Category Archives: Main Dishes

Apr 26 2013
30 Comments
Herbs, Main Dishes, Soups and Stews

Creamy Chik’n Soup with Sweet Potato Gnocchi & Kale

Chik'n Sweet Potato Gnocchi SoupI don’t really want to rush time along, but this year winter has rudely muscled its way into spring and I’m aching for sunshine and warm temperatures.  This see-sawing act (hot…cold…hot…cold) is getting tiresome.

Because of the lingering chilliness, my stomach is still craving comforting stews and soups.  This one is particularly satisfying.  I’ve based this rich recipe on an Olive Garden concoction – except mine gets its creaminess from pureed white beans – not from cream.  The gnocchis are homemade with sweet potatoes rather than white potatoes, but you could use store-bought. Just make sure they’re vegan.

GIVEAWAY UPDATES:
If you’re into sprouts and you haven’t yet done so, please visit the Virtual Vegan Potluck blog and enter to win a bag of broccoli sprouting seeds from VVP sponsor Todd’s Seeds!  Todd has also created a 20% discount for anyone to use when ordering sprouts or sprouting seeds from his site.  For deets, head over to the VVP blog.

Also – I’m giving away three bottles of Kretschmer Wheat Germ on both of my Facebook pages – An Unrefined Vegan and Virtual Vegan Potluck.  All you have to do is leave a comment on my Almond Butter Maple Granola photo(s).  I’ll be selecting a winner (of all three bottles) on Monday.

Creamy Chik’n Soup with Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Serves 6-8

1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 cups seitan, cubed
3 cups seitan-cooking broth+7 cups water OR 4 cups vegetable broth+6 cups water
4 cups kale, chopped
1 15 oz. can great northern beans, rinsed, drained and pureed
2 cups sweet potato gnocchi, cooked and drained
ground black pepper, to taste

Soup Ingredients

In a large pot, saute the onions, celery and carrots in a splash of water, vegetable broth or Bragg Liquid Aminos until tender. Stir in the garlic, thyme, mushrooms and seietan and cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Pour in the 10 cups broth/water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until veggies are very tender. Stir in the kale, pureed beans, and gnocchi and cook until the kale is tender. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Bowl of Soup

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Apr 12 2013
33 Comments
Main Dishes, Pantry, Soups and Stews

Creamy Tomato Soup

Tomato Soup in Small BowlKel and I got into a habit during the long hours in the car on a recent road trip.  As mealtimes approached, I’d use my phone to begin the hunt for vegan-friendly restaurants in whatever large city was coming up along the highway.  On the second day of our drive back through Florida on our way back to Oklahoma, Kel and I hit the lunchtime jackpot and were treated to the best meal of our trip.  Once inside the doors of End of the Line Cafe in Pensacola, there was no need to explain veganism, no asking for the mayo/cheese/sour cream to be removed from a dish – it was straight-up, 100% plant-based manna.

End of the Line Cafe sits right along the railroad tracks (hence the name) and not far from the waterfront.  It’s a humble setting and I’m not sure I’d be lingering in the area after dark.  No matter, it was a bright and warm day and our stomachs were loudly protesting their emptiness.  End of the Line was serving up a prix-fixe brunch that Sunday and the place was full – all of us clutching forks and knives in anticipation.  The meal started out with little cups of rich and flavorful creamy tomato soup.  After slurping our first sips, my eyes met Kel’s and in hushed tones we both murmured, “Wow.”  I have no idea what they put in there, but whatever it was, I want to bottle it and sell it.  The rest of the meal was also outstanding (photos below).

I have to admit, I didn’t even come close to End of the Line’s version, but this is still a tasty, easy soup.  For this recipe, I used the last of 2012′s homegrown tomatoes that Kel had cut into slices and put into the freezer.  They were real beauties and part of me hated to use them all up, but since we have new tomato plants starting in the greenhouse, we should be buried in the red beasts by July.  Canned tomatoes will work just fine in this recipe.

I’ve shared this recipe on Healthy Vegan Friday.

One year ago today: 7 Days of Salad: Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Couscous with Sweet Lime-ginger Dressing
One year and one day ago today: 7 Days of Salad: Orzo w/ Black-eyed Peas, Olives & Cucumber

Creamy Tomato Soup
Serves 6

2 large onions, sliced
water and/or Bragg Liquid Aminos, for sautéing
~8 cups tomatoes (peeled), or two 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can white beans
1 head garlic, roasted and the cloves squeezed out
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp. white miso
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. curry powder
~1/2 cup nut milk, optional

orange gremolata, recipe below

In a large pot, slowly and patiently caramelize the onions in splashes of water and Bragg Liquid Aminos.  For buttery, soft and brown onions, this should take about 30 minutes.  Don’t skip this step – it gives the soup its rich flavor.

Once the onions are caramelized, add the tomatoes and cook down for about 10 minutes.  Stir all of the remaining ingredients, except for the nut milk, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to simmer and cook the soup for 30 minutes or so, tasting to adjust the seasonings.

Using a blender or a stick blender, puree the soup. Stir in the nut milk, if using, and heat gently while you prepare the gremolata.

Garlic, Onions Collage

Orange Gremolata

1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup or so of parsley, finely chopped
zest of one orange
1/4 cup or so of raw walnuts, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

GremolataDivide the soup between bowls and top with gremolata.

Bowls of Tomato Soup

Brunch at End of the Line Cafe:

Tofu Migas

Two salads plus rice and tofu migas at End of the Line Cafe.

macaroon

And for dessert: a luscious macaroon.

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Apr 04 2013
43 Comments
Main Dishes, pasta, Slow Food

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchis on Baking PanGnocchis are pillowy-soft, plump little dumplings that love to soak up savory sauces – though the Italian translation, either knot, lump or knuckle doesn’t exactly make my mouth water. Gnocchi is a good pasta to make if you are like me and can’t seem to master the rolling out and cutting of typical pastas.  I end up with goofy-shaped scraps, tangles of noodles and flour all over the place.

These dumplings are quite forgiving, freeze beautifully and cook very quickly.  They’re delicious with a tomato-based sauce or with a light and buttery sage drizzle.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Feeds an army

2 sweet potatoes, baked, cooled and peeled
6 oz. unsweetened soy yogurt
1 tbsp. flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp. water (whisk together and set aside for a few minutes)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
~2 1/2 cups AP flour

In a large bowl, mash the sweet potato and then add the yogurt and flaxseed meal mixture.  Stir in the remaining ingredients – you may not need all of the AP flour, or you may need a little more – until a soft dough forms.  Cover dough and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  If you are going to cook the gnocchis right away, fill a big pot with water and bring to a rolling boil.

Dust a work surface lightly with flour.  Divide the dough into four pieces.  Cover three pieces and roll the fourth into a log that is about 3/4″ in diameter (you may need to break the log down further).  Now cut the log into pieces that are about 1″ long.  You can either roll each piece over the tines of a fork or on one of those handy-dandy gnocchi rollers.  Or do neither – they’ll cook up just fine without the lines.  Place the dumplings on the prepared baking sheets.  Proceed with the remaining pieces of dough.

If you are going to freeze the gnocchis for later, first freeze the dumplings right on the pan – then transfer them to gallon freezer bags.  (You can cook them directly out of the freezer – no need to thaw.)

Gnocchi Paddle and ForkIf cooking immediately, carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling water.  They will sink, then rise as they finish cooking.  Fresh gnocchi cooks fast. Scoop the dumplings up and drain them.  It’s a good idea to cook gnocchi in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot.

How to Make Gnocchi

Dress the gnocchis immediately with your favorite sauce and serve.  I’ll be sharing a recipe that includes these sweet potato gnocchis soon (sneak peak below)!

Gnocchi on Spoon

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Mar 26 2013
44 Comments
Lunch, Main Dishes, Slow Food

Pinto Bean, Green Olive & Sweet Potato Turnovers

TurnoversI think I could eat one of these turnovers every day for lunch and be quite happy.  I’d be grinning like the Cheshire Cat day after day after day.  They have everything I love: beans, olives, sweet potato, smoky cumin and crust.  Especially crust.  I like to make a big batch and put half in the freezer.

Serve with salsa and/or cashew sour cream.  If you’re not into making your own dough, use vegan puff pastry.  Or go super simple and stuff whole wheat tortillas with the warm filling.

One year ago today: Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
One year and one day ago: Lickety-Split Banana Pecan Upside Down Cakes

Pinto Bean, Green Olive & Sweet Potato Turnovers
Makes ~6

Crust:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/4 tsp. cumin
pinch salt
1/4 cup coconut oil (do not melt)
1/2 cup vegan shortening (I use Earth Balance)
~6 tbsp. ice cold water

Filling:
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked sweet potato (I roasted mine)
1 4 oz. can green chiles
1  1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/8 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 cup green olives, chopped
salt & pepper, to taste

Make the crust:
In a food processor, combine the flours, salt and cumin.  Pulse a few times.  Add the coconut oil and shortening and process until you get a fine-chunky mixture.  With the processor on, slowly pour in the water and process until the dough gathers in a ball.  Remove and knead a few times then divide the dough in half and cover each portion with plastic wrap and chill until firm.

Pie Dough

Make the filling:
In a large bowl, lightly mash the pinto beans and the sweet potato.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Set aside until ready to assemble the turnovers.  I made the filling a day ahead and kept it in the refrigerator.

Assemble the turnovers:
Line two baking sheets with parchment and preheat the oven to 350F.

Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into rounds – I used a small saucer and got three rounds per piece of dough.  Probably one could get more, but I only like to re-roll the dough once.  Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets.

Scoop up a couple of tablespoons of the filling and place off-center on a dough round.  Brush the edge with water and carefully fold one side of the dough over the other; crimp with a fork and then prick a few holes in the tops of the turnovers.  Proceed with remaining rounds.  If desired, lightly brush the turnovers with nut milk.  There will be leftover filling – time to get creative.

Bake the turnovers for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve immediately or allow to cool, wrap well and store in the freezer for later.

Turnovers, Salsa

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Mar 05 2013
53 Comments
Dehydrator, Pizza, Raw, Slow Food, Virtual Vegan Potluck, Virtual Vegan Potluck Blog, Virtual Vegan Potluck Website

Dehydrator Love

I don’t have a recipe to share today, just some low-quality, iPhone photos of a raw pizza that kinda rocked my sheltered plant-based planet.  You see, I recently acquired an Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator, an item that had been sitting patiently on my Amazon Wish List for many, many months while I accumulated enough points (freebie!) to hit the Order button.  To many vegans, purchasing a dehydrator produces feelings akin to having a sturdy high-speed blender (there are two camps: the Vitamixers camp and the Blendtecers) gracing their countertop. (For insight into how people feel about owning a high-speed blender, please read this very funny post.)

The pizza pictured below is made from a mish-mash of recipes: the crust is a very slight adaptation of a recipe by Matthew Kenney, one of the gods of raw food cooking.  It is absolutely delicious and stands up as a snack – sans topping – in its own right; the cashew-mushroom sauce is my adaptation of yet another recipe found in the pages of Runner’s World.  I didn’t change it enough to justify including the recipe here.  Again, it’s tasty enough to scoop up on its own, but I’d hold off unless you are trying to gain weight.

Already my dehydrator has opened up a new food world to me and I know I have much left to learn and dry out.  Look out world!

Shameless plug: did you hear that Virtual Vegan Potluck made it onto Post Punk Kitchen’s 100?  Yep, it did!  Please check out the list to see their blurb about the VVP and to visit 99 other awesome sites (including Vegan Richa and Keepin’ It Kind)!

One year ago today: The Vegan Option
One year and one day ago today: Buttermilk Rolls with Flaxseed and Wheat Germ

Whole Raw Pizza

Raw Pizza, cut

Pizza and Fork

Raw Pizza and Fork 2

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Feb 07 2013
71 Comments
Quick & Easy, Soups and Stews, Vegetables

Cashew Creamy Lentil Soup

Creamy Lentil SoupYou don’t need to say it. I’ll say it for you: my, but that’s a homely soup. Homely, yes, but delicious.

Now maybe this is knowledge held by every vegan out there except for me. I’ve always felt a little wasteful tossing out the seitan cooking water. It smells pretty good! Certainly it could be put to good employ somewhere. Like in soup. After my last batch of seitan, I decided to hang on to the broth – and I used it in this soup. I have to say, it really did something special. If you haven’t tried using all of that good seitan broth before, I’d suggest giving it a whirl.

One year ago today: A Peek Into the Man-cave (a.k.a. The Greenhouse)
One year and one day ago: German Chocolate Bundt Cake

Cashew Creamy Lentil Soup
Serves 4

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 cups vegetable broth (or seitan cooking broth)
1-2 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup dried brown lentils
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup cashew cream (or nut milk)
2 tbsp. dry sherry
salt and ground black pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan, saute the onions in the Bragg Liquid Aminos for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sweet potatoes, carrots and celery and sauté for another 5 or so minutes. Then add the lentils and broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about an hour, or until the vegetables are very soft.

Using a stick blender or food processor, or blender, puree the soup until it’s mostly smooth. Return to the pan, stir in the cashew cream (or nut milk) and the sherry. When soup is thoroughly heated (do not allow to boil), it’s ready to serve. Garnish with something green, if desired.

Creamy Lentil Soup

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Jan 22 2013
48 Comments
Beans, Bread, Main Dishes, Pantry, Quick & Easy, Soups and Stews

Smoky Chickpea Stew with Spinach, Sausage & Cashew Cream

Smoky Chickpea StewCongratulations to Dena B. for snagging a fabulous Vegan Cuts Snack Box!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Virtual Vegan Potluck blog to enter.  It was our most popular giveaway yet!

Here’s an über simple, spicy bean stew that is perfect for a quick lunch or weeknight meal.  I served mine over a thick slice of toast and topped it with cilantro and a garlicky cashew cream.

One Year Ago Today: Chunky Monkey Muffins
One year and one day ago: When the Cupboards Are (Almost) Bare

Smoky Chickpea Stew with Spinach, Sausage & Cashew Cream
Serves 4

Cashew Cream
1 cup cashews, soaked for a few hours
1/2 cup water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos

Stew
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4+ cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 15 oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 link spicy vegan sausage (such as Field Roast’s Mexican Chipotle sausage), chopped
5 oz. fresh spinach
1 tsp. dry sherry, optional
generous squirt of fresh lemon juice
4 slices thick, crusty bread – preferably garlic bread – toasted
cilantro, for garnish

Make the cream:
Rinse and drain the cashews and put into a blender along with the other ingredients. Process until very smooth – give it a minute or two. Pour mixture into a bowl and set aside.

Make the stew:
In a medium-sized pot, saute the garlic and onion in a little bit of the vegetable broth until tender. Stir in the paprika and cook for about 1 minute. Add the 1/4 broth, white wine and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and add the garbanzo beans. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until thickened slightly.

A few minutes before the stew is finished, toast the bread.

Stir in the chorizo and spinach, cover and cook for a few minutes to allow the spinach to wilt. Remove from the heat and stir in the sherry and lemon juice.

Divide the toast among four bowls and ladle with the stew. Garnish with chopped cilantro and big dollops of the cashew cream.

Smoky Chickpea Stew

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Dec 07 2012
24 Comments
Beans, Chocolate, Cookies and Bars, Main Dishes, Other People's Food, Soups and Stews

Other People’s Food 7: The Comfort Food Edition

Slow-Cooker ChiliIf you had to pick the ultimate comfort food, what would it be?  Pot pie?  A spicy curry?  Macaroni and cheese?  Or maybe hot cocoa (hot cocoa sounds more comforting than hot chocolate) or a warm brownie topped with ice cream?  Winter is just around the corner – though some days it feels as if it’s already here – so my cooking changes from quick and cool to hearty, warm and comforting.

Chili, in almost any form but the ones including meat, is one of my favorite comfort foods.  You can put it together quickly and let it simmer gently for hours – and it tastes better the next day.  I recently made the version from In Vegetables We Trust (Slow-Cooker Chili) which includes a hint of unsweetened cocoa to mellow and deepen the beany, peppery flavors.

Double Chocolate Coconut Pecan CookiesWhat’s comfort without cozy chocolate?  If you didn’t see this recipe on Somer’s blog, Vedged Out, then you must be hibernating.  And I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you were.  I mixed up a batch of her Double Chocolate Coconut Pecan Cookies and my belly and I felt contented, satisfied and downright happy despite the flurries blowing outside.  In fact, I laughed at them between bites.

Kalamansi Coconut RisottoFor me, rice is one of the most comforting foods around.  This may be because when I was a kid my mom made the most delicious rice on the planet – buttery and creamy and heavy on the ground black pepper.  When I was a young lass living on my own there were evenings when it was me, the TV and a big bowl of steaming, hot rice.  This is why I included AstigVegan’s delicious Kalamansi Coconut Risotto recipe in my comfort food hall of fame.  It’s got all the things I love: creamy rice, coconut milk, lemon zing and mushrooms.  (Sorry, Richa, I couldn’t get kalamansi here in Utah so I made due with lemon juice and some orange zest!)

Maple Coconut Coffee ChocolatesIf there’s anything more comforting than chocolate, it’s…more chocolate.  I made these babies one Sunday afternoon when I needed a heavy dose of comfort.   Big fat flakes of snow were flying outside.  The foothills of the Wasatch were barely visible in the fog of white.  Ike had wisely tucked himself back into his doggy bed and Paul Westerberg provided background music with one of his most plaintive tunes, Here Comes A Regular.    The enticing smell of melted chocolate takes the cold edge off of any winter day.  I got the original recipe from  Things My Belly Likes (Maple Coconut Chocolates), and I hit the print button before you could say Give me a Mounds bar!  I messed around (i.e., made it more complicated than it needed to be) with the recipe and have included it below.

One year ago today: Pesto Pasta e Fagioli
One year and one day ago: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cherry-Apricot Compote

Maple Coconut Coffee Chocolates with Add-ins
Makes ~30 (using small muffin cups)

1 cup coconut oil
1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 heaping tbsp. Dandy Blend (herbal coffee substitute), optional
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/8 cup sweet cacao nibs (with a little extra for sprinkling on top of the chocolate)
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped (with a little extra for sprinkling on top of the chocolate)
1/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (with a little extra for sprinkling on top of the chocolate)

I lined up my paper and silicon mini muffin cups on baking sheets and got all of the ingredients ready to go before I melted the chocolate and coconut oil.  Mise en place.  It’s a good thing.  Sprinkle the pecans into the bottoms of 1/3 of the muffins cups; sprinkle the cacao nibs into the bottoms of 1/3 of the muffin cups.  You’ll be stirring the flaked coconut into the remaining 1/3 of the melted chocolate/coconut oil mixture – so hold off on sprinkling that into the bottom of the cups.

In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil and chocolate over low heat  Whisk occasionally.  Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup and vanilla extract.  They’ll sizzle so watch your eyes.  For really smooth chocolate, put the cocoa powder and Dandy Blend through a sieve and add to the melted chocolate.  Whisk until smooth and melted.

Carefully pour the chocolate into the pecan- and cacao nib-fille cups.  Now, stir in the 1/3 cup flaked coconut into the rest of the chocolate and pour into the remaining muffin cups.  Sprinkle the tops of the chocolate cups w/ the corresponding add-in so that later you know which chocolate you are popping into your mouth.

Chill the cups until firm.

Ingredients

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Nov 30 2012
30 Comments
Brunch, Entertaining, Giveaway, Main Dishes, Tofu, Virtual Vegan Potluck, Virtual Vegan Potluck Blog, Virtual Vegan Potluck Website

Savory Pumpkin Pie with Shiitake Mushroom Streusel

Savory Pumpkin PieIf you’ve had your fill of sweet pumpkin pie already, you might want to try this one.  Nothing sweet (save for a hint of maple syrup) here.

This recipe is an adaptation of one from the November 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  The vegan gruyere cheez is a very slight variation of a recipe I snagged from The Culinary Confessions of Betty Rocker.  I’d never seen oatmeal used in a vegan cheez recipe and therefore had to try it immediately.  I didn’t change it enough to warrant including the recipe here, however, and I encourage you to check out Betty’s site.  Feel free to use your favorite vegan cheez as a substitute for the gruyere (cheddar would be quite nice) – or leave it out entirely.

One year ago today: Roasted Eggplant Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions & Roasted Tomato Sauce

Savory Pumpkin Pie with Shiitake Mushroom Streusel
Serves 8

Filling:
1 recipe for single whole wheat pie crust (I use the recipe on the back of Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour bag)

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup silken tofu
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
ground black pepper, to taste

~2/3 cup vegan gruyere cheese, shredded or chopped, divided

Shiitake Mushroom Streusel:
5 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
1/4 cup white wine or water
1/4 cup “bacon” bits, optional (I use Wayfare Foods’ Pig Out Whole Grain Bacony Bits)
1/2 cup whole wheat panko or bread crumbs
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke or use a dash of smoked paprika
ground black pepper, to taste

Make the filling:
Preheat the oven to 425F.  Line a 9″ pie pan with the whole wheat crust and set aside.

In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the pumpkin puree and the silken tofu.  I processed the tofu in a blender prior to adding it to the pumpkin puree.  Set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a splash of vegetable broth, Bragg Liquid Aminos or water to the pan.  Saute the celery and garlic until soft and then stir in the poultry seasoning, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Cook for 1-2 minutes and remove pan from the heat.  Stir the celery mixture along with 1/3 cup of the vegan gruyere into the pumpkin mixture.  Set aside.

Make the mushroom streusel:
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a splash of vegetable broth or water.  Add the sliced mushrooms and saute until tender.  Add the wine and cook until has just about evaporated.  Now stir in the “bacon” bits, panko, maple syrup and Liquid Smoke or paprika and ground pepper.  Stir and let the mixture dry out a bit.  The topping will brown up and crisp in the oven, so no need to let it completely dry out in the pan.  Remove from heat, stir in the remaining 1/3 cup vegan gruyere and set aside.

Assemble the pie:
Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared pie shell and smooth out the top.  Crumble the mushroom topping over the filling and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is baked through and the mushroom topping is crisp and browned.  Let the pie rest for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.  Also tasty served at room temperature.

Savory Pumpkin Pie

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Oct 22 2012
22 Comments
Main Dishes, Soups and Stews, VeganMoFo, Vegetables

VeganMoFo: Loaded Split Pea Soup

Split Pea Soup, Salad I’m like the Princess in the Princess and the Pea.  It doesn’t matter how many layers of goodness you have covering up that tiny pea.  I will find it.  I don’t want peas baked into pot pie, hanging about in my vegetable coconut korma, mixed into stir-fries or tossed into minestrone.  There are two ways I like to eat peas: straight out of the pod or cooked up into split pea soup.  Like this one.

One year ago today: Goodbye, Basil

Loaded Split Pea Soup
Serves 8

4 cups vegetable broth + more for sautéing
4 cups water
1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 cup butternut squash, diced
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 cup green split peas
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
2 links seitan sausage (I used a couple of links of apple-sage)

Saute the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and parsnip for 8-10 minutes in a splash of vegetable broth and stir occasionally, adding more liquid if needed.  Stir in the butternut squash, curry and cumin powder and saute for about 1 minute.  Add the 4 cups broth, water, Liquid Aminos and the split peas.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a gentle simmer.  Cook until the peas and vegetables are very tender.

Meanwhile, slice the seitan sausage into 1/4″ rounds and brown on low heat using water or vegetable broth sparingly to keep the sausage from sticking to the pan.  Remove and set aside.

Stir in the corn and the sausage and cook for a few minutes – just to heat them through.

(For another awesome split pea recipe, check out Somer’s smoky version at Vedged Out.)

Aerial Split Pea Soup

Vegan MoFo

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