THAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSGIIIIIIIIIIIIVIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

Cooked again for Thanksgiving (I swear November is a vegan food-blogger's wet dream) and had to pause to shout at you the following:

OH MY GOD GO MAKE BRYANNA CLARK'S VEGAN SEITAN "TURKEY" ASAP I DON'T CARE THAT IT'S NO LONGER THANKSGIVING AND YOU HAVE NO REAL EXCUSE!! ON A DISTANT PLANET SOMEWHERE IT'S LIKELY TO BE THANKSGIVING SO JUST RUN WITH THAT!! DO IT! NOW!


(Click on pic for larger version with stuff labeled)

Seriously, I was intimidated at first by the length of the cooking directions (which actually are short but look overwhelming because she supplies you with several variations), but it was surprisingly easy to put together. Granted, it cooks for about four hours, but GOOD LORD PEEPS! How often do you get to lavish in the delightful thanksgiving smell of roasting for four hours now that you no longer cook turkey? You'll love it, trust me. And if you have a breadmaker, this is as simple as dumping the ingredients in and pressing a button.

Tofurkey-haters take heed in particular: this is by FAR tastier than the tofurkey many of us turn to as a quick turkey-substitute around the holidays.

True story: My brother SPECIFICALLY ASKED that I give him leftovers of the faux-turkey for him to take home. (This, the boy who bitches every year about how crappy tofurkey tastes.) He also raved about making the leftovers into a sandwich.

My sister and mom (despite me telling them I made it myself—they sometimes don't listen well) days after Thanksgiving did a doubletake when they realized that I HAD indeed made it myself and both said they didn't realize it because it tasted so good.

So yeah.

AND it makes TWO loaves. So I'm STILL working through leftovers.

What else: If you make it, $100 billion dollars will spontaneously fall into your lap, it's THAT good. (Okay, THAT part's a lie, but the rest: TRUE AS MOTHERF-ING HELL.)

I'm also including the gravy recipe I used for both Thanksgiving and my vegan potluck as it tastes WONDERFUL with this faux turkey recipe.

And now: a pic of my fam at Thanksgiving in which it looks like my Mom and brother are praying but really they are both genetically deficient and chromosomally alike enough that they both accidentally closed their eyes for the pic.




My table-setting:



And now the recipes:

(I've chosen to include ONLY the directions that I used in making my faux-turkey, so if you'd like to see the variations, go check out the original which is linked at the end. Also: I recommend cooking it the night before and then just throwing it back in the oven with a tiny bit of water and, say, your stuffing or some other delightful numbly that you have to cook for 45 mins or so to reheat.)


BRYANNA'S SEITAN "TURKEY"

INGREDIENTS:

DRY MIX:


• 2 c. pure gluten powder (instant gluten flour; vital wheat gluten)


• 1/2 c. full-fat soy flour or chickpea flour


• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast flakes


• 2 t. onion powder


• 1 t. garlic granules


• 1/4 t. white pepper


WET MIX:


• 12 oz. firm regular (NOT silken) tofu


• 1 & 1/2 c. water


• 3 T. soy sauce


• 1 T. olive oil


BASTING BROTH:


• 2 c. hot water


• 1/3 c. "chicken-style" vegetarian broth powder (I used 2 "chicken" bouillon cubes)


• 2 T. olive oil


• OPTIONAL: 4 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1/2-1 tsp. poultry herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary), crushed well

DIRECTIONS

Wet Mix: In a blender, blend all the ingredients until very smooth.

Dry Mix: Place ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer with dough hook attachment, or place them in the bread machine in the order given. Add the Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. (If your bread machine has a dough cycle-two kneads with a long rest in between-use that cycle. Otherwise, just run it through the kneading part and then unplug it and let it rest in the cover container, then plug it in again for another knead, then remove it.) Let rest for about 1 hour, covered. You can make your Cooking Broth at this time and have it ready. Then knead it for 10 more minutes.

(NOTE: You can knead by hand, too, but it's tougher than bread dough. You may want to let the seitan dough sit for a while to soak up the liquid more thoroughly before you starting hand-kneading.)

COOKING METHOD #2.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Flatten the dough out into a long piece and cut in half equally to make two rectangles. Form into 2 loaves. Place each loaf in an oiled 8 and1/2" x 4 and 1/2" loaf pan and press down a bit with your hand. Mix the Cooking Broth ingredients in a small bowl and pour 1/2 over each loaf. Cover each loaf pan with foil and place in the oven. Immediately reduce the oven heat to 200 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours. Turn the loaves over, carefully loosening around the edges and from the bottom with a small, thin spatula first. The loaves will have puffed up quite a bit by now, but they will flatten out as they cook further. Turn heat back to 325 degrees F. Cover loaves and bake for 30 minutes. Turn them over again, cover and bake 15 minutes. Turn them over again and bake 15 more minutes, covered. Turn them over one last time and bake 5-10 minutes.

(Recipe from Bryanna's Vegan Feast)

GOLDEN GRAVY

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast


• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour


• 1/3 c. canola oil


• 1/2 c. chopped onion


• 2 t. minced garlic


• 2 t. chopped fresh thyme, or 1 t. dried


• 2 t. chopped fresh sage, or 1 t. rubbed dried (or I used 3/4 t. powdered sage)


• 4 c. water


• 1/4 c. tamari


• salt to taste


• ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Stir yeast and flour in heavy skillet over medium heat for five min or until fragrant.

Heat oil in large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, saute for 10 mins, or until it begins to brown. Add garlic, thyme, sage, and saute for 30 secs, or until fragrant. Whisk in flour mixture thoroughly, then whisk in water, tamari, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, whisking frequently, and continue until reaches desired thickness. Strain into a bowl to serve.

(Recipe snagged from Vegan Favorites where it was reposted from Real Food Daily)

Sweet n' Salty Stuffing

Entirely random unsegue into a stuffing recipe: I have strange food-habits, which I've no doubt mentioned before. But this morning, while grabbing a utensil to take with me for lunch, I realized the following one takes the cake when it comes to irrationality...

I have this one fork in my collection of forks that I hate. As in, when I pull it out of the fork drawer, I get angry. And I usually try to avoid using it, unless absolutely nothing else is clean. Why? Because it has a wide base and short tines. Which for some reason fills me with intense hatred.

And now: the stuffing I raved about incessantly yesterday:

                                       from bakingsheet

I'm a big proponent of the salty-sweet combination in a dish. There's just something incredibly delicious about the way the two contrast on the tastebuds.

Case in point: For a long time, my mom used to make fun of me because when we'd hit up a movie and grab a late-night snack somewhere after, my order would usually consist of toast and ice cream. Or toast and pie. Or toast and cake. Get me? Salty-sweet: love it.

And that's what I dug so much about this dish: It's got the saltiness going on from all things vegetabley and bouillony, but the apples and cranberries counter it with a delightful and delicate sweetness. AND, not only does this stuffing represent when it comes to the sweet/salty combo, it also does so with the soft/crunchy. Smushy gushy bread and soft veggies blessed with an occasional crunch from the pecans. How stuffing is meant to be.

I doubled this recipe, but I'm just reposting the original. It doubles easily. I just baked it in a 9x13 glass baking dish (or something along that line of measurements), and I think I added on maybe 10 or 15 minutes to the baking time, but only because I added a little too much broth.

Anyways, there were only six of us, and even with double the quantity, there were very little leftovers. And it was the dish most raved about at T-day. So hopefully that's enough stuffing-flattery to get you try this recipe out.

(Ps. Allularpunk: If you try it, lemme know what you think!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 c. onion, diced


• 1/2 c. celery, diced


• 1/2 c. apple, peeled and diced


• 2 t. dried or 3 T. minced fresh parsley


• 1/2 t. dried sage


• 1/4 t. salt


• pinch cayenne pepper


• 4 c. bread cubes (white or whole grain)


• 1/2 c. dried cranberries


• 1/4 c. chopped pecans


• 10-12 T. strong vegetable broth* (up to 3/4 cup)

*Use strong veggie broth for the best flavor. (I used double the amount of bouillon that you'd usually use for 3/4 c. water. Also, as bakingsheet mentions, you can add a tbsp of soy sauce to boost the flavor if yours isn't particularly flavorful.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a 1.5-quart baking dish.

In a small frying pan, sautee the onion, celery and apple until tender with the parsley, sage, salt, cayenne (or regular pepper, if you prefer). This should take about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes with onion mixture, cranberries, pecans, vegetable broth, adding slightly more if the bread is very absorbant (some need more liquids), and mix well. Taste one of the cubes and, if necessary, add additional salt or pepper.

Pour into prepared casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until top is crisp and golden.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

(from bakingsheet)

Tofurkey Day!

(from Someecards)

So Thanksgiving! How dare I take so long to post about such a bountiful day of food! Laziness, my friends. On account of all the tryptophan! (Which, my bitches, is found in things other than turkey, so don't you EVEN get all up in my grill about that!)

So yes: Thursday was a fun Tofurkey day, but a brief one--a veritable wham bam thank you ma'am-type Thanksgiving, mostly because one of my sibs was home from Chicago and had to be at the bus station by 5 to get back. So we had T-day at my house, since my house is the closest to the bus station and afforded us the most amount of time to stupor it up after eating. It was also my one sister's birthday, so we kind of jammed food and gifts up into a brief four hours or so. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful day, and I must say, most certainly the BEST Thanksgiving meal we've had over the past five or so years. (And all vegan to boot!)



However, because I'm evil (but a NICE kind of evil), I'm only bringing you a menu today. MWAHAHAHAHA!

OUR EATS:

• Two Tofurkeys--mom





• Tempeh sausage (from VwaV) with biscuits (from Vegan Dad) & gravy (from The Vegan Family Favorites)--me



• MacGyver Mac n' Cheez--me





• Apple-cranberry stuffing--me





• Sweet potatoes with cranberries and pecans--my mom





• My mom's green bean casserole--mom





• Ice cream cake bar for my sister's birthday--me



• Beer--and lots of it

It was really a fantastic feast, the highlights being the stuffing (which was beyond fantastic--recipe this week) and my mom's always amazing green bean casserole.

The only disappointment was actually the tempeh sausage from VwaV. I made a double-batch and really regretted having done so since barely anyone ate any. It was much too potent, and (maybe it's just me but) I'm not a huge fan of biting into large bits of fennel seed. And with something like 2+ Tablespoons of it for just one batch, that's a lot of fennel. The only thing that really made it worthwhile is my mom peering skeptically at the tempeh sausage not once but two or three times and asking, "So what is this again?? Tabouleh??"

Stay tuned this week for an astonishingly tasty stuffing recipe and more info on that ice cream cake bar which--trust me--you'll want to hear all about.

Walnut-and-Apple Stuffing

Admittedly not the most flattering of pics--
it mostly just looks like I'm forcing a photo
of unattractive moist bread upon you...

I am in such slacker-mode lately that I keep having to force myself to post.

I think I need to hire some dude with a large whip (*hrm--that sounds dirtier than I'd meant it to, for once*) to stand behind me at work and crack it at me over and over so that I throw some recipes up here more often. (Not throw up as in "vomit" but as in "post.") Good god, my words are just stumbling into their own fiendish misunderstandings today!

I don't think my workplace would be up for the guy with the large whip and assless chaps (I added the last part on just because guys in assless chaps are funny), but still. IT SHALL BE DONE, so if you are interested in the job, let me know. I pay in cookies.

On to the stuffing: I was lazy and didn't feel like roasting chestnuts. In fact, I was so lazy that I didn't even look around hard enough in the produce section of my grocery store to figure OUT whether they have chestnuts TO roast. I just kind of half-squinted and then was like, Alas--no chestnuts. So instead I used walnuts.

I must admit retrospectively that I suspect the chestnuts would be much better. I think they're probably a bit more moist than walnuts, which would've probably allowed the recipe to cling together like a real stuffing should a little bit more. Mine was a bit more crumbly than I would've liked. *BUT* I think you could probably still use the walnuts if you just maybe add a wee bit more "chicken" soup to the mix. Also, I would've liked more apple as well. But maybe that's just me.

Nonetheless: recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 slices whole-wheat bread, cubed


• 10 slices white bread, cubed


• 1 14-oz. tube soy "sausage" crumbled


• 1 T. olive oil


• 1 large white onion, chopped (about 1/5 c.)


• 5 ribs celery, sliced (about 1.5 c.)


• 4 cloves garlic, minced


• 2 tart apples, peeled and diced


• 1 c. walnuts (or if you wanna stick to the original recipe, 1 c. peeled and ready-to-eat roasted chestnuts, halved)


• 1/4 c. chopped fresh sage


• 1.5 c. no chicken broth

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325F. Spread bread cubes in roasting pan and bake 10-15 minutes or until toasted.

Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add soy sausage, and cook 5 minutes or until browned. Toss sausage with bread cubes in a bowl.

Heat oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and saute 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 7 minutes more. Stir in apples, walnuts or chestnuts, and sage. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until apples are crisp-tender. Add to bread mixture. (Stuffing can be prepped up to this point, sealed in a food storage bag, and refrigerated up to 2 days.)

Increase oven heat to 350F. Coat 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Toss stuffing mixture with broth, and season with salt and pepper. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Removed foil and bake 15 minutes more, or until top is browned and crisp.

Serves 12.

(Modified from the Vegetarian Times, Nov./Dec. Issue, p. 86)

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!)

Pumpkin Biscuits

I said that sometime this week I was going to post some more of the Thanksgiving recipes I mentioned on Monday, but I lied. I LIED! BAHAHAHAHAHAH! Instead, I give you this pumpkin biscuit recipe, and the soft caressing promise that I will post at least the stuffing recipe sometime next week.

I whipped these biscuits up with some autumn harvest stew the other week when I had guests over, and (despite the fact that they're not rollable, cuttable biscuits like the original recipe claims--I think this may be because I chose their "vegetable oil" option instead of just subbing in Earth Balance for the butter) they were really fricking good. Enough so that, despite making enough for all my dinner guests to have two biscuits each, folks liked them so much that I somehow got sweet-talked into throwing another batch in the oven for everyone. The end result was that 16 biscuits were consumed within an hour by only 4 people. That is disturbing, and yet a testament to the fact that these biscuits are indeed yummy.

Also featured is one of the delightful little Ohio-shaped butter-pads that The Vegan Ronin whipped up for the Post T-Day Foodfest I had this past Saturday. Aren't they the cutest? <--- Clearly, this is foreshadowing some of next week's recipes/blog entries, if you hadn't figured it out... Lots of Post-T-day-Foodfest recipes to come... DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour


• 1 T. baking powder


• 1/4 to 3/4 t. salt


• 1/2 t. ground allspice


• 3/4 c. canned pumpkin


• 1/2 c. soy milk


• 3 T. vegetable oil (or vegan margarine)


• 1 T. pure maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly oil a baking sheet (or alternately, lay out a sheet of parchment paper on your baking sheet) and set it aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and allspice in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, soy milk, vegan margarine (or oil), and maple syrup and stir until smooth.

Combine the flour mixture with the pumpkin mixture. Stir just until the mixture holds together; avoid over mixing, or biscuits will be tough.

Here is where I think the biscuit-forming will differ, depending on whether you used margarine or oil:

If you used margarine, and the dough seems to be stiff enough, roll it out on a lightly-floured work surface and roll out to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter or a drinking glass, cut out dough into rounds and place on prepared baking sheet. Reroll dough scraps and continue to cut out until all dough has been used.

If you used oil (which I did), your dough isn't going to be rollable, so you'll want to just make drop-biscuits instead. To do this, using a spoon, scoop up a generous amount of dough and plop it onto your baking sheet. Press down slightly so that it flattens out a little. Continue until your baking sheet is full.

Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 12 to 16 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Serve hot.

Makes about 20 biscuits.

(Original recipe from Green Living)

T-Day Numblies

Oh man, was this Thanksgiving bountiful. And honestly, it's all because of my mom who, despite her assertions that she's never liked to cook, managed to veganize not one, not two, not THREE, but FOUR MOTHERF-ING RECIPES for us. And that just plain rocks.

T-day was just three of us--me, my mum, and my brother (one sister had to work, and the other was in Chicago) but we cooked like we were feeding small armies. And that is the way T-day should be, exploding with foodie goodness, way too much for just three people to handle.

What we had:

• Zucchini & mushroom lasagna


• The apple-chestnut stuffing from the most recent Vegetarian Times, with walnuts subbed in for the chestnuts


• A mixed greens salad, courtesy of my bro


• Vegan stuffed mushrooms--courtesy, again, of my mum




• Green bean casserole--my mom is truly an artiste, veganizing this completely on her own using vegan cream cheez and... strangely enough... hummus, and this was seriously seriously some bad-ass shit, leaps and bounds better than the T-day standard




• Veganized apple crisp--courtesy of my mum; and


• Sweet potato pound cake, also BRILLIANTLY veganized by my mom, after several calls about what to substitute in for eggs

Hopefully I'll be bringing some of these recipes to you this week... Definitely the stuffing, and hopefully (if my mom can remember exactly how she veganized the cake) the cake as well. So hold onto your seats or hats or whatever the expression is.

Today, I bring you the lasagna recipe, from my **VERY LARGE AND VERY WHITE PASTA BOOK**. I tried linking to the cookbook on amazon, but it's one of those vague cookbooks just named "Pasta," and I'm having a hard time figuring out which one it is exactly, since none of the pictures match. But good lord do I love this cookbook--it is THE cookbook for pasta-sluts.

And this lasagna was no disappointment. It's a bit time-consuming to prepare (I actually cut down a bit on that though by using store-bought pasta-sauce instead of their homemade "winter pasta-sauce" that they recommend), and it doesn't make NEARLY as much lasagna as those recipes I usually use, but good god good jebus good allah good mother, this lasagna is KILLER. And it totally is all about the white sauce, and how the white sauce sexily commingles with the meaty shrooms. It is decadent, without making you feel like you're killing yourself on butter. The zucchini also sexes it up remarkably well with the white sauce. And, shit, I just kept praying that my family would stop eating it so I could have more left-overs. For those of you looking to feed a good number of people, I'd recommend doubling the recipe and using a 9x13-ish sized pan. You will not regret it. Not at all.

Jesus, I'm getting tingly just thinking about it.

ZUCCHINI & MUSHROOM LASAGNA


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2-oz. dried porcini mushrooms (or I just used a "Steak Mushrooms" mix from my local grocer)


• 3/4 c. warm water


• 2 T. olive oil


• 1 lb. zucchini, thinly sliced


• 1 onion, finely chopped


• 6 c. brown (or baby bella) mushrooms, thinly sliced


• 2 garlic cloves, crushed


• 30-oz of spaghetti sauce


• 1 t. dried marjoram


• 6-9 "Ready Baked" lasagna noodle sheets


• Vegan parmesan


• Salt & ground black pepper


For the white sauce:


• 3 T. vegan margarine


• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour


• 3-3/4 c. soy milk


• A couple dashes nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour the 3/4 c. cup warm water over them, allowing them to soak for 15-20 minutes. Squeeze the liquid from the rehydrated shrooms and set liquid aside. Chop the rehydrated shrooms finely and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat 1 T. olive oil over medium heat. If your pan is large enough, add all your zucchini (otherwise add them in half-batches) and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook the zucchini over medium heat, turning the slices frequently, for 5-8 minutes until they are lightly colored on both sides. Remove the zucchini from the pan and allow to drain on paper towels.

Heat the remaining olive oil in your pan, and then cook the onion, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Again, if your pan is big enough, add all your fresh mushrooms and garlic to it, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste (otherwise do so again in half-batches). Toss the shrooms over high heat for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are JUST becoming juicy and tender. Transfer to a bowl.

Make the white sauce: Melt the vegan margarine in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring over medium heat, for 1-2 minutes. Add the milk a little bit at a time, whisking well with each addition. Bring to a boil and then cook, stirring, until the sauce is hot and thick (it may not thicken up as much as you had thought while OVER the heat, but no worries--once you remove it, it should thicken up a wee bit more). Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Add about 1/2 of your rehydrated shroom-liquid to your spaghetti sauce. It's ok if it's a slight bit thin.

Add the zucchini to your bowl of fried mushrooms, then stir in the rehydrated shrooms and the marjoram.

Spread 1/3 of the tomato sauce in a baking dish (I would recommend a fairly small one--maybe a 9x9 or something). Add half the veggie mixture, spreading it evenly. Top with about 1/3 of the white sauce and about half the lasagna sheets. Repeat these layers, and then top with the remaining tomato sauce and white sauce, and sprinkle with vegan parm to taste.

Bake the lasagna for 35-45 minutes, or until the pasta sheets are tender when poked with a fork.

Let stand for about 10 minutes at least before serving.

Serves about 6.

Post-Thanksgiving Veg Smorgasborg

It's that time of year again, when we bust out our vegan moves (or our tofurky) and kick some Thanksgiving ass. And since several of my friends will be in town for the holidays, I'm tentatively planning a post-thanksgiving smorgasborg (best word ever) at my place on the evening of Saturday, November 24.

I extend the invitation to any of you local veg folks as well. The deal is that you just need to bring a vegan dish of some sort for entry. Mmmmm, entry. ARGHLGHLGHL. *STOP, DIRTY LINDY LOO!!!*

Anyways, if you are interested, please RSVP in my comments before, say, the 19th and leave your email address, that way I can send around an official invite and a sign-up list to get a sense of what people are bringing.

Oh, and this time boobs are not a requirement.

And I have no clue who or what that is a picture of, but it is kind of turning me off to ever wanting to eat Tofurky again. *shuddering in horror*

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.

Fantastic Holiday Feasting

I must say, it was surprisingly refreshing to go a whole week without blogging at all, without being bored out of my mind so much that I find myself obsessively rifling through the same blogs over and over to see if they've updated, without neurotically checking my comments again and again and again due to the very same boredom. I must say, I look forward to the day that I no longer have the boredom and the internet connection driving me to update so regularly.

But despite all that, I must admit, it is good to be back.

The holidays were a fantastic lovefest of vegan foodery. I had Christmas celebrations at my place, and I am very pleased to say that the spread was one of the most fantastic, tasty, and vegan ones I've seen, thanks to the generosity of my mom, sisters, and brother. Food numblies ranged from vegan stuffed shells (stuffed with vegan cream "cheese," spinach, and walnuts) and vegan stuffed peppers (packed full of potatoes, tomato sauce, and vegan meat crumbles)--both pictured above--to veganized paprikash and veganized green bean casserole, and of course a very large and glorious salad and way too many desserts.

My belly had a damn good evening.

Of course this means what I'm sure you've all realized at this point anyways: you can expect some lovely holiday recipes this week.

And it wouldn't be a good first blog-entry of the year if I didn't mention New Year's Resolutions of some sort or another. So let it be said: this year, my resolutions are a) to figure out a way to gorge on twice as much home-cooked food without gaining 50 lbs. and b) to make me a man-sized robot love slave. Just you wait.

As for the first recipe of the year, I can think of no better one to start the year off with than this. I used to make a wicked vegetarian paprikash from one of my down-home vegetarian cookbooks I have lining my shelves. So this year, when the holidays rolled around, my Hungarian ass decided that it was about damn time I tried to tackle a veganized version of this recipe--I mean, I grew up on paprikash, and I adore the stuff. And given that more than half of my immediate family is now vegetarian, it seemed fitting to tackle this endeavor.

I was a bit nervous about the dumplings as I've always had problems with dumplings. But god bless ye, Vegan Chef, because your vegan dumpling recipe kicks ass. They came out infinitely fluffier than the original dumpling recipe I used to use for the non-vegan version of this paprikash, and (despite the trickiness of "cutting in" the "butter") they were actually a lot less of a pain in the butt to make.

The end result was truly kick-ass, I must say. I think my very Hungarian grandma would've been proud of this veganized version, it was that tasty. If I could remember something Hungarian to say here other than the Hail Mary (which I couldn't spell anyways), I'd insert it right now, but since I can't, I'll just move on to the recipe. Enjoy.

Mushroom Paprikash with Dumplings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 c. vegan sour cream


• 2 t. all-purpose flour


• 1/4 t. pepper


• 1/8 t. salt, or to taste


• 2 T. vegetable oil


• 1.5 c. chopped onions


• 3 cloves garlic, minced


• 1.5 T. paprika


• 7 c. quartered white mushrooms (two 10-oz containers)


• 1 c. vegetable broth


• 1 Quart water


• 2 cups unbleached flour


• 2 t. baking powder


• 1 t. salt


• 3 T. non-hydrogenated margarine



• 1/4 cup soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice

Optional:

• 1/4 batch of homemade seitan from Vegan with a Vengeance (minus the lemon zest listed in the recipe--it was a bit overpowering and disjointed in comparison to the rich flavors of the rest of the paprikash)

-or


• A couple packages of lightly-marinated pre-made seitan

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, flour, pepper, and salt. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat 2 T. oil over med-high heat. Add onions and garlic—cook until softened (2 mins). Add paprika and cook ‘til absorbed. Add mushrooms and stir until coated with paprika mixture. Add broth and bring to a boil—reduce heat and simmer uncovered, 20 mins. While mushrooms cook, prepare dumplings.

Dumplings: In a large pot, place the water, and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, place the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir well to combine. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the vegan margarine until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in the soy milk, mixing to form a manageable dough (I had a bit of trouble with this--my tip is to gradually add soy milk in excess of the 1/4 c. quantity until the dough begins to stick together well enough).

Knead a bit. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and begin to pinch off chunks of dough about 1/2" in diameter. Make sure to get a little additional flour on the dumplings to prevent them from sticking together when you boil them. Carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling water, cover, and cook for 10 minutes without lifting the lid.

Remove the dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a large bowl.

The End: Add dumplings to the cooked mushrooms. Stir in the sour cream mixture. If you're going to add the optional seitan, add this as well. Cook until heated through.

The flavor tends to mature overnight--the end result is that you'll have a damn good paprikash meal but even better leftovers.

Serves about 6.

Post-Thanksgiving Stupor

The day after Thanksgiving, E and I have always made it a habit to do our *OWN* little Thanksgiving, that way we can enjoy the holiday, each others' company, and fricking amazing food without the stress of family or traveling around to visit them. This year was no different. However, for the first time in a couple years, we actually managed to show a bit of restraint as to what we cooked. (Last year, we made a *RIDICULOUS* amount of food for only two people--tofurky, potatoes, green-bean casserole, biscuits, extra stuffing, dumplings, etc.) And given the fact that I'd cooked several dishes for my mom's the day before, I laid low this time around and didn't do much of anything except basting our sweet little plump football of a Tofurky.

(I heart basting.)

I enjoyed every bit of the meal, including the Tofurky, despite the fact that for some reason, this year it seemed to make a weird squeegee rubbery noise and sensation when you chewed on it. (Haven't quite figured *THAT* one out yet.) I even managed to wrangle up a nice new vegan wine for us to try out (and it was only $10)!

For those of you who are wine enthusiasts (or just plain ol' like to booze it up on occasion), check out the Orleans Hill Zinfandel--even for my amateur nose and tastebuds, I could tell it was quite good for a $10 bottle--smooth, a bit peppery, and not harsh at all (look, Ma, no extra sulfites!). I definitely think this'll be a new favorite, and I'm gonna have to get my ass back to Nature's Bin so I can try the Merlot as well sometime.

The highlights of the night were definitely the cranberry sauce (which was tart--and yet not TOO tart--and sweet--and yet not TOO sweet) and E's Rosemary and Hazelnut-Encrusted Seitan which, seriously folks, if you only heed one word of advice from me, let it be this: Make this recipe. Eat this recipe. Try not to die of ecstasy. Seriously. I think it may be my favorite dish that E makes. It's that good. Oh, and yes, I'm an absolute sucker for the Cranberry Apple Potato Dumplings that come with the Tofurky kit as well--they are, to me, orgasmatronic to the nth degree. Especially topped with E's cranberry sauce. Mmmmm mmmm.

But anyways, blah dee blee. Food. Good. Warm. Tummy. Bulging. Pants. No more belts. Recipe. E's super-simple cranberry sauce. You. Read.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 c. water


• 1/4 c. orange juice


• 3/4 c. sugar


• 2-2 1/4 c. cranberries, rinsed

DIRECTIONS
Put water, OJ, and sugar in a small pot. Boil for 5 minutes. Add cranberries. Return to a boil, lower heat, simmer for 5 minutes.

How fricking simple is that?

Fluffy Sweet Potatoes from the Magical Banana Forest!

As mentioned yesterday, the other dish I made for my mom's Thanksgiving gathering was a sweet potato dish. It was inspired by a recipe I saw in the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook, but I varied it so much that it isn't even worth crediting, to be honest.

I was a bit concerned initially because once I'd mixed all the ingredients, the mixture was actually quite soupy. When you're trying to get a mashed-potato consistency and it ends up watery, it's hard not to be a little bit worried that things just aren't gonna turn out right. But thankfully, after the 50 minute baking time, they were firmed right up. Quite honestly, they firmed up so nicely that next time I make them, I actually think I probably would tinker with them a bit more by adding some more liquids, now that I know it all gets absorbed in the oven.

All in all, they were pretty damn tasty. My brother kept saying that they actually tasted like pumpkin pie, and I do agree. In fact, I suspect that these would make a good filling for a sweet potato pie. I've never actually *HAD* sweet potato pie though, so I can't be certain. But they taste like what I'd *IMAGINE* sweet potato pie to taste like, in the land of magical fairies and giant lollipops, where I've actually *TRIED* sweet potato pie. =)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 lbs. sweet potatoes


• 4 ripe bananas, mashed


• 1 c. soymilk


• 1/2 c. apple cider


• 3 T. agave nectar


• 1 t. allspice


• 1/2 t. cinnamon


• 1/4 t. ground cloves


• 3 T. or so of candied ginger, minced


• Toasted pine nuts

DIRECTIONS
Cook the sweet potatoes in boiling water until soft--about 40 minutes or so. Transfer to a colander and then remove the skins while running the potatoes under cold water. Transfer skinless potatoes to a large metal bowl. Mash with a fork or masher. Add the bananas. Mix well. Add the soymilk and apple cider. Whip with a whisk until fairly smooth. Add everything else but the candied ginger and pinenuts.

Preheat oven to 375. Transfer the sweet potatoes to an 8x8 casserole dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for about 50 minutes or so. Remove from oven and sprinkle the candied ginger and pinenuts on top.

Serves a whole buttload.

Thanksgiving and the Three Sisters Casserole

I have little doubt that most of you managed to gorge your stomachs out on vegan feastie goodies this past week, and the same was, of course, true for me as well. My mom had Thanksgiving at her place this year, and since she's been eating vegetarian for the past two months (*giving her a much-deserved round of applause*), the only meat-related item in the house was my brother's obligatory stuffing. And I must thank her heartily as she went out of her way to deck us out with some yummy vegan grub as well--a glorious fruit salad, an elaborate greens salad, and an apple crisp for dessert.

You go, girl!

As for me, I decided to whip up a couple items to take over there myself. I originally intended to bring dessert as well, but seeing as I've apparently become the spokesperson as to why us vegans need to go out and buy the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook (every time I even attempt them, it turns into some elaborate Three-Stooges-esque baking ordeal), that didn't end up panning out.

Thankfully, both the casserole (which I felt almost obligated to pick because it was named the "Three Sisters casserole" and there are three of us sisters (even though one of us was in NYC for the holiday)) and the mashed sweet potatoes I decided to make came out poifect though.

Today the casserole recipe, tomorrow the sweet potatoes.




I snagged the Three Sisters Casserole recipe from the Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of the Vegetarian Times, and I must admit, it is a good one. I recommend their preparation techniques for the polenta in any instance when you're trying to make a good batch of polenta--it is quite a clever one and the polenta comes out perfect and unlumpy. I ended up baking the casserole in a larger pan (maybe 9 x 13 or somewhere thereabouts) which made the top layer of polenta a bit more difficult to deal with, but it still came out really quite tasty. Plus, I think the quantity of veggies the recipe makes seems ridiculously large for a smaller casserole, though perhaps that's just me. Anyways, if you end up wanting to feed larger armies of people, I'd say you can definitely get away with using the larger pan (I've also included a couple other slight variations). Otherwise, just follow the directions. Deviant.

INGREDIENTS:

Polenta Topping

• 1.5 c. yellow cornmeal


• 1 T. chili powder


• 1/2 t. salt


• 4.5 c. water

Filling

• 3 T. olive oil


• 1 sm. onion, chopped


• 2 jalapeno peppers, deseeded and diced


• 1 large red or yellow bell pepper (cut into 1-inch dice)


• 1 lb. squash (I used butternut--they called for kobacha), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes


• 1 15 oz-can diced tomatoes


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 t. ground coriander


• 1 t. ground cumin


• 1/2 c. water


• 1/2 t. salt


• 1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed

DIRECTIONS

For the polenta topping
Whisk together the polenta ingredients in either a double boiler or (as I did) in a large metal bowl over barely simmering water. Cook 40 minutes or until polenta is thick and stiff, stirring 3 or 4 times. Remove from heat.

For the filling
Preheat oven to 375. Heat 2 T. of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 7 minutes or so, until softened, stirring frequently. Add the bell pepper and cook another 5. Stir in the squash, tomatoes, garlic, coriander, and cumin. Cook 5 more. (Continue to stir frequently throughout.) Add the water and salt. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for about 10-15 minutes (or until squash is tender). Stir in the beans and corn and cook 5 more minutes (or until slightly-thickened--I ended up having to just drain out some of the excess tomatoey-water at the end).

Coat an 8x11-inch (or 9x13-inch) pan/baking dish with nonstick spray. Spread 2 cups of polenta over the bottom of the dish. (This is kinda tricky as it does not spread too well. My suggestion is to run a little water over your spatula to keep it from sticking and to moreso mash or pat the polenta into shape instead of trying to actually spread it over the bottom. It works much better.) Spoon your squash mixture over the polenta (making sure to drain some of the excess water and whatnot to avoid sogging it up). Smooth the remaining polenta over the top. (If you use the larger pan, it won't cover up your middle layer in its entirety, but that's ok. It still tastes good. Just try to spread it out as much as possible.)

Brush the top of the casserole with the remaining T. of olive oil. Bake 30 minutes or until heated through and top is lightly brown.

Serves 6-10, depending.

(Original recipe from the Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of the Vegetarian Times, p. 60)