Veggie Pot Pie with Be'If Schmeat ~ Warm, Comforting, and Simple

It's been really cold and rainy this last week. We had a really huge wind storm the other day. I was in the house and listened as branches hit the house. It was really loud. Don't think I've worried about a storm for a long time. It was a little scary. The lights flickered a few times, but nothing major happened.

I thought about how grateful I am to be home with electricity and my slippers.  I thought, an old fashioned pot pie sounded good for a such a cold rainy day.  I didn't need to go anywhere, I have some puff pastry in the freezer and it can be made with just about any veggies on hand. I had some basics on hand, but any veggies added to this would make a great filling:  broccoli, mushrooms, yams, and leeks.

So, I took a tour through my fridge to see what I had on hand. I usually always have some celery, onions, carrots, as those are staples on my shopping list.  I have some peas in the freezer.  At first I thought I'd make it with just veggies as I didn't have any extra firm tofu or tempeh.  What I did have was some seitan roast.  It's called Be'IF and it's a seitan roast made in Portland, OR, The Homegrown Smokehouse and Deli.

Check it out if you're in Portland. There are a variety of "Schmeat's" made a the Smokehouse. There's quite a variety to choose from as well as a the same great menu as the food truck on Mississppi. Homegrown Smoker BBQ.

This is how it happened...

Vegetable Pot Pie with Be'If
    
    * 2 cups diced seitan, optional - If you don't have this, that's OK
    * 6 cups veggie stock or water (I used low sodium vegetable broth)
    * 1 cup yellow onion, diced
    * 1 cup carrots, peeled and diced
    * 1 cup Crimini mushrooms, quartered
    * 1 cup diced potatoes
    * 1 cup green peas
    * 3/4 tsp thyme, minced
    * 3/4 tsp sage, minced
    * 3/4 tsp sea salt
    * 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
    * 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
    * 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
    * 1/3 cup flour, (wheat or spelt works well)
    * 1/3 cup vegan margarine such as Earth Balance
    * 1 puff pastry sheet rolled out to by 12x10 inches

Preparation:
 
Preheat oven to 375º.
To make a roux, melt the vegan margarine in a saute pan, add flour and whisk constantly until light brown in color. Cool and set aside.
In a large pot or skillet,  cook onions for 3 minutes stirring constantly and adding veggie stock 2 TB at a time time when onions begin to stick. Add carrots, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add stock, potatoes, and mushrooms,  and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Whisk in nutritional yeast flakes, peas, tamari, and diced seitan, if using.  

Add the roux a bit at a time and continue to cook as sauce begins to thicken. Once mixture is cool, pour into individual ramekins, glass pie pan or small casserole dish. Cover mixture with puff pastry (be sure to leave a small excess of pastry for folding and fluting of the edge) and seal edges. Cut small slits in the top of crust.

Bake at 375º until crust is golden brown and filling mixture is bubbling. Enjoy

Caramelized Onion Upside Down Cornbread

This is a fun recipe, a full meal in one slice of flavorful Onion Upside Down Cornbread.  The onions are perfectly caramelized,  the cornbread is light and the broccoli adds a nice touch. It's really pretty when it comes out of the pan. From a distance the whole dish looks like cinnamon rolls. In fact, when Scott came home from work Friday and saw it on the stove-top he said "Yum, cinnamon rolls tonight". Nope, something quite different.

I saw this recipe online while looking for some interesting polenta ideas. I decided I could veganize it pretty easily. I recently bought some wonderful stoneground polenta made from heirloom Abenaki corn from Lonesome Whistle Farm.  It's much more colorful than the usual polenta we buy at the market.  I ground it a little finer into more of a fine cornmeal with my Vitamix. If you make this cornbread, yours will probably turn out a little more golden brown then mine if you are using the conventional bright yellow cornmeal.

This is what happened when I made this recipe without the dairy products asked for in the original recipe. 

Vegan Onion Upside Down Cornbread

   Original recipe by Demetra Overton - Sweet Savant.com
You will need a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet for this dish. 

Ingredients

2 Onions, sliced thin, about 1/4"
4 TB toasted sesame oil (I used sesame oil because I like it, you can use olive oil)
1 1/2 cups of fine ground yellow or white cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour, I used an heirloom wheat. For gluten free cornbread, use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/3 cup raw cane sugar
1 TB baking powder
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
Egg Replacer for 4 eggs (I used EnERG egg replacer, it's a tapioca and potato starch blend)
1/2 cup filtered water to mix with egg replacer
16 ounces silken tofu soft or firm, drain and rinse the tofu before using.

Preheat oven to 400º

Slice the onions into rings leaving the rings in order.

Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet and place the onion slices in the hot oil, cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Dice remaining onion pieces and set aside.

While the onions are cooking, mix the batter.  In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients:  cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

Mix the egg replacer with filtered water and whip until it's foamy. I like using this egg replacer when baking as it whips up like frothy egg whites.

Next, crumble the tofu into the egg mixture and blend together into a batter.  Toss this mixture with the chopped onion pieces and the chopped broccoli.

Add the broccoli mixture to the cornmeal mixture and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. You might have to get in with your hands and mix this a bit. It's a pretty thick batter.  Pour the batter over the onions.

Bake the cornbread for about 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cornbread cool for about 10-15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and carefully flip the pan over and remove the cornbread from the pan.

We enjoyed it with some sweet potato kale stew.

Vegan Fusion Cooking Workshops Santa Cruz, CA May 16-20, 2016

Come learn to play with your food in Santa Cruz, CA.  Learn how easy it is to  to cook great vegan meals with or without a recipe. We'll cover all aspects of vegan cooking from appetizer to dessert,  raw, cooked, and fermented. Most recipes are gluten free, and can be adapted for most preferences and allergies. This one week raw and cooked vegan cooking workshop will transform your life in the kitchen.


Please join Vegan Fusion Certified Teacher Deb Kay in Santa Cruz, CA for a 5-day Vegan Fusion Cuisine Immersion into the world of vegan cooking and raw food preparation.

The dates are Monday, May 16th to Friday, May 20th, 2016.
Prepare to transform your life and take your cooking abilities to the next level!

Experience greater confidence in the kitchen
Save money by learning how to prepare more delicious and healthy cuisine on your own
Learn new tips and tricks that will greatly enhance your culinary abilities
Connect with others who share a similar interest in vegan and raw foods
Deepen your knowledge of the healing qualities of vegan foods
Discover new ideas for presentation that will transform an ordinary meal to a gourmet experience
Whether you are an experienced chef, looking to get a job in the vegan restaurant industry, or simply a curious foodie interested in deepening your knowledge of vegan foods, you can learn from a pro how to prepare healthy world-class vegan cuisine!

Day 1 Vegan Soups/ Salads & Dressings
Day 2 The World of Grains and Beans/Tofu, Tempeh & Seitan Dishes
Day 3 Casseroles and Sauces/Wraps, Spreads, Sandwiches and Rolls
Day 4 Vegan Desserts/Raw Cuisine 1 Smoothies, Pates, Pasta & Pudding
Day 5 Raw Cuisine 2 Elixirs, Soups, Plant Cheeses, Ravioli, Parfaits & Ice Cream/Raw Cuisine 3 Nut and Seed Milks, Granola, Pizza, Tacos, Live Pies

Tuition is $675/Person

Reduced tuition for dishwasher position available $250

For more information and registration email info@veganfusion.com or kaydebbie25@yahoo.com

Follow this link for Pictures of past Vegan Fusion class with Deb

Cobbler - with a secret ingredient - Zucchini

Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie - Simple Vegan & Gluten Free

A simple recipe post today ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie

 

Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Whipped Crème

1 1/4 cups raw soaked cashews

1 cup maple syrup
1 can organic pumpkin puree (16 ounces) (or use fresh puree)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  

Blend all together until smooth.

 

Bake with or without crust - 400º for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350º bake for about 35 minutes more.

 

OR: Don't bake at all and scoop into small serving bowls and call it Mousse.

  

**You can buy Pumpkin Pie Spice or use a combination of: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & cloves. Omit anything you don't like. Remember this is an "easy" recipe.

Here's a quick and tasty crust.

Pie Crust

 

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup pitted dates (packed)

1/3 cup almond butter

2 tablespoons nondairy milk

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

 

For the crust, use a food processor to process the rolled oats and dates into a fine, crumbly texture. Add the almond butter and process for about a minute. Add the nondairy milk and salt. Pulse until the mixture comes together without crumbling. If it’s not holding together, add more nondairy milk, 1 teaspoon at a time. Transfer to a pie plate. Press mixture into pie plate evenly around the base and up the sides. Set aside.

 

 

Coconut Whipped Cream

 

1 14 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk (use top firm part only)

1/3 cup organic powdered sugar, maple syrup or agave may be substituted, texture might be thinner, but just as delicious

¼ cup raw cashews, soaked two hours in filtered water and drained well

1 tsp Vanilla bean (scrape inside) or 1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Place can of coconut milk into refrigerator for 4 hours.  Open and remove thick part on top to use in recipes.  Reserve rest for other uses.

In high speed blender, blend cashews and coconut to smooth, add powdered sugar, blend to thick and fluffy, stir in vanilla.

Chill 2 hours or overnight.

Use within 2 days

 

 

 

 

 

Vegan Fusion Cooking Workshops Portland, OR March 14-18, 2016

Come play with your food in Portland, OR in March.  Learn how easy it is to  to cook great vegan meals with or without a recipe. We'll cover all aspects of vegan cooking from appetizer to dessert,  raw, cooked, and fermented. Most recipes are gluten free, and can be adapted for most preferences and allergies. This one week raw and cooked vegan cooking workshop will transform your life in the kitchen.


Please join Vegan Fusion Certified Teacher Deb Kay in Portland, OR for a 5-day Vegan Fusion Cuisine Immersion into the world of vegan cooking and raw food preparation.

The dates are Monday, March 14th to Friday, March 18th, 2016.
Prepare to transform your life and take your cooking abilities to the next level!

Experience greater confidence in the kitchen
Save money by learning how to prepare more delicious and healthy cuisine on your own
Learn new tips and tricks that will greatly enhance your culinary abilities
Connect with others who share a similar interest in vegan and raw foods
Deepen your knowledge of the healing qualities of vegan foods
Discover new ideas for presentation that will transform an ordinary meal to a gourmet experience
Whether you are an experienced chef, looking to get a job in the vegan restaurant industry, or simply a curious foodie interested in deepening your knowledge of vegan foods, you can learn from a pro how to prepare healthy world-class vegan cuisine!

Day 1 Vegan Soups/ Salads & Dressings
Day 2 The World of Grains and Beans/Tofu, Tempeh & Seitan Dishes
Day 3 Casseroles and Sauces/Wraps, Spreads, Sandwiches and Rolls
Day 4 Vegan Desserts/Raw Cuisine 1 Smoothies, Pates, Pasta & Pudding
Day 5 Raw Cuisine 2 Elixirs, Soups, Plant Cheeses, Ravioli, Parfaits & Ice Cream/Raw Cuisine 3 Nut and Seed Milks, Granola, Pizza, Tacos, Live Pies

Tuition is $625/Person

For more information and registration email info@veganfusion.com or kaydebbie25@yahoo.com

Vegan Fusion

Pictures of past workshops:  2 Day Holiday Workshop Portland 2015

Pecan Crusted Tahini Tofu Cutlets, Asparagus with Hollandaise, & Raw Cranberry Relish

Raw Pecan Pie

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Sesame Bok Choy with Quinoa

What have I been up to lately?  Reading, yes reading.  I made a personal resolution to finish the eight or so books I have started but not finished.  I began with John Robbins Diet for a New America.  Many vegans I know were vegetarian until they read this book.  I am starting to see why.  John Robbins was one of the first speakers I stopped to listen to when I started really learning about plant based eating.  I remember his talk. He was very interesting, but I hadn't really gotten deep into his book until now.  He really brings home the idea of the suffering animals endure in the name of making money.  Even though I began this journey to improve my health, I am starting to take on a little empathy for the animals. I've heard that there are three main reasons people go to plant based eating:  health, the environment, and the animals.  Once one door was opened the other reasons become clearer and it just all became part of what I think about when it comes to choosing what we eat.

We're going on vacation this year to see my son and meet my newest granddaughter.  We're going to be staying in a small two room dome made from earth and rock in the desert.  There's an outdoor kitchen with a cooler.  I thought I'd spend some time practicing some really easy recipes.  With those kind of meals in mind I can pick up some fruit and veggies, a little quinoa, some dates & nuts, and some beans and we're ready to spend the week eating plant based with a little decadence while camping. I flipped through the Vegan on $4 a Day cookbook I picked up this summer and it didn't take long to find an easy recipe with few ingredients.  It's a great book to practice those quick and easy meals.  I have some fresh locally made tempeh and started looking for a nice tempeh recipe. I found an easy tempeh recipe pretty quickly, but on the opposite page was a recipe for Sesame Bok Choy.  I remembered I picked up a couple nice heads of Bok Choy at People's Coop last weekend.  I'll use the tempeh tomorrow.

This whole meal didn't take longer than 30 minutes to prepare.  I diced an onion, sliced four carrots about an inch thick, chopped three nice cloves of garlic, and thinly sliced up two medium heads of Bok Choy.  I put 1 cup of quinoa on to simmer for 20 minutes in 2 1/2 cups water with a little sea salt.

While the quinoa was simmering I sauteed the onion, garlic, and carrots in 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil until they were tender.  Then I added the bok choy, about a tablespoon of tamari, , a teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger, a teaspoon of maple syrup, and a half a cup of water.  I let that all simmer together about five minutes.

I served that on top of the hot quinoa and sprinkled a few toasted sesame seeds on top.  Lovely meal and quick too.

Penne Pasta with Mushroom Onion Gravy & Marinated Tofu

Sunday was another warm day inside watching it rain.  I managed to create a couple more items for our meals this week.  I am enjoying the place I've gotten to with vegan cooking.  It's as natural to me now to put together a meal by looking around the kitchen at the supplies on hand as it was when we were not vegan. I remember being able to tell someone how to cook a chicken a hundred different ways off the top of my head or create a fun dessert.  But put together a variety of vegan meals for the whole week was not easy at first.  I had no idea how to satisfy the appetite or how to get the right nutrients.  Very nice we have the internet now, I didn't have it in the beginning of this journey.  I've read so much and been able to attend educational functions by wandering around the vegan websites and blogs. I think that may have been how my husband found the first immersion cooking class I took with Chef Al in 2006.

I looked around the kitchen at what we had.  It didn't take long for an idea to emerge. I put together a nice pasta dish with a mushroom and onion sauce.  I started by sautéing a couple sliced Portabello mushrooms just until they were browned on both sides.  I used just a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan and didn't add salt until I turned them.  Somewhere I learned that the salt would bring out the moisture too much and they don't brown as well. Better to put the salt on after the browning.  I also had some super firm tofu around so I cubed it, marinated it in a little tamari, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar for about 15 minutes and sautéed those cubes as well.  I removed them from the pan and added a couple tablespoons of filtered water to sauté my onions.  I used two large onions, sliced thinly in half moons.  Added to the onions was four cloves of garlic, minced.  I cooked the onions and garlic until they were nicely caramelized adding water 1 tablespoon at a time to keep them from sticking to the pan.


To the onion mixture I added:

1/4 cup wheat free tamari
2 cups filtered water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
about a quarter teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
a dash of cayenne

I let that simmer for a couple minutes and then added a roux I made with 2 tablespoons spelt flour and 2 tablespoons olive oil.  I added the browned mushrooms and tofu cubes back into the pan and let it all simmer and get thick, about 5 minutes.  I also had some organic peas in the freezer, thought that would be a nice touch so I threw them in too. I mixed all the sauce with a pot of hot penne pasta.  An easy vegan meal with everything I need:  protein, grains, and veggies.

And it's really good warmed up today.