vegandurance

Vegg French toast for breakfast with a side of greens and beans!  Yum!

Vegg French toast is super easy.  Using a small food processor, mix Vegg with some plain almond milk (or other veg milk of choice) and water until it is thick and yolky.  Pour into a shallow pan/bowl and add seasoning and pepper of your choice.  Soak toast into pan/bowl, and warm up a pan on your stove-top.  Add a small amount of oil of choice (optional if you have a non-stick pan), then fry up your toast for several minutes, flipping halfway and pouring more Vegg mixture on as desired!  Serve plain, or with your favorite toppings and sauces (hot sauce, guacamole, salsa, etc.).

I did it both with and without oil, using Tuscan penne and gluten-free brown rice bread.  Both varieties came out delicious!

Fun little 5k through downtown San Francisco on Thanksgiving…last “speed workout” before the marathon!

The race was the first annual Life Time Fitness Turkey Day 5k, and we honored those turkeys by not eating them that day :)  On the menu later that day was lemon asparagus, root veggies, baked yams, Field Roast, creamy stuffing with pine nuts and celery, pot pies, freshly baked bread, edamame mash, green ginger soup, cranberry sauce, corn bread, and (not pictured) Eliott’s special mushroom gravy and good ol’ pumpkin pie with homemade coconut whipped cream!  Yum yum.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Here is our centerpiece—a favorite :)

Vegan Gratitude Pot Pie

Ingredients

Crust (adapted from Lunch Box Bunch):
2 sticks vegan butter, placed in freezer for about an hour (I used Earth Balance)
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat baking flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
water to moisten mixture (about ¼ - ½ cup)

Pot Pie Filling:
3 small potatoes, any kind, cut into small pieces
1.5 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup or 3 shiitake mushrooms, diced
1 (or more…why not?) large Portobello mushroom cap, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 3/4 cup water or vegetable broth
1 brouillon cube
1/8 cup tamari, soy sauce, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 tsp corn starch
1 package of seitan or pre-seasoned TVP (optional)
seasonings to taste (I used nutritional yeast, dried thyme, dried basil, a little bit of smoke flavor)
salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

Make the crust first!  
1.  Remove the vegan butter from freezer/fridge (keeping it cold like that will help make the crust flakier).  Put salt, sugar, and flours in food processor* and mix.  
2.  Add in chunks of the butter and keep mixing, being careful not to overdo it.  
3.  Slowly add in water until the dough sticks together into a ball.  
4.  Separate dough into two even halves, and wrap them in plastic and store in the freezer until ready to use.

In the meantime, start making the filling!  
5.  Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook on medium heat.
6.  After several minutes, add in carrots and celery and cook until tender.
7.  In a separate pan, while the potatoes are cooking, heat oil and add onions.
8.  Cook until onions become slightly translucent, then add various mushrooms and garlic and keep cooking.  Add seitan or TVP last and simmer for about 5 minutes.
9.  Combine contents of pan into the potato/carrot/celery mixture, and pour in water/broth and tamari.  Whisk in corn starch slowly, stirring until there are no lumps. 

Putting it all together!
10.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove dough from the freezer and let soften a little on the counter, if needed.
11.  Use some flour or a non-stick surface and roll the dough balls out flat as best you can, making an even layer about 1/4” thick.  
12.  Carefully peel up one of the flat doughy circles and press into and up the sides of a pie tin; you may need to reshape and squish it in order to have it fill the whole thing. 
13.  Pour the filling carefully into the prepared crust. Don’t be afraid of the broth/stock – it will thicken while baking!
14.  Cover with the other pie crust, and crimp edges to seal (with your hands or a fork for extra reinforcement/added prettiness).  
15.  Cut a few slits in the center of the top crust to let the vent steam in the oven, and then stick it in!  
16.  Momentarily check on your pie and make sure that it is not getting burnt; you may also have to re-open the slits you cut into the center of the top crust, as the filling might harden and close them up.
17.  After about 40min - 1 hour (depending on your oven), remove pie.  The crust should be slightly golden brown on the edges.  

Let cool on the counter and then enjoy this compassionate meal with your loved ones!

Chickpea Sweet Potato Burgers
(adapted from a recipe in Self magazine…thanks for being progressive and featuring a whole vegan recipe section, not to mention newly vegan Carrie Underwood, in your April 2012 issue!)

I recently made a huge batch of chickpeas (read on for directions on how you can, too!), and am trying to find creative ways to use them up.  I love sweet potatoes and figured marrying these two could result in nothing but good things, so here’s the result.

Ingredients:
(makes about 4 patties) 

Patties
2 cups cooked chickpeas (you can buy them canned for convenience but I prefer buying them dry and cooking them on my own!)
3 Tbs tahini
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated
ground black pepper, to taste 
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
1 Tbs hemp protein powder
1/2 tsp liquid smoke 
cayenne pepper, to taste
Oil of choice for coating baking tray and burgers  (optional)

Directions
To cook dry chickpeas:  soak chickpeas in water (about double what it takes to cover chickpeas) overnight, then drain & rinse well.  Put in a pot of water with enough to cover chickpeas + 1-2” of water, and bring to a boil.  Make sure you watch the pot, as foamy bubbles will start to rise to the surface when the water heats up!  Scrape off the foam (this will prevent future farts, haha) and lower the heat.  Simmer for about an hour or until chickpeas taste ready.

Patties:  Heat oven to 375°.  Coat a baking sheet with a light layer of oil (or use parchment paper).  In a food processor, process grated sweet potato, chickpeas, tahini, baking powder and salt. Mix in ground pepper, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, and hemp protein powder, adjusting to taste.  Final mixture should be thick and hold together.  Using a large spoon or fork, scoop up clumps of the patty mixture onto baking tray and shape into desired burger size.  Cover tray tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil, coat burgers with a light layer of oil if desired, and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Flip burgers (they should be nice and golden on the bottom!), and repeat on other side for 10-15 minutes.

To assemble burgers:  Put on your favorite bun, or crumble into a wrap or leafy green, and bring on the toppings!  The picture I have up is the variety I made for Jeff — Trader Joe’s Multigrain Slims, thick avocado slices, patty, Daiya harvati slices, tomato slices, and romaine lettuce.  For myself, I made a lettuce wrap — patty, avocado, tomato slices, and some mushroom pate all wrapped up in romaine leaves!

Simple & not necessarily impressive in looks, but the strong flavor of the patty really carries this nutritious, satisfying burger :)