Vegan Vegetable Pot Pie

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Meatless in the Mountains

Hello!  I wanted to share one more post before the arrival of my second little one… I’m sure I’ll go off the radar for a bit after that again!  I have a stash of backlog recipes on deck here but chose this one because first, it was not a cookie (finally), and second it’s sooo delicious!!  I’ve been wanting to test a recipe for a vegan pot pie and I finally got around to it.  It was surprisingly easier than I expected, and really was delicious.  I took a major shortcut and used store bought frozen pie crust… because seriously, I need every bit of help I can get with a terrible-two-toddler in the house right now.  The tofu takes the place of “chicken” in this dish.  I found an organic vegan crust at whole foods but if you check the ingredients most of them are vegan, they just use oil in place of butter.  This was great fresh and was still delicious warmed up as leftovers the next day.  Hope you try it!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Drain and press out as much moisture as possible from the tofu. Chop the tofu in cubes and toss in a bowl with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray. Add a single layer of the tofu and bake for about 20 minutes total, checking on the pieces and flipping over halfway through.

The tofu should be slightly firm when done.

Increase the oven temp to 425 degrees.
Prep and chop all veggies and herbs.
Warm the vegan butter in a large skillet then add the onion and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes then add all the remaining vegetables, herbs and salt and pepper.

Cook all for about 5 minutes then gently stir in the flour. Mix well. Next pour in the milk and broth. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce and simmer for 5 minutes. Gently fold in the tofu cubes when ready.

Spread out the thawed dough into a pie dish. Pour the filling in, then top with the other pie crust. Gently fold the edges to seal and cut small vents on the top.

If afraid of spilling over, place the pie on a sheet pan before putting in the oven.
Bake the pie for 25 minutes, checking to make sure the top crust is not burning.

If you’d like, brush some vegan butter over the top when it’s done. Let rest a few minutes before serving so it will set and cut/serve well. Enjoy!

Vegan version of a classic comfort food.

A perfect warm, comforting meal after some snow play!

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Meatless in the Mountains

Happy Weekend!  I’m currently addicted to cookies so in my attempt to make and eat more, I came up with this recipe which is a twist on Ree Drummond’s “Oatmeal Crispies”.  The changes I made were swapping in vegan butter, using applesauce instead of eggs, using a little less oats and adding vegan chocolate chips.  I have to say… this is hands down the best raw cookie dough batter I have ever tasted!  Vegan cookies are the best because you can eat the dough without being worried about the raw egg situation.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m pregnant or what but I was eating spoonfuls of the dough before cooking and could not believe how good it was!  So, you can cut the recipe short from baking and just make  yourself a giant bowl of cookie dough to enjoy in the fridge… or go ahead and bake them, they came out great either way!  When cooked, they come out warm, soft and kind of like an oatmeal bar.

First leave the vegan butter on the counter for a few hours to soften.  When ready to put the batter together, add the butter and two kinds of sugars in a large mixing bowl and mix together with a hand mixer until well combined.

Next add in the applesauce and vanilla and mix again.  In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir to combine.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the other bowl and stir until well combined.

Add the oats, pecans and chocolate chips and mix together.

Divide the batter in half and empty each onto wax paper or plastic wrap.  Roll together tightly and set in fridge until ready to bake.  The batter can stay in the fridge up to a week.

When ready to bake, set the oven at 350 degrees and slice the cookie dough roll about 1/2 inch thick slices.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Soft, chewy and addictive vegan oatmeal bars.

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Ginger Cookies

Posted on December 24, 2018 by Meatless in the Mountains

Happy Holidays!  It’s so easy to “veganize” cookies now, you just need vegan butter and some substitute for eggs.  My favorite egg-swap for cookies is apple sauce.  For the right recipe, cinnamon apple sauce is great too!  I adapted this recipe from one of those huge Better Homes & Garden’s “Bible” Recipe books.  These cookies are easy to make, even do-able with a toddler, and worked out well for cookie swaps or wrapping up as gifts.  They are soft and chewy, especially if you take out after 8 minutes rather than 9 minutes.  Remember… it’s vegan, so feel free to try the yummy cookie dough before cooking!  : )   Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year to all!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the vegan butter with an electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds.  Add in the 2 cups of sugar, and beat again until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add in the applesauce and molasses and beat again until combined.  Add the flour in batches and beat together as much as you can, then stir in any remaining flour mixture.

Watch out for tiny hands sneaking in!

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and roll the balls in the 3/4 cup sugar.  Place the balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-9 minutes.  Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute then transfer to a wire rack to let cool.  Enjoy!

A soft & chewy, festive Holiday cookie.

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Baked Stuffed Shells

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Meatless in the Mountains

Hello!  My toddler is finally starting to play a bit on her own now, so I’ve been able to cook a little more, woohoo!  I’ve always loved stuffed shells and I finally found a ricotta replacement that I’m obsessed with.  I used to make a tofu mixture and try to season it well, but it never was great… now I found a recipe using cashews and it is sooo delicious!  I found the recipe for it from the blog “Full of Beans” but I’ll add the details below.  Although there is an extra step with stuffing the shells, the whole recipe really does not take too long.  You could always just use ziti and mix everything together for a cheesy, saucey baked pasta – sounds good and super easy too!  Hope you love the ricotta mix as much as we do!

First soak the cashews for the yummy ricotta mixture (thanks Full of Beans blog!).  They need 2 hours to soak.  When ready, start cooking the shells.  While the shells are boiling, whip up the ricotta recipe.  Full of Beans adds some spinach which is lovely!  I threw in parsley this time.

Drain the shells and lay out on parchment or wax paper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Pour some sauce down in your baking dish and fill each shell with the cheese mixture, then place in the baking dish.

Cover with more sauce and vegan mozzarella.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until warm and bubbly.  Enjoy!

 

Baked Stuffed Shells with a decadent vegan ricotta.

 

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Homemade Almond Milk

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Meatless in the Mountains

Our daughter, Sierra, drinks soy milk and almond milk daily.  Soy milk has been easy, I always choose the West Soy brand, and it’s non-GMO, organic, unsweetened and no strange ingredients.  Almond milk, on the other hand, is not so easy.  I haven’t been able to find a brand that has these same factors.  I was complaining about it to Sierra’s pediatrician and her response was, “well make your own.”  Um… duh, okay.  So I bought a nut-cloth/bag, got the rest of the ingredients and here we are now.  I checked out some other recipes and tweaked them to something I was looking for.  Easy, right?  Hmm, what shall I say, I will start by saying be prepared to make a MESS…. and be prepared to have almond milk ALL OVER YOU.  Why is this not written in other almond milk blogs or recipes?  Why do other bloggers seem to post beautiful pictures of a mess-free recipe?  Is it just me?? It can’t be.  Anyways, besides the ridiculous sloppy mess, things are pretty easy.  The milk is great and I kind of feel like a hippy-goddess when I see a few mason jars filled of homemade almond milk in the fridge.  One other problem – our baby didn’t like it!!  Ha!  She preferred almond milk from the store (with the handful of other ingredients I was trying to avoid).  So although my husband and I end up using most of it (it’s sooo good with cereal) at least we tried!  So, I wanted to share this recipe if anyone else would like to try, for either themselves, or their little ones.  And, if you have any suggestions how to not have almond milk dripping all down your elbows, etc, please add to the comments below…. thanks!

Almost forgot – you can save the almond ‘pulp’ and use in other things… I like to add it to pancake batter.

Once the almonds are ready, just add to a blender with water and a couple dates (as a natural sweetener).

 Once blended, pour into a cheese cloth or nut bag and squeeze…. this is the messy part!  I should have taken pictures of the mess but I was too embarrassed : )

Quick, easy (and slightly messy) homemade almond milk!

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Butternut Squash and Quinoa Salad

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Meatless in the Mountains

Hello!  I wanted to share this recipe that I threw together a few months back, while prepping for a pot luck dinner.  There’s a little bit of everything here – salty, sweet, crunchy, and very healthy with lots of veggies, nuts, seeds and protein from the quinoa and hemp seeds.  Although it could seem like a fall/harvest salad, this would be good any time of the year!

The salad comes together pretty quickly.  Start by setting the oven to 400, and while it’s heating up, chop the butternut squash in cubes and toss on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast the chopped butternut squash for about 25 minutes.

While the squash is in the oven, follow package instructions to cook the quinoa.  When the quinoa and squash have been cooked, leave them out to cool slightly.  While waiting, you can whip up the dressing by whisking together (or shaking in a mason jar) the lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Once the quinoa and squash have cooled slightly, toss everything together in a bowl and add in the slivered almonds, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, green onion and hemp seeds.  Pour on the dressing and toss gently to mix, then enjoy!

An easy side dish, festive for the fall but delicious for any time of the year.

 

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Creamy Artichoke Dip

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Meatless in the Mountains

In full disclosure, this is by NO means healthy.  Ok, that being said, this is SO delicious!! I had to make an appetizer for a New Year’s Eve party and since all things holiday seem to be indulgent I went along with that theme.  It was fun to create a vegan version of a creamy decadent dip.  There is no way anyone would guess that this was vegan.  I meant to take a picture at the party of the dip in action,  but of course a couple glasses of prosecco in and that thought went out the window.  So you can just imagine how it would look, with pita chips and veggies digging in, the inside was very moist and creamy, and everyone loved it!  Happy New Year to all!  And a very healthy, happy year to ALL beings! <3

This recipe was based on my Mom’s artichoke dip.  I pulled out the recipe and just made 3 easy vegan swaps.  First, leave out the vegan cream cheese for about an hour until it comes to room temperature.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Drain the artichokes and chop.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the cream cheese, vegan mayo, vegan parm and the chopped artichokes.

Spray a square 8×8 (ish) baking dish with olive oil spray, and add the mixture, flatten with a spatula and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbling.  I served with pita chips, carrots, celery and cucumbers.  Enjoy!

A creamy, decadent vegan artichoke dip.

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Easy Asian Veggie Dumpling Soup

Posted on November 11, 2017 by Meatless in the Mountains

I’m so excited about this recipe because it’s such a cool shortcut to make a really rockstar soup.  You use frozen vegetable dumplings….  I know, I think the actual response from my husband was “you mean you didn’t actually make these dumplings?”  Um, do you want to eat dinner at 7 tonight or 11?  I found the idea for this in a Men’s Health cookbook, weird place I know but I like to look in weird places to find ideas of recipes to veganize!  This recipe was so easy, and I felt amazing when I was steaming the dumplings in sake, over bok choy, as if I was an Asian food goddess or something.  But reality is that it was so quick and SO easy!  We drizzled in some sriracha before eating and it was perfect.  Enjoy!

First simmer the sake and nestle the frozen dumplings in a steamer basket over some bok choy leaves (so they don’t stick to the bottom of the steamer).  Try to leave some space in between.  Cover and steam under tender, approx 10 minutes.

While the dumplings steam, simmer the veggie broth and add the carrots and bok choy.  Cook the veggies for about 10 minutes or until they start to soften.

Next add the dumplings into the soup and cook for another couple minutes.

Ladle into bowls and drizzle with sesame oil, sriracha and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.  So easy! So healthy!  Enjoy!

Quick and easy shortcut recipe for a delicious, Asian soup.

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