CSA this week-Orange Storage Carrots; Cippolini Onions; Celeriac; Mars Onions; Bunch Curly Parsley; Mixed Gold and Chioggia Beets; Bag Claytonia (Miner’s Lettuce); Leeks; Red Norland Potatoes; Red Shallots; red kuri Squash; Tullochgorum Popcorn; Champlain Orchards Macintosh Apples; and Elmore Mountain Flax Seed Bread
I know I have been really bad at this lately but I am swamped at work and lately never home. I will be a better blogger and post my care package photo and explanation of items. I would like to note that I received some yummy Southern Pecan Coffee that I am sipping on. Now I must get back to work.
Yay! For our 100th post! It only took forever considering the long period of blogging nothingness there was for almost a year.
Anyways I would just like to briefly note that I have received my Vegan Care Package from Bianca and will be posting a photo and more details tonight or tomorrow.
I also will be posting some photos of the Almond Toffee and Smokey Cheeze Ball I made for my work pot luck holiday party tomorrow. By the way the toffee (my first attempt ever) was fun to make however surprisingly dangerous however considering I almost set the kitchen on fire not once, not twice, but three times as bits of sugar fell to my burner causing a small fire (scary). Luckily my wonderful husband was there to help me juggle the hot sugary mixture and put the fire out with only a small fatality (the toffee burned a little but not all of it.)
As you all may remember, Lindsay organized a vegan care package swap through the blog not too long ago. Being a transplanted Canadian, I was lucky to be paired with Ricki from Vaughn (outside Toronto) in the great white north.
When I had arrived home from a long day of Christmas shopping I was excited to see what I had been anxiously awaiting, my care package from Ricki. I rushed inside to open my package. Inside was a great selection of vegan, Canadian produced products (all but one!).
Inside was:
Organic wild rice pasta
Hemp seed nuts
rice snacks (love these!)
roasted fava beans (these were really good)
oatmeal goldies (these cookies were soooooo good, they were the first thing lindsay and i tried)
Canadian glacial clay (love the pure clean smell it has)
Chakra bar
the simply bar (coffee/chocolate. one of my favourite combinations)
How Sweet bar (with a kamut puffs, this was really good too!)
White chocolate chips (excited to try these, Lindsay was actually going to order these off the vegan essentials website so I was really excited to get them!)
Fruit to go (I love these, can’t get this brand in Vermont and I used to get them all the time in NB)
Theobroma (really interesting sounding chocolate with chunks of pineapple)
Macadamia/Cashew nut butter (can’t wait to try this!)
a HUGE bar of President’s Choice dark chocolate with almonds which I’m ashamed to admit has a pretty substantial chunk out of it already!
cute reusable grocery bag from Planet Organic (an organic food grocery chain in canada)
Thanks so much Ricki for all of the great food and all of the thoughtful choices!
Yay! We finally had snow which Neil has been hoping would come! (however it’s mostly gone now)
Ariel has become very curious as to what is under the love seat
This was a yummy stir fry Neil made using Soy Curls…I can’t quite remember what kind of sauce he made I think some sort of brown sauce
These are Fried Green Tomatoes over mixed greens with a Balsamic dressing
This is a super yummy hangover stirfry we had filled with tofu, mushrooms and kale made with a soy and vegetarian oyster sauce mixture
Pizza we made using our pizza dough, wild mushrooms and spinach from our CSA as well as some Mozza Teese topped with a balsamic drizzle Ariel so excited for the holidays with her Christmas sweater that was too small (I had to cut it off her….I am sure she is glad no more sweater) Roasted Delicata Squash rings, BBQ tofu puffs and Broccoli in a garlic sauce
“Sausage” Rolls w/ a selection of mustards Spinach Dip Bread Bowl w/ bread bites and veggies Poinsettia Cocktail (non-alcoholic for Grammy)
Dinner
Winter Salad w/ Toasted Mustard Seed Vinaigrette Mushroom, Lentil & Wild Rice Timbale o A timbale is a large thimble or cone shaped mold used for various sorts of food. The name is derived from ‘thimble’. (However we will be using ramekins) Roasted Squash Mushroom Gravy Mashed Potatoes Holiday Wine
Dessert
Assortment of Holiday Cookies Mini Fruit Cakes Coffee and Tea
Photo of the roulade from a few days before Thanksgiving (trial run)
I have been a horrible blogger lately with minimal photos and recipes. Things have been crazy busy with the holidays coming up and end of year for work so hopefully once the new year comes I will have more time to spend on blogging. I did however want to sum up Thanksgiving dinner:
2 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast 1/2 tsp Salt2 1/3 Cups Warm Vegetable Broth Mix gluten, yeast, and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Add the vegetable stock and gently mix with your hands until all of the dry mixture is moistened. You should have a soft, squishy, wet dough. Knead a few times, and agitate the dough by squeezing and pressing it. Dump the dough out onto a large cutting board and use your fingers to press it out to a 12×18″ rectangle. If the dough is too springy, let rest for 15 minutes before rolling it out. Cut the dough into quarters. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over high heat with some olive oil. Briefly pan-fry the seitan pieces until just barely golden brown on both sides. This gives color, flavor, and kick-starts the cooking process so your pieces will be easier to handle. Set aside until you’re ready to roll up the roulades. Make the stuffing (I used a corn bread stuffing that I mixed with sauteed onions and red kuri squash) Place stuffing on top of a piece of seitan, covering the whole surface. Roll up the seitan, stretching it to make as tight a roll as possible. Let the roll rest on the seam. With kitchen twine or any cotton string you have, tie up the roulade so that it doesn’t unroll. Repeat for the three other sheets of seitan. Place the tied roulades on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Lightly brush with olive oil. Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes, turning half-way through, until golden brown. Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. Remove strings before serving!
For the side dishes we had: Mashed Parsnips Topped with Caramelized Brussels Sprouts and Torpedo Onions for the parsnips:
20 small parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 T earth balance
1/4 c soy creamer
salt and pepper to taste
Boil the parsnips until soft. Drain. Add the earth balance and soy creamer to the pan and heat until earth balance is soft and melted. Return the parsnips to the pan and mash with a potato masher. Place in the bottom of a 9×9 casserole dish.
for the Brussels Sprouts and Torpedo Onions
2 stalks of Brussels Sprouts, shredded
3 torpedo onions (your standard red onion works fine as well)
2 T earth balance
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Saute the sprouts and onions over high heat for 2-3 minutes in the oil and margarine. Lower the heat to medium and cook until caramlized (15-20 min). Spoon evenly over the parsnips.
Heat oven to 400F. Cover with foil and place in over for 10 minutes prior to serving.
1 tablespoon table salt (Alanna says it’s essential)
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
Bring the water to boil in a large pot. While it’s heating, cut up the beans. Add the salt and beans to the boiling water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes. Drain beans in a colander, and then spray for a minute with cold water to stop the cooking. Let them drain in the colander, shaking every now and then to get off all the water.
Sauce
10 ounces mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
generous pinch cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Fresh pepper to taste
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon dry sherry
3/4 cup soy creamer (or try full-fat unsweetened soymilk)
Trim and discard the mushroom stems and chop the mushrooms into pieces. Spray a non-stick pan with canola oil and heat it. Add the mushrooms, garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are very soft and exude their juices. Whisk the flour into the vegetable broth and add to the mushrooms along with the sherry. Simmer, stirring, until mixture thickens. Add the soy creamer and simmer until thick, about 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and stir in the beans.
Topping:
1 1/2 slices whole grain bread
1 tablespoon Earth Balance margarine
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/16 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3-ounce can of French fried onions
Put the bread, margarine, salt, and pepper into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Pour into a bowl and add the onions. Stir to combine.
To assemble: Put the green beans into an oiled casserole dish and top with the onion mixture. Bake at 425 F for about 15 minutes. If you are not serving this right away, refrigerate the topping separately; bring to room temperature before sprinkling the topping on the casserole and baking for about 20 minutes or until hot throughout.
