As many of you know my husband is Canadian so this year I decided that I would cook up a Canadian Thanksgiving, kind of a test run for the “real” Thanksgiving. However, last week my husband was really sick so I have been postponing making dinner. Finally last night everyone felt fine and I had everything I needed to put together our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner.
For dinner I made a Thanksgiving Tart, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Roasted Japanese Yam and Roasted Noochie Purple Cauliflower. The best part of this meal (besides eating it) was how easy it was to make. I turned my oven on to preheat to 400F and put everything together.
1 14-ounce can white kidney beans, rinsed (reserving 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons shoyu
1-1/4 cups frozen chopped spinach
3-1/2 tablespoons apple juice sweetened dried cranberries
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 9-inch prepared spelt pie shell, thawed
1/2 tablespoon olive oil (for brushing)
1 teaspoon shoyu (for brushing)
What You Do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook for 7 to 9 minutes until onions soften and begin to caramelize. Set aside.
In a food processor, add white beans (except 1/4 reserved cup), walnuts, lemon juice, and shoyu, and pulse to lightly chop (do not purée). Remove half of chopped mixture from food processor and transfer to a large bowl.
Transfer sautéed onions to the remaining mixture in food processor. Purée until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Transfer purée to bowl with lightly chopped beans and walnut mixture. Add spinach, cranberries, thyme, and cup of reserved beans. Stir to combine and transfer to prepared pie shell, spreading evenly.
Combine oil and tamari, and brush on top of pie and crust. Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned.
One of my favourite snacks is hummus and to end Vegan Mofo I am doing a Wild Garden Hummus Giveaway. Also since Halloween is around the corner it only seems appropriate to have a Halloween based question for all of you competitors to answer.
For the chance to 2 chances to win one (1) jar of Wild Garden Hummus please post a comment that answers this question: If you could veganize any halloween candy which would it be? This post will close on October 23rd at midnight and 2 people will be winners!
Once you have answered the question above you can add to your odds by doing the following:
Crofter’s Organic has come out with a great line for 4 different fruit spreads using super fruits from around the world: Europe, North America, South America and Asia. The Europe superfruit spread is filled with pomegranates and black currants blended with red grapes and morello cherries and is delicious the black currants give it a great flavor. North America superfruit is filled with wild cranberries and blueberries blended with red grapes and morello cherries (this is my giveaway so I haven’t tasted it but I’m sure it is great). The South America is really yummy with its maqui berries and passionfruit blended with red grapes and morello cherries. Lastly, my favorite Asia which have raspberries and yummberries which are “are native to East Asia and have been used historically for maintaining and restoring health”.
Since I was lucky enough to be chosen by Crofters Organics as the winner of their 4 Superfruit Spreads to review I decided that I would give one of my readers a chance to review the North America Spread.
To win this giveaway leave a comment stating your favorite jam or jam recipe.
For extra chances to win you can link back to this post on your blog, tweet it @cookveganlover and/or add me to your blog roll (if you do any of these extra chances make sure to let me know by posting in a comment)- so lets see 4 chances to win? why not try?
The winner will be announced on October 16th.
The Winner is………..
True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 4 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
I make a mean loaded oatmeal – flaxseeds, berries, nuts, soy or almond milk, etc – and top it off with a scoop of jam. It’s the morning equivalent of a bowl of ice cream.
My husband I decide that we would runaway for the weekend and after he got out of work on Friday we headed to Connecticut – and then NYC for the day on Saturday. On our way down to Connecticut we decided to stop for dinner in Northampton, MA and had one of the best meals. I had heard from another blogger that Paul and Elizabeth’s was the place to go in Northampton for some great vegan eats; it is not vegan however most the menu is- also there is no “walking animals” served at their restaurant…i.e. they only serve fish and shellfish, and vegetarian items.
I ordered the Grilled Tofu Kebabs which were marinated and broiled tofu and vegetables on a skewer on a bed of brown rice with a garden salad. My husband ordered the Vegetarian Plate which was one of the specials for the night and it came with a big bed of bok choy, kale, onions and tofu with rice croquettes on the side. We also started with a small bowl the Sweet Potato Coconut Soup which was creamy and delicious. At first glance you might look at the menu and say wow prices are a little higher (around $12-15 a dish) however the meals a huge – enough for 2 – and the food is amazing. I unfortunately forgot the camera in our car so I didn’t get any photos but I am sure that on my next visit I will make sure to get pictures of their delish food.
On Saturday we headed into the city to wander around meet up with old friends and had planned on staying the night however life happens and we weren’t able to- which meant missing VegFest ….I guess there’s always next year. After walking for about an hour we finally made it to our first destination- Peacefood Cafe on 82nd and Amsterdam. It is this great little spot that is open from 9am -10pm and has breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with baked goods, coffees and juices.
There were so many things that we wanted to order and had the hardest time deciding however we finally came to a decision and got the Raw Key Lime Pie, Macaroon, Apple Ginger Soy (it had juice of an apple and some ginger topped with steamed milk- amazing), a Panini of Pan-seared French Horn Mushrooms with sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, artichoke aioli, mint & basil pesto and we ordered a Tempeh Avocado sandwich with baked marinated tempeh, creamy avocado, pickled radishes, shredded carrots and cilantro. We loved the Raw Key Lime Pie it was delicious and had a great key lime sauce on it, however the macaroon it was okay (but I think I make a better one). As for the 2 sandwiches the Panini was the winner it was warm and creamy and delicious. The temeph sandwich was okay but my husband and I both felt it was a little salty and that there were too many pickled radishes on it which just over powered the sandwich. I do however love this place and after seeing other peoples orders there is so much more I want to try.
We spent the remainder of our day wandering around the city and meeting up with friends. We met up with my bestie at this great little coffee shop in Soho called Ground Support on West Broadway across from Seven for All Mankind and next door to Anthropolige. We didn’t get any coffee because I had already had some that morning but it smelled amazing and Cate loves it there. After that we stopped in at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum Shop (which for all you vegans out there is just around the corner from Babycakes and down the street from Moo Shoes) this shop and museum is one of our favorites in the city and has a great selection of books and gifts. My husband picked up a great T-shirt from here as well as a book and I got a new vegan bag which I love. It was great too I asked the girl if it was leather and she was like I don’t know lets google the designer and see what their site says and to my luck the bags are all vegan faux leather (and I know you all are wandering well who makes it then? and i forget…there is no tag in the bag). We also stopped at our favorite candy shop in Chinatown Aji Ichiban which has a variety of Asian treats and are all labeled with their ingredients.
Before we left the city we met up with my friend from high school and went to Chennai Garden one of our favorite Southern Indian Restaurants. We had amazing food and the best part is everything that has dairy in it is labeled so you know which items you can order- oh and the place is all vegetarian. We always go with a dosa- this time the gunpowder one which was amazing and we went with a curry as well the Malki Kofta (not usually vegan but here it was! love it). We were so hungry I didn’t get any shots in but you can find pictures here from my last visit.
Our last stop before we headed home was in New Haven CT at Claire’s Corner Copia for breakfast Sunday morning. We had a great breakfast too- I ordered a coffee and Tofu Scramble with whole wheat baguette and Neil got an orange juice and the Pancakes with bananas. Our meals came and we dug in they were great. Mine wasn’t the best scramble i’ve had but it was good and the baguette was amazing with it. My hubz pancakes where really incredible – they were whole wheat and had cinnamon in them and topped with bananas and real maple syrup. Claire’s has become a favorite stop of ours and it’s all vegetarian with vegan items clearly marked and many dishes they can make vegan- and trust me their menu is huge!
Overall great trip but of course never long enough.
Whisk all of the marinade ingredients together and pour over the tempeh, making sure it is evenly coated
Bake 20-30 min or until tempeh has browned and marinade has been mostly absorbed
Potato Croutons:
2 small potatoes, diced
salt and pepper
1 T olive oil
Toss the diced potato with salt, pepper and olive oil.
Spread on a sheet pan and place in a 350F oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden and crispy
Soup:
1 T olive oil
1 Lg onion, diced
1 lb new potatoes, skin on, washed and diced
1 C sliced carrots
1 Quart Vegetable Broth
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 Bay Leaf
1 C unsweetened soy milk
1/2 C nutritional Yeast
1 T yellow mustard
salt and pepper
In a large sauce pan heat the olive oil over med-high and add the onion. Sautee until the onion is soft and translusent
Add the garlic and carrots and cook for 3-5 min until the carrots begin to soften.
Add the potatoes and toss together for 1 minute.
Add the vegetable broth and bay leaf. Bring up to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
Turn off the heat and remove the bay leaf. Stir in the nutritional yeast, mustard and sou milk.
With an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients together. (You can also use a regular blender to do this, however you will need to blend in batches)
Turn the heat back on to low and crumble in all but 2 of the tempeh bacon slices. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with crumbled bacon and potato croutons.
My hubz and I have been craving sushi for awhile now, however as well all know that because of the rice it can take a little extra time to prep- making this not a spur of the moment dish. However, if you have some pecans on hand suddenly rice is replaced with pecan pate and if anything is even more delicious!
My favorite recipe for this comes from http://glivng.com and is Vanessa Sherwood’s Recipe
Nori Rolls
with Pecan Paté, Spicy Miso, and Fresh Veggies (raw)
(http://gliving.com/nori-rolls-with-pecan-pate/) by GreenChef Vanessa Sherwood
For the pecan paté:
2 Cups Pecans
1/3 Cup Minced Red Onion
1/2 Cup Chopped Parsley
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons Nama Shoyu
2 Teaspoons Cold Pressed Sesame Oil
Place the pecans into a food processor. Process until you have small crumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse chop in.
For the Rolls:
1 Normal Avocado, Sliced
Hand Full of Sprouts (I used cucumber instead because I was all out of sprouts)
1 Normal Red Bell Pepper, Julienned
2 TablespoonsDark Miso Mixed with 1/4 Teaspoon cayenne
Nama shoyu and wasabi powder for dipping
To Assemble:
Spread 1 teaspoon of the spicy miso on a sheet of nori. Smear 2-3 tablespoons of the pate evenly across the bottom third of the nori sheet leaving 1 inch of nori sheet exposed at the bottom. Top with cucumber(or sprouts) , red bell pepper and avocado slices. Make sure to lay the sliced vegetables horizontally to make the rolling easier.
Fold the bottom of the sheet up and over the ingredients tucking the edge under the ingredients and roll all the way up. Before you get to the end, you may want to moisten the top edge of the nori sheet with a little water and then roll shut. This will keep it from opening up.
Cut the roll in half (or in bite sized pieces) and put on a plate. Serve with some nama shoyu mixed with wasabi powder if desired.
I have been reading all these great Vegan Mofo post about Autumn Comfort foods which automatically made me crave squash, sweet potatoes and apple pie. One of my favorite fall, comfort food dishes is Mac and Cheese which was great especially paired with Hitachino Nest White Ale (beer).
Mac and Cheese with Zucchini and Mushrooms
1 Cup Soymilk
1/3 Cup Raw, Unsalted Cashews
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast
3 Tbs Soy Sauce
2 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
1 Tbs Tahini
1 Tbs Red Miso
1 Tbs Cornstarch
1 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Paprika
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Large tomato, diced
Black pepper, to taste
1 box of short pasta (penne, rigatoni, ect)
2 zucchini, Sliced in half moons
8oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced in half
1 Tbs Olive Oil
salt and pepper
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Toss zucchini and mushrooms with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a sheet pan; roast for 35 minutes.
To make sauce blend soymilk, cashews, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, Earth Balance, tahini, red miso, cornstarch, lemon juice, dijon mustard, paprika, garlic, tomato and black pepper. Blend until smooth.
Cook the pasta, I like gluten free pasta or whole wheat. Drain the pasta and pour the sauce into the hot pan and slowly heat up; the sauce will thicken slightly. Add the zucchini, mushrooms, and pasta- toss to coat.
For the Thanksgiving Tart:
