Tempeh Spinach Potato Pie

When I was 19 I started cooking for myself and thus grocery shopping for myself. I don’t know what happened, but on that first day I went to the store by myself to do an entire shopping trip, I fell in love. Yeah. Love. I’m one of those people who loves grocery shopping. I mean, it’s literally one of my favorite things to do. Oh, you want to go to a movie tonight? Can we go to the grocery store instead? Maybe make some cookies, yeah? That’s me. Okay, maybe I’m not that hardcore, but I do really like going and whenever a new vegan comes my way I often suggest doing a shopping trip together. I’m excited just thinking about it. I think it has a lot to do with finally taking charge of what I put into my body and really appreciating food and variety. After all, these things are important. So, that being said, it’s been about two weeks since I’ve been to the store. I’m very grateful that I live in a country, and more specifically, in a situation where shopping once a week is something I can do easily. But…two weeks is hell for me and I keep missing the farmer’s markets, dammit.

In any case, I decided to walk on the coals and use what I had in house to come up with this delicious one dish wonder. The tempeh in this recipe is reminiscent of ground turkey. And the crust should really be cooked until a nice light, golden brown. It’s okay if the edges get a little burned and crunchy. This is a light dish so, it wouldn’t satisfy a large crowd. If you’re making this for a small dinner party, say, of four, I’d recommend serving soup and/or salad ahead. Enjoy!

Herbed Mashed Potatoes with Teriyaki Gardein Beefless Tips

So I wasn’t going to post this one, but I figured, “What the heck? Why not?” This recipe isn’t involved, it isn’t fancy — basically, it isn’t time consuming. But it’s damn good. I have to admit, I didn’t measure anything out when I was making this so, bear with me. Also, I’ve been trying to stay away from using processed foods like grain meats and cheeses because they can be expensive, hard to find, and generally not as healthy as omitting them from your diet. But hey, for you beginner vegans, sometimes, this is the kind of stuff you want to eat, right? So, here’s something I cooked up one night when I was feeling super hungry and not entirely creative. It’s meat and potatoes, literally. All I need now is a beefcake vegan husband. God help me…

Sweet Potato Baked Mac and Cheese: Three ways!

It’s been a rough week. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but this much needed week long vacation just couldn’t come soon enough. I recently had a death in the family and after days of funeral/wake attendances and seeing my family mourn, I just needed some serious comfort food. Baked macaroni and cheese is my most favorite food in this category. Growing up, I was a big fan of the blue Kraft box and had no clue one could bake mac and cheese. Now I know better than to eat that junk and make a healthier, just as tasty (or tastier – depending on how you look at it) version. Of course, there’s no animal based cheese in this meal, but you will easily be fooled and won’t even mind that it’s not there! And perhaps, you won’t get that bogged down, tired feeling one gets after eating dairy. If you do, well, kick back and get comfy and rejoice in knowing that your comfort is not at anyone else’s expense.

Curried Asian Sweet Potato Lentil Stew: Two ways!

About a month ago, my wonderful newly vegan mother (I’ll never tire of saying that), in an effort to help with my cooking endeavors, cooked a massive amount of brown lentils. And then a few weeks after that, she bestowed me with an Asian sweet potato. Mothers. What would we do without them? Starve, probably. Anyway, since then, I’ve been saving lentils in my freezer not exactly knowing what to do with them. Since I’ve never been a fan of lentil soup, I thought that would certainly be out. But then it occurred to me, that the reason I’ve never liked lentil soup wasn’t because I didn’t like lentils, the flavors just never appealed to me. So, I decided to get creative and play with the flavor of my favorite cuisine, curry, and this is what came of it!

Winter Squash, Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup with Collards and Thyme-Sage Croutons

Oh, Frankensquash, there will never be another like you!

Back in September I was given a nameless, misshapen organic squash that I’ve since named my “Frankensquash.” I’d never cooked with squash, but I’ve always liked it. I was reluctant to use the squash until recently because I had no idea what to do with it and I thought that whatever I came up with  would be time consuming and difficult. But my stomach soon took over as I’m a big fan of squash. And an even bigger fan of squash soups. And an even bigger fan of collard greens. And you guessed it, an even bigger fan of ginger. I was lucky enough to have nothing much on hand but all three of these on a very cold night and came up with this easy, spicy, soothing, and filling soup! I also had some ciabatta bread lying around that was a few days old and perfect for croutons.

This soup pleases everybody. Make this for your sick loved ones, make it for a hungry winter guest, make it for yourself!

Do they have crouton eaters anonymous meetings somewhere?

Just make sure you taste it as you go, making sure the ginger flavor is to your liking. A lot of ginger is never a bad thing, but it can make your soup too spicy and nearly inedible if you add too much, and too little ginger is no fun at all!

Also, beware the croutons! They are delicious for snacking and highly addictive! Don’t eat them all before you put them in the soup!

I would certainly serve this to my hungry prairie guests!