon.

Spray a 13x9 baking pan, and place a single layer of mushrooms inside.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Halfway thru baking, brush caps w/remaining oil/wine mixture.

Serve hot.




VEGAN APPLE CRISP



INGREDIENTS:

• 4 apples cored/pared cut into cubes


• 3/4 t. lemon juice


• 1/2 c. granulated or 1/4 c. brown sugar


• dash cinnamon


• 1/4 c. water


dry ingredients:


• 1/4 c. + 2 T. flour


• 1/4 t. cinnamon


• 3 T. butter (Earth Balance)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix apple cubes with lemon juice.

Add half of the sugar, dash of cinnamon and water.

Place in lightly greased 1 quart baking dish.

Mix dry ingredients cutting in butter with whisk or fork.

Sprinkle over top of apples.

Bake 30 minutes.





VEGAN SWEET POTATO CAKE



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. butter (Earth Balance)


• 2 c. granulated sugar


• substitute for 4 large eggs (for each egg, my mom used 1/4 cup well mashed tofu + 1/4-1/2 tsp baking powder--so I guess that would be 1 c. well-mashed tofu and 1-2 t. baking powder)


• 2-1/2 c. cooked mashed sweet potatoes


dry ingredients:


• 3 c. all-purpose flour


• 2 t. baking powder


• 1 t. baking soda


• 1 t. ground cinnamon


• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg


• 1/4 t. salt


• 1 T. vanilla extract



• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream vegan margarine and sugars in a large bowl. Add tofu and baking powder gradually, mixing well to minimize lumps. Add cooked well mashed lump-free sweet potatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients.

Combine dry ingredients with sweet potato mixture, stirring into a stiff batter.

You may add pecans at this point.

Pour into a well-greased baking pan (13 x 9 or loaf pan).

Bake for one hour if 13 x9.

If using loaf pan check after one hour using toothpick to make sure center done.

Sprinkle top w/chopped nuts if desired during the last 5-10 mins baking.

Cooking times may vary slightly.

Let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with a vegan cream cheez frosting if desired. (I used leftover vegan cream cheez frosting with some of the leftovers, and it was DELISH!)

Down-Home Vegan Green Bean Casserole

So what can I say--like almost every other American on the face of this planet, I'm a sucker for the uber-simple, uber-traditional green bean casserole that someone in my family whips up every single Thanksgiving or Christmas. When I went vegan, however, I figured that would be the end of the matter. But then I stumbled across someone or another discussing the existence of Imagine brand Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup which is, if you haven't figured it out at this point, vegan! Not to mention the fact that I couldn't believe that French's French Fried Onions are actually vegan as well. I about pooped with excitement.

Now granted, it's not like there's not about 1500 really damn tasty-sounding vegan green bean casserole recipes floating around out theere on the internet. I mean, Fat-Free Vegan has one that sounds absolutely delish, and VegWeb does as well.

But there's just something about a recipe that comes on a can of fried onions, that only has four real ingredients, and that doesn't require much more than a can-opener and a casserole dish to whip up. So obviously, I was very nerded up when I stumbled across Imagine's cream of mushroom soup at Wild Oats. This wonderful vegan mushroom soup made veganizing this traditional dish work bee-oo-tifully.

INGREDIENTS:

• One 16-oz. carton of Imagine brand Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup


• 1/8 tsp. black pepper


• A tiny bit of flour if it becomes necessary to thicken up the soup


• 2 pkgs. (9 oz. each) frozen cut green beans, thawed (Or 2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) cut green beans, drained)


• 1 1/3 cups French's® Original French Fried Onions

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine soup and pepper in a 1 1/2 qt. baking dish; stir until blended. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French's French Fried Onions.

2. Cover and bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until hot. (Make sure you've thawed the frozen green beans out sufficiently if you're using them--otherwise expect a longer baking time.) Check the casserole and see if the soup's thickened up enough--if not, add a couple teaspoons of flour and mix in. Stir.

3. Sprinkle with remaining 2/3 cup French Fried Onions. Bake 5 minutes or until onions are golden.

A Very Merry Un-Holiday to You! To You!

I so lazy this week. I didn't even have to cook the recipes I'm posting today which leaves me with no excuse about "being too tired to blog because of all the time I spent in the kitchen this weekend;" and yet, I've been taking forever to get around to posting them.

No more excuses though, so here goes...

It was E's turn to cook this weekend, and after I stumbled across the wealth of vegan holiday-recipes at Vegcooking.com, he settled on a full-out and spontaneous holiday-esque meal. And I give thanks to the fact that it was really damn good--enough so that I recommend every single part of it to those of you trying to track down some holiday numblies. (E made only slight variations to the original recipes, but I include links to the originals nonetheless.)

The seitan was hands-down my favorite part of the meal I must admit. It was truly orgasmic, coated in crumbled hazelnuts and fresh rosemary, juicy with flavor. Topped with a bit of the Red Wine and Shallot gravy, it was a dream come true. And the green beans and cranberries on the side (though they did not impress E) made my tastebuds giddy with pleasure as well--fresh and crisp green beans accented by plump juicy cranberries. I can't think of a better side for a Thanksgiving dinner.

My only complaint was not with the cooking but moreso with the portions when it came to the gravy--for the amount of ingredients involved, it yields a wicked-small amount of gravy in return. But damn good gravy it is, nonetheless.

Point being, if you're looking for ideas for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I highly recommend all of the recipes below. They will impress guests and leave your stomach feeling ever so jolly.

{{And yes, I am determined to figure out some sort of better lighting for taking post-sunset food p0rn pics, seeing as lately they've all been turning out yellowy and unattractivey, kinda like when you have beer goggles on and are feeling all bow-chicka-bow-wow towards some fellow only to see him again in the broad daylight a month or so later and find yourself making promises that you will never ever ever ever never ever ever drink even the tiniest sip of alcohol EVER AGAIN if that's how badly it impairs your judgment. (Though as we all know, that vow lasts like 5 minutes and then you're sipping on a nice frothy porter again. ; ) But I swear to you, this vow I will keep: no more bad food-p0rn pics! It just ain't right.}}

Rosemary and Hazelnut-Encrusted Seitan
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. hazelnuts, toasted


• 3 T. fresh rosemary, minced


• 2 c. flour


• 3-5 T. olive oil


• 1 lb. seitan cut or shredded into large chunks and marinated at room temp. for two hours (in 2-3 T. dijon mustard, 2 c. teriyaki, 2 T. olive oil)


• Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place the hazelnuts and rosemary in a food processor and blend until fine. Transfer to a medium bowl, add the flour, and stir to combine.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip the seitan chunks in the hazelnut mixture and coat completely (if the seitan does not come packaged in liquid, dip each piece in a little bit of water first). Put the seitan pieces in the oil and fry until lightly browned and crispy on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with Red Wine and Shallot Gravy (see recipe).

Makes 4 to 6 servings

(original recipe from VegCooking.com)




Red Wine and Shallot Gravy
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 T. olive oil


• 6 T. scallions, minced


• 1/2 c. yellow onions, minced


• 1/4 c. celery, diced


• 1/4 c. carrots, diced


• 1/3 c. red wine


• 1 sprig fresh thyme


• 3 peppercorns


• 3 1/2 c. vegetable stock


• 1 Tbsp. margarine


• 1 Tbsp. flour

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots, onions, celery, and carrots and cook until soft and browned. Stir in the wine, thyme, and peppercorns and cook, stirring frequently, until the wine is absorbed. Stir in the stock and cook for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced by half.
Meanwhile, melt the margarine in a small skillet. Add the flour and stir constantly until bubbly and lightly browned. Stir in some liquid to thin out, then stir the mixture into the stock mixture and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the vegetables. Serve over the Rosemary and Hazelnut-Encrusted Seitan.

(original recipe from VegCooking.com)

Makes 4 servings





Green Beans with Fresh Cranberries
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut on the diagonal


• 2 T. margarine


• 1 c. cranberries


• 1 clove garlic, minced and pressed


• 2 T. fresh parsley, chopped


• 1 T. fresh tarragon, chopped


• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the beans and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Drain the beans in a colander and hold under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Blot the beans with a paper towel to remove the excess water.
Put the beans into a dry skillet and heat over medium heat until the remaining moisture on the beans evaporates. Stir in the margarine, cranberries, garlic, parsley, tarragon, salt, and pepper, tossing to coat well.
Cook until heated through.

Makes 4 servings

(original recipe from VegCooking.com)