Pear-Almond Crisp

Here is a nice autumn dessert. The almonds and pears’ mild flavors combine beautifully for a very delicate dessert. I happened to have a counter full of rapidly over-ripening pears, so a giant crisp was in order, but feel free to halve the recipe if you lack such a bounty.

Don’t peel the pears—the peels contain a fair amount of the pears’ flavor and aroma, and also help with structural integrity.

Pear Almond Crisp

Pear-Almond Crisp

Fruit filling:

About 12 pears (depending on size)

2-3 tsp cornstarch (more or less based on ripeness of pears)

4 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp vanilla

dash of cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar or sweetener

2 Tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Topping:

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup oats (I used quick oats)

1/3 cup almond meal

2-3 Tbsp slivered almonds

2/3 cup sugar or sweetener

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cardamom

1/3-1/2 cup oil

½ tsp vanilla

Mix together all the dry ingredients for topping. Stir vanilla into 1/3 cup of oil and drizzle into dry ingredients while tossing with fork. Squeeze and toss with fingers until mixture looks and feels like crumbly wet sand, adding some or all of the rest of the oil if necessary.

Cut pears into half inch slices, then cut slices in half into chunks. Chop ginger and set aside. Whisk together rest of filling ingredients and gently toss with pears. Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking pan or casserole dish with cooking spray.  Pour pears into baking pan and spread out. Sprinkle ginger evenly over top, then sprinkle on topping mixture.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes.

Makes 12 generous servings. 

Vegan Thanksgiving Main Dish Ideas

Ah, the old dilemma: how to put your own vegan stamp on a holiday that is very much About the Bird.  There are a few of approaches to take: trying to approximate the original (meaty) dish rather closely in flavor and texture, going for something completely different but nonetheless festive, or meeting somewhere in the middle, with a dish that replicates some of the traditional flavor profiles but has its own unique qualities too.  In the past I’ve gone in all three directions at various times.  They all have their merits; it just comes down to personal taste and the amount of labor you want to put in that year.

In general, I like to make sure the nutrition of my main dish dovetails nicely with the rest of the meal.  If I’m doing the traditional thanksgiving carb-stravagaza, with a half dozen starch heavy side dishes and desserts (stuffing, potatoes, yams, rolls, cranberries, multiple pies, etc.) I like my main dish to be mostly protein to balance it out.  However, if I’m having a simplified meal without the sides, I might want something that’s a balanced meal all by itself.

Here are some nice options for a festive vegan meal:

1. Tofurkey or other commercial veggie roast

The most obvious choice, right? And one I do chose from time to time, although probably not as often as some carnivores might think. When I do opt for it, I generally jazz it up with a big platter of veggies roasted alongside it, things like wedges of onion, mushrooms, and whole carrots that all caramelize in the oven. Fennel or potatoes would be nice too. And I make a nice glaze out of olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, herbs and spices, and a more unusual ingredient: a jelly or jam of my choosing to sweeten and brighten. I’ve used various types, with marmalade or apricot being the subtlest, and raspberry or pomegranate being a bit bolder. Be sure to brush the sauce lightly over the veggies too.

2. Homemade veggie roast

Making your own roast has the benefit of being cheaper, and also you can customize it according to your own taste. I personally often find the commercial roasts just a bit too salty, and that’s hard to correct.  There are all kinds of different recipes out there with various preparation methods and ingredients.  Seitan-based ones are probably the most common.  My favorite is a stovetop veggie pot roast that makes it own gravy from a puree of the veggies (onions, garlic, carrots, and a secret ingredient: one sour apple) that are simmered in the same pot, and best of all, frees up the oven for pie, pie, and more pie.
Variations

• And of course you can deconstruct the shape of your roast all you want.  If you make little cutlets you could bread them with cornmeal or ground nuts mixed with thanksgiving spices such as sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme.  Or you could layer a flat length of seitan with various stuffings or sauces and roll it up roulade style.

3. Veggie Meatloaf

This is typically a bit easier than your homemade roast with the same classic comfort food appeal.  My favorite version is made from a base of half lentils, half TVP, stabilized with a little gluten for structure.  To dress it up I like to spread a thick layer of mashed potatoes over the top before baking.

4. Pot Pie

This is what I’m going for this year.  There are a lot of different directions you can go in with this one—everything from classic fall herbs to curries, Cajun spices, Latin flavors, or even the French Canadian version with sweet spices like cinnamon, and the sauces can be gravy-like, creamy, tomato-ey, etc.  You can stuff them with meat substitutes or tofu, with beans or lentils (butter beans are particularly nice) or with just plain vegetables and nothing else.

The crust can be anything from classic pastry to biscuits, cornbread, polenta, or even just potatoes.

Seitan-Mushroom-Pearl Onion Pot Pie with Biscuit topping

Polenta Tamale Pie

5. Protein-embellished stuffing

Sometimes a side dish can become a main dish with just a little tweaking.  Vegan sausage would go very nicely in a classic cornbread stuffing.  Meatballs, cubes of seitan or baked tofu, and even basic beans or lentils would all make good mix-ins as well.  If you don’t want to mix them in directly, they can be cooked in a gravy-like sauce and spooned over the top of each serving.

6. Pumpkin Lasagna

If you’ve never tried this combination of flavors before, you’re in for a treat.  Die-hard pumpkin haters should probably steer clear, but for the rest of us the sweet-and-sour combination can be very appealing. To modify a regular lasagna recipe into a pumpkin, replace the tomato sauce with pumpkin puree (canned is fine).  You can either keep the spices the same or modify them by going toward more traditional pumpkin spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. In the latter case I would add a couple tablespoons of sweetener to enhance the effect.  A filling that is tangy would pair best with the sweet pumpkin sauce.

Variations: 

• Sweet potato lasagna works just as well.
• Regular lasagna and its variations can be pretty fancy and festive as well.  I have a post different ways to jazz up lasagna; you can check the tags at right.

7. Stuffed veggies have great presentation, and give a bit of a nod to Thanksgiving traditions as well.  They can be quite impressive if done well.

Things that can be stuffed: peppers, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, winter squash, cabbage rolls, etc. Even apples and other fruits can be stuffed for a sweet/savory effect.  The stuffing may be based on rice or other grains, small shaped pasta, or bread cubes, and have various things mixed in, such as beans/lentils, faux meats, other veggies and herbs and even occasionally dried fruit.

Spaghetti Squash stuffed with beans, veggies, and marinara sauce

8. Casserole

Certain casseroles are already common at thanksgiving, creamy green bean or pearl onion casseroles being probably the most typical. So any similar dishes would not seem out of place.

To make a high protein vegan substitute for the canned condensed cream soups so often called for in such recipes, sauté whatever vegetable is relevant (e.g. mushrooms for cream of mushroom soup) along with some garlic and seasonings, possibly including a veggie bullion of some kind, then stir in a package of silken tofu, pureed.  Use this mixture like you would the soup, adjusting seasonings (generally they will need increased) as needed.

9. Soup

Warm and comforting, soup already seems compatible with a thanksgiving meal.  The type can be chosen to match typical holiday ingredients, such as pumpkin or potato, to fit even better. 

10. Pilaf

The difference between your average pilaf and a rice-based dressing is mainly semantics, particularly if typical thanksgiving flavorings are used.  This can be a good choice for a more consolidated meal with fewer sides (and fewer dishes to wash!)

11. Miscellaneous awesome dishes

Stroganoff, mac‘n’cheese, gourmet pizza, baked beans, stir-fry—if you’ve got a tour de force vegan recipe, don’t be afraid to use it even if it seemingly has no relevance to the holiday at hand.  All the relevance it needs is that you’re there and you want to eat it. The point of the holiday is to celebrate food, family and the things you’re thankful for.  So if you’re thankful for vegan mac’n’cheese, it applies. :-)

And that is really the final message.  The ideal holiday plan is one that allows for enjoyment, relaxation, and togetherness.  Vegans sometimes feel an increased pressure at holidays—to prove themselves and their choices worthwhile, from expected friction with family on the subject, and from the knowledge that whatever they themselves bring had better be good, because no one else is going to bring anything they can eat.  So there’s nothing wrong with letting go and making yourself happy (and thankful!) in whatever little ways you can, whether or not it follows the rules or impresses anybody.  After all, when celebration is on the menu, perfection doesn’t matter nearly as much as joy and sincerity. So try and have some fun if you can. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Taste of Autumn

The shortened days, the sidewalks and lawns now festooned with fallen leaves, and the persistent chill in the air—all of these things signal a reminder of what we’d all rather forget: that summer is officially over, and winter is steadily approaching.  But fall can have its rewards, and festive comfort food is one of them.

This recipe makes use of two cheap seasonal ingredients: squash and apples. The two are sweetened and spiced to produce a flavor reminiscent of Thanksgiving pies and roasted until warm and comforting. 

I like this recipe a lot. It’s a tasty dessert that’ll cheer you up on a cold evening, and give you two servings of vegetables and one of fruit in the process.  Not bad!

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Spiced Apples

2 Acorn squashes

2 medium apples

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ cup sugar or sweetener

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 TBSP chopped crystallized ginger

½ tbsp maple syrup (optional)

up to a tbsp margarine or oil for richness (optional, I usually omit)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut squashes in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits.  Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and place the squash on it cut side down.  Bake for 30 minutes.

A few minutes before the time is up, chop the apples into ½ inch dice, peeling if desired, and toss immediately with lemon juice to prevent browning.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

When the 30 minutes are up, take the squash out of the oven and carefully flip them over.  Spoon the apple mixture into the squash cavities, distributing it evenly between the four halves, and being sure not to waste any of the juices left in the mixing bowl. Cover the dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes more until both the squash and the apples are fork tender.

Let cool enough to be safe (the juices can be pretty hot), but serve warm.

Each squash half makes one fairly generous serving.

Variations: 

Pears work just as well as apples. You may want to decrease the sweetener and cooking time, though.

Different types of squash and pumpkin work okay too. If the type you choose isn’t sized for individual serving, you can bring the whole thing to the table and let people scoop out their own servings.

You can change the spices and flavorings, of course.  You can simplify them, or make them stronger. Anise would be an interesting touch, and lemon zest would add a bright zing.

Adding some dried fruit and nuts would give a mincemeat-like effect.

You could add a crunchy streusel topping to dress up the dessert and make it richer.

Salsas and Salads and Slaws, Oh My!

The sun is shining, the veggies are growing, and it is officially the Season of Salad.  It’s a great time to turn over a new leaf on getting plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, and to pull out the recipes that taste great without heating up the house. Here are some of the fresh summery dishes I’ve been enjoying lately.

Pico de Gallo (mild)

This is a mild fresh salsa that’s really healthy and refreshing.  It’s also a pretty painless way to get some extra veggie servings in without even noticing.

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium sweet white onion, chopped

¼ to ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp lemon or lime juice

salt and pepper to taste {can substitute lemon pepper or similar low salt seasonings)

Just chop everything up and mix it together. Simple as that!

Serve it with chips or use it as a topping or condiment.

Note: if you can’t get sweet onions, use regular and add a couple teaspoons of sweetener.

Variations:

Spicier Pico de Gallo: add one or two hot peppers of your choice, seeding or not according to the heat you want (leaving some or all seeds in = much hotter).

Mango Pico de Gallo: Add one chopped mango or similar fruit (peach, pineapple or kiwi might be nice). This is a nice sunny version.

Italian Pico de Gallo:  Don’t like cilantro? Try using fresh parsley or basil instead.

More potential add-ins to toss in: beans (black are particularly nice), bell peppers, chopped avocadoes, various crunchy fresh veggies such as celery or even some steamed veggies such as asparagus tips.

The sky’s the limit. However, I admit the basic version is the one I use most often.

Pico de Gallo and Guacamole

Guacamole

3-4 medium avocadoes

1/3 cup Pico de Gallo or other chunky fresh cut salsa

1 tbsp lemon or lime juice (or more to taste)

pinch of cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Halve the avocadoes and scoop out the flesh. Add the lemon juice and mash with a fork or potato masher. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and adjust to taste.

Variations: Any of the Pico de Gallo variations will work here. The mango version is particularly nice.

You can also make a lower fat version by extending the avocados with pureed peas or other green vegetables, in which case I would probably add some onion and garlic powder to jazz up the flavor.

Foolproof trick to keep guacamole from turning brown:  The discoloration is from oxidation, which means the avocado is reacting to oxygen in the air.  Therefore if you block the air, it won’t happen. What you do is when you’re ready to store your leftover guacamole, spread an even layer of refried beans or other thick spread on top, making sure there are no gaps and the guacamole is completely covered. Then put a lid on the dish and put it in the fridge.  When you’re ready to eat either scrape off the bean layer or eat it as a layer dip.

Guacamole with its blanket of refried beans

Coleslaw

1 lb shredded cabbage and/or other coleslaw veggies

2-3 tbsp dried fruit, chopped if large (cranberries and apricots are good choices)

1 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger, optional

Dressing:

1/3 cup Nayonaise, Vegenaise or homemade vegan mayo

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp sweetener of choice (equivalent to 2 packets)

a generous dash of dill

a dash of mustard powder

1 tbsp oil (optional—I often leave it out to save calories)

Stir together dressing ingredients in large bowl until homogenous. Add cabbage and toss very thoroughly until completely moistened—keep stirring a little longer than you think you should. The trick to great coleslaw that isn’t soggy is to use a smallish amount of dressing but have it very well distributed and absorbed.  When you first start stirring it will look too dry and like you need to add more dressing, but after a few minutes of thorough mixing it will start to look better and you’ll glad you didn’t add too much.  There’s nothing worse than a few soggy leaves swimming in a sea of goop.

Add the dried fruit (which adds great texture and flavor) and ginger if using. Keep chilled.

Variations:

There are a lot of vegetables that can be made into a slaw both on their own and in combination, including: different colors of cabbage, broccoli slaw (which is made from shredded broccoli stems), shredded carrots, daikon and other radishes (yum!), tough greens such as kale, onions, zucchini and frankly pretty much any vegetable that can be shredded and eaten fresh. Some flavorings might need to be adjusted to bring out the best flavor in alternate veggies (see carrot salad below).

The dressing can be replaced with pretty much any type of tangy salad dressing, bottled or homemade. It’s probably best if it’s a little on the thick side, but it doesn’t have to be creamy—a vinaigrette will work too. Use 1/3 to ½ cup dressing for a pound of shredded veggies.

Tricolor Coleslaw with dried cranberries

Carrot-Cranberry Salad

1 lb shredded carrots
1/3 to ½ cup dried cranberries (or more if you like)

Coleslaw dressing (above) minus mustard

An extra 4 tsp (2 more packets) sweetener or sugar

A generous dash of cinnamon.

Stir together dressing, then add rest of ingredients. Adjust sweetener and amount of fruit to taste.

Carrot-Cranberry Salad

Cauliflower salad

Here’s a salad I made for the 4^th. It’s a basic creamy potato salad style dressing that’s tossed with steamed cauliflower instead of potatoes.  It went over pretty well.  The original idea comes from Hungry Girl. I veganized it and adjusted it some based on personal taste. One touch I particularly liked was that the dressing was extended with a couple cups more cauliflower, pureed. That made it lower in fat as well.

I’d never had steamed cauliflower cold and tossed with dressing before. It was surprisingly good that way, although of course not an exact match for potatoes. A combination of half cauliflower and half potatoes might be something to try.

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad

Dessert Salsa/ Fruit Salad

This is basically just a typical fruit salad that has been chopped more finely than usual in order to imitate salsa visually, and so that it can be scooped up on sweet cinnamon chips. It’s a fun presentation.  The salsa can also be served up on waffles or pancakes or even on top of grilled pound cake for a kind of mock bruschetta.

3-4 Cups mixed fruit, chopped finely

½ tbsp lemon juice

1-2 tbsp sweetener

1-2 tbsp jam or preserves (flavor of your choice)

1 ½ tbsp chopped crystallized ginger

a dash of cinnamon

A handful of flaked coconut (optional)

2-3 mint leaves, chopped finely (optional, mainly for looks)

Chop everything up and mix it together, adjusting sweetness and flavoring to taste. Serve with cinnamon chips (below).

There are a lot of good fruit choices for this. I think that tropical fruits and berries are particularly nice. The important thing is to incorporate some contrasting flavors and colors.  A combination of red, white and green would look the most like regular salsa.

The fruits I used in the picture are mango, pineapple, green apple, coconut (is coconut a fruit or a nut, anyway?) and boysenberry preserves to bind it together.

Other fruits that would be awesome include kiwi, peach, strawberry, pomegranate arils, mandarin oranges, blueberries, apricots, other kinds of apples and asian pears (what a great texture those would have!).  Canned or frozen fruit is fine too as long as it’s well drained.

Dessert Salsa

Baked Cinnamon Chips

2-3 whole grain tortillas

oil or cooking spray

cinnamon and sugar or sweetener

Preheat to 350 degrees F.

Cut the tortillas into eight wedges each.  Lightly spray 2 cookie sheets.  Spread wedges out on sheets, keeping them from touching or overlapping. Give the tops of the wedges another light spritz of cooking spray and then sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes until crispy but not burnt.  Watch closely if you’ve got an erratic oven.

Variation: Use different flavorings to make a savory chip.  One of my favorite versions is to brush the wedges with lime juice and sprinkle them with garlic salt before baking.

Baked Cinnamon Chips (with salsa)

Well there you have it: no less than six recipes for nourishing summer fun. Stay cool out there…and full of veggies!