Make these. . .

 I saw reference to this recipe on My New Roots, what a surprise, and had to try it.  It is for Wild Mushroom Lentil Burgers.  The full recipe is here.  It was fairly easy to make and very satisfying.  I didn't get around to making the cashew sauce, I used mayonnaise, and I put it on white bread, so not as healthy as the recipe recommends, but really spectacular none the less.  I was struck by how meaty it looked.  Since all the ingredients are cooked before you form the patties, I thought it would make a nice vegan alternative to pate as an appetizer. 

The second recipe I recommend is from Sweetapolita, Whipped Vanilla Dream Cupcakes.  I used almond milk instead of whole milk and coconut cream instead of whipping cream theoretically to reduce the cholesterol, but really because I don't drink or keep milk in the house.  But I didn't substitute the butter because, yum, butter.  The coconut cream doesn't whip up as voluminously, but when it is cold it's kind of amazing.  I keep the icing separate from the cupcakes and apply directly before eating.  The trick to separating the cream from a can of coconut milk is refrigerating it at least overnight without shaking.  Then scoop the cream off the top and use the coconut water at the bottom in smoothies or juice drinks.  As I have a lot now, I may be featuring some soon. 

 

Thanksgiving Leftover Breakfast Hash

John and I went to his father's for Thankgiving and my wonderful sister-in-law arranged and prepared the Thanksgiving meal.  It truly spectacular.

She has these awesome plates that make food look super classy.
Anyway, we had lots of delicious leftovers and I decided to make a nice hash for breakfast on Saturday morning.  It's a great way to use leftovers with a variation so it doesn't feel like you are just eating the same things over and over again.

Cube a selection of your leftovers and fry them in a little olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  When they start to brown, make a space in the center and fry an egg.  I like mine over easy, while John likes his scrambled, either can be made easily.  My leftovers were; turkey, sweet potato, roasted carrots, and roasted fingerling potatoes.  Serve with a piece of toast spread with leftover homemade cranberry sauce.

Stuffed Peppers

My father used to make stuffed peppers for us regularly.  You know the recipe, ground beef, white rice, onions.  They end up being super oily and delicious.  Well, I have been trying to rediscover those gems from the perspective that I don't need meat every day, and I don't need every meal to be swimming in oil or animal fat.  I am not arguing that that isn't delicious, just that maybe I don't need it all the time.
My first challenge was to find a meat substitute.  I tried tofu, but even with a marinade, the texture gets lost.  I tried tempeh too, but it turned out to be a lot of rice (what with the rice in the dish plus the rice and other grains embedded in the tempeh).  After the Shepard's Pie last week, I realized that I could totally use mushrooms, so I did.  It was amazing.
Now in this recipe, I used arborio rice.  I would normally chose a brown or wild rice mix, but I had some arborio and I am a big fan of mushroom risotto, so I thought the combination would be good.  It worked out really well, but if you want a healthier, whole grain option, brown or wild rice would work well too.
The last major change for me in this recipe was that my father always pre-boiled the peppers.  I like the crunch, so I didn't, but you are free too if you are a traditionalist.

Stuffed peppers

3 marinated portobello mushrooms
1 small to medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup rice
1 tsp bouillon paste
4 large bell peppers (I like green because they keep their crispness)
1 small handful asparagus, cut into small pieces
Cheese (optional, I used Gruyere for John's)

Cook rice according to instructions, add bouillon to the water.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Saute the onions and garlic until soft and fragrant.  Core the peppers and chop any scraps.  Add the chopped mushrooms and saute until soft and deflated.  Add the asparagus and whatever pepper scraps you might have.  When the rice is almost done, but still moist, add it to the mushroom mix.  Fill the cored peppers with this mixture.  If you want to add cheese, put a thin slice on the top of each pepper.  Put the peppers in a baking dish and put into your preheated oven.  I use bread pans to cook mine so they don't have far to fall if they fall over.  A bundt pan can also be useful in this situation. Bake 15 minutes and then allow to cool about 5 minutes before serving.  If you have any extra filling you can always call it a vegetable filled mushroom risotto.

Marinated Mushrooms

Since making the Veggie Shepard's pie two weekends ago, I have been marinating mushrooms for everything.  I thought maybe I should post a simple marinade.

Marinated Mushrooms

3 large portobello caps
1/4 c cooking sherry
1/4 c olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 c hot water
1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon paste (I prefer Better than Bouillon)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried sage
salt and pepper

Mix the cooking sherry, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar in a measuring cup or small bowl.  Dissolve the bouillon in the hot water and add it to the liquid mix.  Whisk the sugar, oregano, sage, salt, and pepper into the liquid mixture until the sugar dissolves.  Place the mushroom caps top down in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them.  It is ok if some liquid escapes into the dish.  Always let them sit at least a half an hour before cooking.

So far I have cut up the mushrooms and sauteed them.  This has worked well for me.

Veggie Shephard's Pie

John and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this weekend.  We always enjoy a nice meal together for our anniversary, and this year I wanted to go vegetarian, so I made this delicious Shephard's Pie.  I used mushrooms to give the meat feel in the pie, and used edamame beans to add protein to the meal.  It turned out really well.

Mushroom Shephard's Pie

3 large portobello caps
1/4 c cooking sherry
1/4 c olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1tsp dried sage
salt and pepper to taste
1 package fresh edamame beans (I have also used peas and wax beans cut into chunks)
3 large potatoes
1/4 c almond milk
4 tbsp butter (if you want to go vegan you can use Earth Balance products instead)
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the sherry, oil, vinegar, sugar, oregano, sage, salt, and pepper.  Marinate the mushrooms in the sherry mixture while preparing the other ingredients.  Boil the potatoes and mash them with the butter, almond milk, yeast, salt, and pepper.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the mushrooms into bite size pieces, and sautee them.  Layer the ingredients in a bread pan, mushrooms on the bottom, edamame in the middle, and mashed potatoes on the top.  I mixed a little butter into the top of the potato with a fork, so there would be a little crispy potato on the top.  Bake about 20 minutes until the top browns a bit.