A Very Vegan Thanksgiving! Chickpea Cutlets, Mashed Potatoes, Mushroom Gravy, and Roasted Broccoli!

It was Canadian Thanksgiving this past Monday, so we went all out with a hearty traditional meal...vegan-style, of course! Justin and I were in the kitchen for a good while and made this delicious meal together. It was one of those times where all of the pots and burners were used on the stove top and so many dishes piled up in the kitchen sink. But, it was well worth the time (and the mess!). I chose dishes from Isa's holiday recipes over at Post Punk Kitchen because they always turn out so great! We went with Doublebatch Chickpea Cutlets, Fluffy Mashed Potatoes, Savory Mushroom Gravy, Roasted Broccoli & Asparagus, and the Cosmos Apple Pie from the Vegan Pie in the Sky cookbook.

I didn't fully follow the recipe for the broccoli - first of all, we added asparagus, too. Next, we added some fresh and dried herbs and spices as I would typically use for roasted vegetables. We roasted the vegetables in olive oil, along with the herbs, on a baking sheet as per the recipe.

The pie was baked to perfection and was super delicious! For an added amount of yum, I sprinkled some maple sugar on top in place of regular sugar, along with the cinnamon.

And another thing to be thankful for? This was way too much food for only two people! So, we had lots of leftovers to eat. The chickpea cutlets went pretty fast, but we ended up with such a huge amount of mushroom gravy that I'm thinking of making more cutlets and potatoes just to use up the gravy! It is Thursday now and I've still got some leftover potatoes, mushroom gravy, and pie. For the last couple of days, I've had some pretty fantastic lunches at work! Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians, and Early Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

Vegan S'mores! Yummy Graham Cracker, Marshmallow and Chocolate Mmmm....

Here are some of the Christmas treats that I baked up for the holidays! I went a little less traditional this year and skipped the typical Christmas cookies. While I do love those kinds of cookies, I wanted to challenge myself to something completely new - making S'mores from scratch!

First, I made the graham cookies that make up the base of this treat. I researched a couple of vegan S'mores recipes online, and ended up combining the ones found at Vegan Yum Yum and Manifest Vegan to create my own recipe! If you do need to make them gluten-free, the recipe at Manifest Vegan looked great to use.

To make the graham crackers, you'll need:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup soy milk
1/4 cup agave
1/4 cup molasses

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the Earth Balance and the sugar until smooth. Add the soy milk, vanilla, agave, molasses, and cinnamon. Mix everything together.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until everything is incorporated. A stiff dough should form.
5. Divide the dough into two sections and pat into disks. Chill each disk briefly for about 5 minutes in the freezer, and then roll out between two pieces of parchment paper until it is about 5mm thick.
6. Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the dough into squares that are approximately the same size. Using the tip of a chopstick, poke holes into the top of each square.
7. The dough will be flexible and it will be easy to pull off the parchment paper. Place each square on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes until they are firm and a little bit darker around the edges. Let cool completely.
8. Repeat with the remaining dough. I ended up with a TON of graham crackers, but remember that you'll need one for the top and one for the bottom of each s'more!

Now, to make the marshmallow part of the S'mores:

1-oz bag vegan marshmallows (Dandies is the brand I used)
1 tbsp Earth Balance

In a small saucepan, combine the Earth Balance and marshmallows over medium heat. Stir constantly until they melt together. Stir until smooth. Add a little bit more Earth Balance if the mixture starts to stick to the pot.

Put a spoonful of marshmallows between two graham cookies. Warning - this can get a bit messy! I also needed to double the marshmallow recipe to use up all of the graham crackers that I made.

Next, the chocolate topping for the S'mores:

You'll need one bag of non-dairy semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Camino brand). Melt the chocolate over a double broiler, or in the microwave in 30 second increments (stirring between each 30 seconds). Coat each S'more with chocolate.

They're also good without the chocolate for those who don't care for chocolate. I love chocolate so of course I added lots of chocolate on top of each one!

The other sweets that I made for Christmas are two Post Punk Kitchen favourites of mine: Peanut Butter Blondies (pictured above) and Banana Everything Cookies (shown below).

Perogies for Christmas Dinner

For Christmas dinner this year, we decided that it would be a real treat to make perogies from scratch! I have fond childhood memories preparing perogies with my family near the holidays. Half of my family heritage is Ukranian (the other half is Scottish!), so eating perogies around Christmastime was a family tradition. We would make large batches and it would take all afternoon to make them! This Christmas was my first time making them in my own kitchen. It did end up taking all afternoon to make the perogies (and the pasta that we made), but it was definitely worth it. We also ended up having several batches to freeze for future lunches and dinners.

We also baked this pasta for Christmas dinner - Tofu Baked Pasta - it was a favorite from when we first made it and it went perfectly with the perogies. This was definitely a warm and hearty holiday meal!

The recipe for the perogies came from the Post Punk Kitchen website. I followed the recipe exactly, except I didn't make the caramelized onions that were suggested. Instead, we decided to go with our own sauteed spicy onions and mushrooms to put on top.

We also didn't fry them after boiling them, we just served them boiled as a healthier option. You are welcome to fry them up after boiling them for a crispier fried taste!

We doubled this recipe to make approximately 60 perogies - the recipe below makes 30 perogies.

For the Dough:
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour (plus a little extra for sprinkling)
3/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
1/4 cup canola oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoons salt
 
Make the filling:
In a medium sized pot, cover potatoes in water. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to simmer and cook for about 15 more minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, in a large pan, sautée the onions in oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Turn the heat off but stir occasionally even when the heat is turned off because they could still burn from the hot pan. When the potatoes are done boiling, drain them well and add them to the pan with the onions. Just mashed them right in there with a potato masher, that way you are sure to get all the flavor. Add the salt and pepper. Make sure potatoes are mashed well and fluffy. Set aside to cool a bit.

To make the dough:
Pour the water and oil into a large bowl. Add 2 cups of flour and the salt, keeping one cup aside. Use a fork to stir the flour in, and as it starts to come together, use your hands to knead until a loose dough forms (about 3 minutes.)

Sprinkle your counter with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and knead. Add the reserved cup of flour a little bit at a time, working it into the dough, until it is very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If it’s too sticky, you can add a little bit more flour and knead it in, sometimes up to 1/4 cup extra. Conversely, if you get a good- feeling, smooth, elastic dough that isn’t tacky with less less than the extra cup of flour, then that’s okay, too.

Now we roll the dough out, and also bring a salted pot of water to boil to cook the perogies.

Divide the dough in half and make sure your counter is clean and sprinkled with a dusting of flour to prevent sticking. Roll half the dough out to about 1/16 of an inch thick, which is to say, very thin but not see through. Sprinkle the top with a light dusting of flour.

To make the circles: I use the top of a glass that is 3 1/2 inches, but somewhere between 3 1/2 and 4 inches is perfect. Have ready a lightly floured plate to place the finished circles on, and go ahead and firmly press your glass or cookie cutter into the dough, as close together as you can. Pull the excess dough up and set aside. Place circles on the floured plate. Combine the excess doughs and see if you can get a few more wrappers out of the deal.

Fill the dough with the filling: Make sure your pot of water is rapidly boiling. Have a small bowl of water for wetting the edges of the wrappers. Place about a tablespoon of filling into the center of a circle and dab water around the circumference of the circle. Fold the edges of the wrapper over filling and pinch in the middle to hold together. Pinch down the sides so that you have a sealed half moon. Don't stuff them too full or else the filling will come out of the edges.

Cook the perogies: Gently lower the perogies into a pot of boiling water. When they float they are ready. If for some reason they aren’t floating, it takes about 5 minutes for them to cook.

Make the topping: Slice an onion into thin slices and cut up some mushroom. Put a little bit of oil in a frying pan and let it heat up. Put the onion and the mushroom into the frying pan, and shake on some cayenne pepper (or other hot spice). Mix it all together and saute for 5-8 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent.

Top the perogies with the spicy onions/mushrooms and you're done! You can also serve with vegan sour cream if you'd like!

This recipe turned out great and brought all of those great childhood memories back for me! I think it will become a new Christmas tradition of mine...and maybe other times of the year when I feel up to making them! It is always nice to have a quick go-to dinner ready in the freezer, especially something as yummy as perogies!

A Vegan Thanksgiving

Roasted Vegetables

I'm Canadian and in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. This post might seem a little bit strange as Thanksgiving here is long over, but I'm finally getting around to posting about our Thanksgiving dinner this year! It works out for my American friends, as you'll get a sneak preview of some things you might think of making for your Thanksgiving feast!

Let me start out by saying that I've never had a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal in my life! Since I was raised vegetarian, my family never had the typical turkey dinner. In fact, we rarely made any deal out of Thanksgiving and just made our favorite dishes that day, whatever they might have been at the time. This year, Paul and I decided to make a hearty, warm, rustic Thanksgiving dinner that would out-do any meat-eaters' holiday feast!

On the Thanksgiving menu:

• Roasted Vegetables
• Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Mushroom Gravy
• Cinnamon Apple Crisp with Vanilla Soy Ice Cream for dessert

Roasted veggies are nothing new around our house - we make this one all the time! It seemed to fit perfectly into this meal. If you're interested in the recipe, please check out one of my past blog posts. We probably used some different vegetables at the time, but feel free to use whatever ones you like! This time around, we used: sweet potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, onion, garlic, red and orange pepper, asparagus, and parsnips.

Stuffing

Stuffing - can you believe I'd actually never tried stuffing before? Stuffing screams Thanksgiving and I really enjoyed this new dish in my life! Here is the recipe that we used:

Ingredients:

• 10 cups 1/2" bread cubes from whole wheat bread
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped celery
• 2 tsp Herbes de Provence (or 1 tsp sage and 1 tsp thyme)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2-3 cups vegetable stock

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a large shallow casserole dish.
2. Toast the bread cubes on a large baking sheet in the oven until golden brown. Set aside in a large bowl.
3. Turn down the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Saute the onions, garlic, and celery until soft.
5. Add the spices and the black pepper and stir.
6. Add the vegetable stock and stir until it is all absorbed. Start with 2 cups and add more if needed so the mixture is moist and clumping together, but not soggy.
7. Bake in a covered shallow casserole dish for 25 minutes. 
8. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes to form a crusty top.

Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy

Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy - It's difficult to photograph this one. But trust me, it's incredibly delicious. We made the mashed potatoes and poured the mushroom gravy over top of them. Gravy was another thing that I've actually never tried before! The bigger chunks of mushrooms in the gravy made it so, so tasty. Here are the recipes:

Mashed Potatoes Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Russet potatoes (or any potato that you choose)
• 4 tbsp Earth Balance margarine (you can use olive oil instead if you'd like)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp dill or chives (we used chives as Paul isn't a fan of dill!)

Directions:

Bring the water to a rapid boil in a large pot. Add the potatoes and cook until tender (15-20 minutes). Drain. While still hot, mash the potatoes with the other ingredients, and top with the dill or chives.

Mushroom Gravy Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup white or button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small yellow or white onion, minced
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence (or 1/2 tsp each of sage, thyme and marjoram)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet, melt the Earth Balance, and then add onion and mushrooms. Saute for a minute or two over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add vegetable broth and soy sauce. Slowly add flour, stirring well to combine and prevent lumps from forming. Reduce heat and let simmer. Add the spices, salt and pepper, and keep stirring. Allow to cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly until the gravy thickens.

And then....what would Thanksgiving dinner be without dessert?! We made this delicious Cinnamon Apple Crisp!

Fresh out of the oven!

We made this Cinnamon Apple Crisp from Isa's recipe over at Post Punk Kitchen. It was perfect when served warm from the oven and topped with vanilla soy ice cream! Yum!

Apple Crisp with Vanilla Soy Ice Cream

Filling Ingredients:

• 4lbs (about 8) apples - peeled, cored, quartered, and cut into 1/4" slices
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Topping Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, squeeze lemon juice over sliced apples. Add the arrowroot and spices making sure all of the apples are coated. Move the apple mixture to a 9x13" glass baking dish and drizzle the maple syrup over it. Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping: sift the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Fold the wet into the dry mixing with a fork until well coated and crumbly.

When apples are done baking, remove from oven and toss, then flatten them evening with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the topping over the apple minute and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until the top feels crispy. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.