Sherpherd-less Pie

All four burners and the stove going for this one. My family loves shepherds pie so this was a tricky one but so yummy and worth it. Also it took me only about 1/2 an hour to assemble My husband makes a beef one that my daughter is nuts over. He challenged me to make one as good. Here it is.

YIELD: 1 shallow oblong casserole dish


INGREDIENTS:

5 medium potatoes
2 carrots
1 cup frozen peas
9 or 10 mushrooms (I prefer cremini but any kind would work)
I package of ground round (an Yves product)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 mushroom flavour bouillon cube in 1/4 cup hot water
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce (or Tamari)*
2 heaping tbsp tofutti cream cheese
olive oil
Earth Balance butter
2 / 4 tbsp flour*
Salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven 375˚ 

Pot 1 ~ Wash and cube potatoes (skin on). Add to boiling water and cook till well done.

Fry pan ~ Dice the onions and add to a hot frying pan with a good glug of olive oil. Cook over medium heat and once they are soft add the garlic and cook a few more minutes. Cut 6/7 mushrooms to desired size and add to onions and garlic. (I mince some and leave some in 1/2 slices.  The kids pick out the big chunks and unknowingly eat the little pieces, evil Mommie) cook till starting to shrink and brown. Add the ground round and mix it in with the rest in the pan. Add 1 tbsp Worcestershire and the soy sauce.  Let cook while preparing the rest.

Pot 2 (steamer) ~ Check your potatoes.  Are they ready? No, okay peel the carrots cut lengthwise in 1/2 and the 1/2 again. cut into pieces about twice the size of a pea. Add them to a steamer and cook till tender but firm. Chuck in the peas and let them heat through. Turn off burner but reserve the water. Add veggies to the frying pan.

Pot 3 (small one) ~ Melt a good dollop of Earth Balance in the pan. Mince up the remaining mushrooms and saute them in the butter. Once they are cooked reduce temp to low and add the flour till it forms a thick paste. Add the 1/4 cup water with bouillon and whisk till thick. Add a bit of the reserved carrot water at a time, whisking in between to keep it thick. keep adding and mixing till you have about 1 cup of mushroom gravy that is a thick gravy consistency. Add the remaining tbsp of Worcestershire.  Add to the fry oan and mix everything together.  As all this whisking and adding water is going on you probably want to check the potatoes and drain them.

Mash the potatoes adding the tofutti and veggie water (as needed) till you get the right consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

Grease the casserole dish and add the ground round mixture evenly over the bottom. Cover with potatoes and bake for 30 minutes uncovered.



* if you use tamari and and cornstarch or other alternative to wheat flour this is easy to make gluten free,

I had 3 helpings which was totally unnecessary but I'd been left out so many times and my mouth was so happy that I just went for it.

Banana Bread / Muffins

I've tried this a few times and finally have come up with one I like.

YIELD: 16 - 24 mini muffins


INGREDIENTS:

4 soupy bananas - Super Ripe*
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2cup cornmeal
i tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
handful of raisins**



DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease the muffin tin / loaf pan.

Mash the bananas in a small bowl. Add the oil, agave, lemon juice,flax seed and nutmeg and stir till well mixed

In a medium bowl mix the flours, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, salt and raisins together.

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and mix till just combined. Using a table spoon fill muffin tin till full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Bake for 40 minutes is making a loaf.


*I just peel and bag over ripe bananas and chuck them in the freezer. When they defrost the become a bit soupy.

** Totally optional.

Rapid Cornmeal Bread

I use this in my circa 1990 black and decker bread machine. It has a rapid bread cycle that takes 1 hour and 58 minutes. If your machine has this type of cycle I think it should work perfectly for you. MY Mum and friends have used it and it works well for them.

YIELD: 1 pound and a half loaf


INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp powdered soy milk
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3cup cornmeal
1 3/4tsp yeast


DIRECTIONS:

Add ingredients to you breadmaker pan in the order you see them listed. Put into the machine in the rapid bread cycle. Either a dark or light crust will work.

Happy breadmaking.

Eggplant Chana Masala - ish

This isn't a knock your socks off dish but Mira had 2 helpings last night and asked to take some with her for lunch today. For me that = SUCCESS! Serve with rice.

YIELD: serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp curry powder *
2 tsp cumin *
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 med/lg eggplant, chopped into bite size pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped green tomatoes **

DIRECTIONS:

Add oil to large sauce pan / dutch oven and saute onions. Add garlic after the onions has begun to become translucent. Mix in the curry powder, cumin and salt. Add green tomatoes and cook till onions are translucent and browning and green tomatoes are getting soft.

Add eggplant and stir in to coat with seasonings. Cook for about 5 minutes, eggplants are like sponges so if they have used all the oil and are sticking too much just add a bit more oil. Add tomatoes and their juice and the chickpeas. cover and simmer for 40 minutes.

Make rice while the Chana simmers.



* my curry and cumin might not be as fresh as I'd hoped, add these seasonings to taste.

** I have lots of green tomatoes from my garden so I'm chucking them in lots of stuff. These are totally optional.

Places to go

I thought since I am constantly looking for safe things to eat (or at the very least vegan things to eat) that I would include what I discover on my recipe blog.

TIM HORTONS:

Yes they do!

Oatcakes
All low fat muffins
Sandwich buns

Zucchini Bread

Kids are begging for more of this one.

YIELD: 1 loaf or 12 muffins


INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp egg replacer powder*
1/2 cup sugar**
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup raisins (opt)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (opt)
1/2 cup water*


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease loaf pan / muffin tin.

Sift together the dry ingredients (dump in the bran from the flour, as the sifting is for loft). Add all the other ingredients and mix till just blended. Pour into loaf pan / muffin tin. Bake 45 minutes for a loaf and 25 minutes for muffins. Remove and cool on a rack.

* if you want to use liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup or agave nectar) reduce the water to 1/4 cup (add more only if the dough is too stiff)

**I haven't don this yet, but I believe a tbsp of ground flax would work just as well as egg replacer.

Even the Ominvores Love It: Caesar Salad

Long ago promised and long over due. My non Vegetarian / Vegan family licked the bowl clean.

YIELD: A good family sized salad.


INGREDIENTS:

croutons
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 a loaf of day (or two) old fabulous vegan bread cubed
2 tbsp olive oil

dressing
2 tbsp blanched or roasted almonds
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp tamari (or soya sauce)
1 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

1 head romaine lettuce
1 sheet nori, cut into strips and little pieces with scissors
tempeh bacon (as much or as little as you like, even none is okay)


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Mix the crouton seasonings together, place bread in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil and toss well to coat. Then sprinkle with the seasonings and toss quickly and well to spread evenly. Spread in a single layer over a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes till dry and toasted. Let them cool

in a food processor or a good blending tool mix together the ingredients for the dressing. Pulverize it til as smooth as you can get it.

Wash and dry (spin) lettuce. rip into bit sized pieces.

Fry tempeh bacon according to package directions: a little oil in the pan fry 2 minutes flip and fry 2 minutes. Remove to a piece of paper towel of the tea towel you use for this sort of oil absorbing if paper towel isn't your thing.

Mix nori and lettuce in your serving bowl. Add dressing and toss well, add croutons and bacon on the last toss or two.

Serve soon or the croutons get soggy and kinda blech.

YUM