Vegan Kitchen

I'm not a Christmas baker. But I miss warm goodness coming from the oven. So I was pleased to roast chestnuts this week with the kids.

This time around I actually looked up directions on-line so we didn't have chestnuts exploding in the oven like last year. I think the lack of theatrics was kind of disappointing for the kids. And although I'm sure these taste nothing like "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" they tasted pretty darn good to Celine and I. Not so much to my younger two. Maybe it's an acquired taste.

What exactly do oven roasted chestnuts taste like? Starchy like potatoes, a little sweeter but not like sweet potatoes. Huh? I'll guess you'll just have to try them yourself. If you don't like them you can always add them to a meal. I chopped and blended the leftovers into our supper pot o' soup.

Using pumpkins and squash in one-pot dishes, the main fare around here, can be tricky. My kids aren't keen on winter squash in their soups and stews (and other such one-pot wonders) but this throw it all together Pumpkin and Black Bean Casserole from FatFree Vegan Kitchen was wildly popular at our house last night. We heartily recommend it, kids included.

Some changes I made:
I doubled the recipe to serve 4 adults and 3 kiddos.
I used kidney beans, not black beans and no corn. I used tapioca starch instead of cornstarch. And I used half the amount of nutritional yeast.

Baked Maine apples and wild blueberries

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I haven't taken the kids apple picking yet. In my defense the month has been full with family visiting, figuring out a fall routine that helps everyone meet their goals and celebrating all things Maine at Common Ground. I'm also not motivated to pick when a bushel bag of already picked utility grade apples (slightly less than perfect) from the farm is $14. Now that is one seriously sweet deal!

We bought our first bag this week and this morning we started our fall & winter seasonal Saturday breakfast of baked apples and cashew cream sauce. Yum.

Baked Apples

serves 5-6 as "the" dish

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

12 - 14 medium/large baking apples, cored, peeled & sliced
1 cup blueberries
1-2 tbsp flax seeds

Combine all ingredients in large casserole dish. Bake for 45 min - 1 hour. Less time for firmer apples, more time for mushy apples.

Serve with sauce. Sprinkle with cinnamon and cocoa powder (optional).

Cashew Cream Sauce

1 cup raw cashews
1 cup dates or raisins
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk
2 tsps vanilla extract

Blend all sauce ingredients in heavy duty blender like Vita-Mix till smooth. If you have a regular blender, cover and pre-soak the cashews in water overnight or 4-6 hours. Drain water and use as recipe calls for, with maybe a little less soymilk.

Enjoy and embrace fall!

August Juliet Tomatoes

Maybe it was the week in the woods or more simply the fact that I came home to 10 lbs of ripe tomatoes on the vine (nothing's more gorgeous my friend), but I was inspired to get a little gourmet tonight. For supper I handcrafted roasted garden tomato soup with garlic, onion & tomatillos. Served with homemade crackers and cashew cream drizzled on top.

Summer in a soup bowl.

The smell of tomatoes, garlic and onions roasting this afternoon was enough of a treat but supper truly was a sweet reward for all the planting, staking, pruning and downright love I've given those tomatoes these past months.

Roasting Tomatoes

To try some of this goodness for yourself check out the recipes for tomato soup and GF crackers at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen.

I steamed farm beets for supper last week (a vegetable I'm learning to love) and saved the "juice" left in the bottom of the pan. I stored the juice, about 2/3 cup, in a glass jar in the fridge and pulled it out yesterday for the kids to paint with.

The kids also mixed up a yellow paint with 1/2 cup hot water and 1 tbsp tumeric mixed together.

The resulting artwork is beautiful and my own art (photography) is inspired by my children's creativity. For more natural painting inspirations check out one of our favorites, Berry Smudges and Leaf Prints by Ellen B. Senisi.

Yay, finally a "preserves on a sunny window sill" shot

I don't can, except dilly beans (pickled green beans, so delicious) when we get inundated mid-summer from the farm. Should be any week now I guess.

But I do make refrigerator pickles. No bubbling, boiling water and finicky sterilizing needed. Well, the jar should be clean of course...

I dare you NOT to make these. They're my kiddos favorite cucumber treat, trust me that's a lot of white sugar in this house!

Refrigerator Pickles

8 c thickly sliced cucumbers
2 small onions, sliced
2 tbs pickling salt (I use less)
2 c white vinegar
1 c sugar (more or less depending on taste for sweet pickles)
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed

Combine cukes, onions, and salt in large bowl. Mix well. Combine vinegar, sugar, celery seed and mustard seed in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved.

Pack cukes & onion mixture fairly tightly into jars (to minimize floating in liquid as much as possible). While still hot, pour vinegar mixture over vegetables.

Let cool to room temperature. Screw on lid and put in fridge. Let pickles age 7-10 days in fridge for best flavor.

Will keep for several months under refrigeration. Ha, like that ever happens!

Picture shown is a half batch, fits in a quart Mason jar.

Tonight's supper was Maine grown potato salad with garden fresh chives and lovage. Celine was simply delighted to pick the first of the garden's offerings as part of her supper prep tonight - she takes after her mom in her love of all things green and blooming. We rounded out the salad with a couple farm ingredients - carrots and chopped dilly beans that I canned last summer. The other additions of chopped olives and spicy mustard, lemon juice and tahini dressing were decidedly not grown in Maine. We made up for it by serving the potatoes on a bed of farm greenhouse grown spicy mesclun mix. It was a wonderful meal made even lovelier by the hyacinth, our first cut flower this season, that graced our table. And like my daughter I was simply delighted.

With 3 gluten sensitive members in our family I haven't made granola for years. After all what do you put in granola if you can't use oats? Lots apparently. I finally got tired of missing it and searched for a recipe last week, made some modifications and came up with this. The batch is large because with homemade granola a bigger batch is always better.

Dry Ingredients

• 3 cups gluten free flours
• 1 cup potato starch
• 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup raw almonds, chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup peanuts
• 1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 2 tsp. cinnamon , optional

Liquid Ingredients

• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup honey or maple sryup, OR
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

After baking

• 1-2 cups dried fruit, optional

Method

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Blend liquid ingredients in blender.

Mix liquid ingredients into dry. This will take a little work and will involve your hands, kind of like kneading bread dough.

When mixture is thoroughly mixed and clumping together spread it evenly on 2 greased or non-stick baking sheets. You'll probably need to use your hands again.

Bake for a total of 45-60 minutes, until golden brown. Stir every 10 minutes. The first couple of times you stir you need to break up the mixture using a flat plastic flipper, wooden spoon or pastry blender to break the large flat chunk into smaller chunks.

Let cool and stir in dried fruit if using.

Serve with milk or yogurt (dairy or non-dairy).

Notes

Gluten Free Flours: try combinations of buckwheat, brown rice flour, amaranth and teff.

If you are using dates as your sweetener you will need a powerful blender to blend all the liquid ingredients.

You can use thawed frozen bananas. Also could use 1 1/2 - 2 cups of applesauce.

Renee & Damien Tougas

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice, fresh is best
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos, or soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. chili sauce, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Method

Blend all ingredients in blender till smooth and creamy.

Notes

Let the dressing sit in the fridge for a couple hours if you want it to thicken up to a dip consistency. Later on if you want to use it as dressing thin it out with a little water or soy milk.

This delicious dip can be made spicy to taste by adding more chili sauce.

In the winter our family doesn't just eat soup, we are soup. Ok, that's to say we eat soup almost everyday. So, I love FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog today. Read and be inspired - eat soup!