Roasted Maple Curry Sweet Potato Soup

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners and tagged with autumn, carrots, Coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, cozy, creamy, curry, Easy, fall, holiday, Low Ingredient, low sodium, maple, meatless mondays, onion, onion soup, quick, recipe, rice, roasted vegetables, roasting, root vegetables, soup, sweet potato, thanksgiving, Vegan, vegetarian, vitamix, warm, what to eat, what vegans eat October 5, 2015

Happy Autumn!

This is the time of year for fuzzy warm socks and hoodies and boots. I love Fall more than any other time of year. I am lucky enough to have just celebrated my daughters first birthday and made her a wonderful Almond Cherry Cake that I will absolutely post soon. However, it was a soup I made last night that I just HAD to post.

I had 4 small sweet potatoes sitting on my counter begging me to cook them but nothing I thought they would pair with. I wanted to have soup for dinner but I was out of my signature squash cashew and I had no cashews to cream up any veggies I had. That’s when I thought that maybe I could make a roasted sweet potato soup with coconut milk and it would be so warm and delicious on this really cool fall day. It was about 54 degrees outside and I could feel the first chill seeping through the windows. I warmed up the oven to 400 degrees took out my baking stone and roasted the four sweet potatoes for an hour. No oil, no salt.

Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

4 small sweet potatoes/yams

1 cup Apple Cider

4 carrots

1 packet onion soup with 2 cups of water

2 tablespoons yellow curry spice

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Rice (optional)

RECIPE DIRECTIONS Continued:

When the sweet potatoes were roasted, I peeled them and tossed them in the Vitamix with 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 2 tablespoons curry spice (yellow), 1 tablespoon coconut oil, and 1 cup apple cider and pureed the mixture. It was very thick.

I then boiled a broth of onion soup mix and 4 carrots for about 20 minutes and then poured it into my vitamix. Blend until smooth and transfer back to the broth saucepan to warm through.

This was the most amazing soup. I poured it into a soup bowl that had a scoop of mixed steamed grains in the center. THe grains I made in my rice cooker. It was equal parts 1 cup of: Amaranth, Brown Basmati Rice, and Red Quinoa. I then added 1/4 cup of black chia seeds and 1/4 cup of split peas for extra protein.

The meal was hearty and warm and everything a fall or autumn meal should be. Everyone loved it. My stepkids loved the smell so much they ate a second dinner after having gone out to dinner with my parents already!

Food is Love.

Maple Glazed Seitan (Not Satan)

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Meatless Monday Family Dinners, QUICKIES! and tagged with green onions, liquid smoke, maple, maple syrup, olive oil, salt, seitan, sticky rice, Upton's naturals, West Soy December 19, 2013

Every time I tell my husband or father I am going to make seitan for dinner they both say “Satan?” It is a running joke with them because they find the name hilarious and I prefer it over “wheat gluten” because everyone thinks that is an allergy not a food these days. I like seitan (say-tan) a great deal. I tried Upton’s Naturals brand this week. It seems comparable to the West Soy one I used before but I think I actually prefer the West Soy one. This bummed me out a little because I always heard Upton’s was amazing. Oh well. Everyone has their own tastes. Moving on a did a simple maple glaze on it and if you add a splash of liquid smoke your meal is forever transformed into a meat like yumminess that needs no side dish. I only wish I had some chopped green onions to garnish it!

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Maple Glazed Seitan

1 box Seitan (in cubed form not strips)
1/8 cup Maple Syrup
Olive oil
Salt
1 tsp liquid smoke

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Cooking:

In a sautee pan heat oil slightly and add rest of ingredients.

Stir until well combined and the liquid reduced caramelizing the seitan.

Enjoy!

Optional: If you must serve to a group or want to get fancy… I would say place it on top of some white sticky rice and garnish with green onions.

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Food is Love.

The Hippie Gypsy

My Vegan and Omnivore Family Thanksgiving Menu

Posted by LD in Holiday Recipes, Menus and tagged with apinach artichoke dip, apple, Au Gratin, beet, cake, carrots, casserole, cheese, chocolate, cookies, cranberry, dessert, Easy, Fast, field roast, food allergies, gravy, holiday, how to cook for thanksgiving with a vegan, macaroni, maple, martha stewart, mashed potatoes, meatless mondays, mushroom, Party, pears, Pie, Potatoes, potluck, prosciutto, pumpkin, quick, recipe, roasted veggies, salad, scalloped potatoes, spinach dip, squash, stuffed mushrooms, stuffing, thanksgiving, thanksgiving menu, travel, turkey, Vegan, vegan and omnivore holiday, vegan and regular thanksgiving, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat November 19, 2013

I am going to officially post my Thanksgiving Day menu here for all to see. I know there will be questions and recipes wanted and over the next week I will try to post those too. I truly delight in the Holiday cooking I get to do. Making food for my family and friends is fun because not only do you get the joy of the cooking process but you get the joy of watching others feel happy and healthy and nourished and maybe a little stuffed on something you created. I also find it amazing how we extract things from the earth to make our bodies fuel. One would say if something is on the ground not to eat it but Thanksgiving is the holiday of root vegetables. Of course they get a heavy rinsing but its kind of a strange concept how we shun some things afoot but not others if prepared properly.

I know there will be confusion as some of these items are not vegan but I do have an all omnivore family so I pepper in a few items that are not vegan (*denoted with an asterisk* ). Prosciutto Pear Cups are not vegan. They are a Martha Stewart recipe that I used to make pre-vegan and my family still asks for and I make in mini muffin pans chopping the pears into tiny pieces and tossing with shreds of fresh Parmesan. The cheese will be a mix of vegan and vegetarian. I eat honey but I know many vegans do not so I denoted it with an asterisk (and you can always use agave!). The turkey and gravy is not vegan (obviously) but there is a mushroom alternative and my own vegan Field Roast Turkey. Everything else is vegan. The potato au gratin is one of my favorite things to make and the cranberry upside down cake has become a requested staple from my husband and was of my late grandmother. Enjoy!

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MY THANKSGIVING MENU
“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert

Appetizers:

Stuffed Mushrooms with Sundried Tomato Béchamel

Prosciutto Pear Cups with Parmesan Cheese Garnish*

Spinach Artichoke Dip in Bread Bowl with Carrot Sticks

Crackers (vegan)/Cheese Tray*

Sliced Bosc Pears

Honey to Drizzle Cheese and Pears*

Assorted Nuts

Dinner:

Turkey & Gravy ( For the Omnivores, organic, and locally sourced)*

Field Roast En Croute

Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes Au Gratin

Mushroom Gravy

Maple Roasted Veggies: Carrots, Sweet Potato, Shallots, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Fennel

Roasted Beet Salad: Beets, Olive Oil, S&P, Balsamic Vinegar

Butternut Squash Macaroni Casserole

Butternut Squash: Steamed and Pureed with Earth Balance on top

Homemade Cranberry Sauce: Sugar and Cranberries!

Jellied Cranberry Sauce: Most likely Ocean Spray Canned

Rolls

Dessert:

Pumpkin Pie: Whole Foods

Cranberry Upside Down Cake: Homemade

Caramel Apple Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookies: Homemade

Coffee

Tea: Yogi Kava and Yogi Detox are always in my house.

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FOOD IS LOVE.

The Hippie Gypsy

Apple Cheesecake Vegan Creme Brulee

Posted by LD in Beginner Recipes, Holiday Recipes, Meatless Monday Desserts and tagged with agar, agar agar, apple, apple cheesecake, apple cinnamon, apple pie spice, arrowroot, autumn, brulee, cake, cashew, cheese, cheesecake, cheesecake creme brulee, cinnamon, cream, cream cheese, creme brulee, dessert, Easy, fall, Fast, holiday, low sodium, macintosh, maple, maple syrup, meatless mondays, Party, quick, recipe, thanksgiving dessert, vanilla, Vegan, vegetarian, what to eat, what vegans eat September 10, 2013

The fall weather has officially started here in Coastal Massachusetts. This weekend I started raking, trimming back trees, turned off the Central Air, and opened up all the windows in my house. The cool air made the sheer window coverings sweep the floors from the wind like a chiffon wedding dress. It was a beautiful weekend. I could smell chocolate chip cookies and ocean air from my deck and I even kicked it off with a trip to the Brimfield Antiques Fair which just screams “Welcome Fall”. Together my mother and I picked up a red rocking horse for my nephew Nolan, a few records for my new record player, a set of silverware that completed a set I had inherited which was just dumb luck!, a buddha painted in reds and blues and gold for my side garden to go just underneath the chimes, and a poster from the 1980’s when a friend of mine ran for office which I will make him sign because it was such a fun find! Who doesn’t love a gigantic yard sale? I would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t have a good time at these events. I then went over to my aunt’s to help her pack up her apartment to move to her dream destination. I am so proud of her. I know she appreciates a good dessert. So this weekend I worked on puddings.

Fall is the time for puddings both warm and cold. There are bread puddings (my mom’s favorite) and the more exciting french puddings like the creme brulee and then there are the puddings I would never eat like black pudding. My favorite has always been a vanilla bean creme brulee with a good crunchy crust and a thick custard filling but not to sweet to offset the brulee. My parents would bring us to brunch on Easter and Mother’s day and I would always run over to make sur ethe hotel had the little ramekins of this dessert. So I tried to replicate it now as a vegan with a few fall fun flavors. This is my first of a series of three I will post this week (all tested and approved by the omnivore husband). They are all easy to prepare (35minutes max) but the cooling process (2hrs min.) causes it to be something you have to make in advance. Since everyone in the office was talking about apple picking on Friday we shall start with apple! Enjoy!

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Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake Creme Brulee

Ingredients:

1/2cup raw cashews
(2) Macintosh Apples Cored, Peeled, Diced
1/4cup maple syrup
1/3cup sugar
1tablespoon agar agar powder (this is vegan gelatin powder found in the asian section of the grocery store)
1tablespoon arrowroot powder/starch (don’t use cornstarch due to the high heat, arrowroot is better)
1 1/4cups Soy Creamer
2 heaping tablespoons of Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
Pinch of Salt
1teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon-1tablespoon Apple Pie Spice (depends on your pallet, I use a little more)
1/2teaspoon of Vanilla Extract (I use Penzey’s)

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Preparation

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and mix until smooth.

If you do not have a high powered mixer soak cashews for at least 4 hours or overnight so that the batter will not be grainy.

Cook

Preheat oven to 375degrees.

Fill a casserole dish with water to go halfway the height of the ramekins or jars you in tend on placing the brulee mixture in. I have used both mason jars and square ramekins before and both come out well.

Pour batter into each ramekin allowing a little space so that they do not spill over as the casserole dish will be heavy with all the water in it. You need to be careful not to allow water into the ramekins.

Cook for at least 30 minutes or until the batter is wiggly but not liquidy and slightly firm on top.

Chill

Take ramekins out of the water with tongs and place on a towel on a drying rack. Let cool 15 minutes and then transfer into the refrigerator for 2-4hours.

Brulee

After the creme is completely firm and chilled through and you are ready to serve. …Take sugar, sprinkle a good layer on each creme top, and brulee with a hand torch until the sugar bubbles, browns, and quickly hardens.