Vegan no tuna casserole

Vegan no tuna casserole (brown rice macaroni, whole wheat bread crumbs, braggs liquid aminos, kale, nori, tahini, nutritional yeast, sea salt, lemon juice, black pepper, whole wheat flour, arrow root powder, garlic, evoo).

Mushroom, plantain, and arugula curry with pomegranate coulis

Mushroom, plantain, and arugula curry (garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin, mustard, chili, allspice, garam masala, cloves, cardamom, tahini) with pomegranate coulis (pomegranate juice, sea salt).

Vegan chick pea and coconut crepes stuffed with bokchoy, carrots, pineapple and onions

Vegan chick pea and coconut crepes (chick pea flour, whole wheat flour, arrowroot power, dessicated coconut, white vinegar, sea salt, turmeric) stuffed with bokchoy, carrots, pineapple and onions (sea salt, garlic, black pepper).

Pomegranate baked beans and vegan sausages; roasted potatoes and kale

Pomegranate baked beans (pomegranate juice, agave syrup, ginger, garlic, cumin, turmeric, sea salt, tomato paste, onion, allspice, cloves, garam masala, liquid smoke) and vegan sausages (Yves brand); roasted potatoes and kale (sea salt, evoo/flax oil, lemon juice, liquid smoke).

Empanadas with vegan cheese, butternut squash, spinach and raisins with a pomegranate gravy and salsa

Empanadas with vegan cheese (walnuts, nutritional yeast, sea salt, lemon juice), butternut squash, spinach and raisins (sea salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, chili, cloves, allspice, cardamom) with a pomegranate gravy (pomegranate juice, tomatoes, onions, garlic, sea salt, walnuts) and salsa.

I got the salsa fresh from the jar, but the rest was from scratch. The butternut squash makes a wonderful, creamy texture -- always good when it's freezing cold out!

The empanada dough:

2 cups of spelt flour
1/2 cup of water (more or less depending on how finely your flour is ground)
1/4 cup of white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
Sea salt to taste
Vegetable oil to brown the dough.

Vegan cheese grits with red lentils, roasted cherries and collard greens

Grits with red lentils, roasted cherries and collard greens (yellow corn meal, vegetable stock, white vinegar, garlic, ginger, turmeric, nutritional yeast, sea salt).

Some old-fashioned comfort food, with a weird gourmet twist (roasted cherries). The cherries definitely added some sour flavour. A ribbon of pomegranate molasses might have been just as good.

Tofu roasted in tomato sauce with spinach, shiitake mushrooms and scallions

Tofu roasted in tomato sauce (tomatoes, vegetable stock, evoo/flax oil, garlic, sea salt, agave, coriander, cumin, chili, white vinegar, liquid smoke) with sautéed spinach, shiitake mushrooms and scallions (tamari, lemon juice, ginger).

Vegan tourtière with chick peas, caramelized vidalia onions, portabello mushrooms, and spinach w/sundried tomato and vegan cheese sauce

Vegan tourtière (spelt flour, vegan margarine, sea salt) with chick peas, caramelized vidalia onions, portabello mushrooms, and spinach (sea salt, tamari, vegan sugar, garlic, lemon juice, ginger, herbs provençal) w/sundried tomato and vegan cheese sauce sauce (vegetable stock, white vinegar, sea salt, nutritional yeast).

For this dish, I sautéed the vegetables, tossed them with the chick peas grounds with tamari, lemon and garlic, and then baked them in the par-baked crust.

Tofu wellington with lentil and dulse gravy on a bed of wilted kale and chick peas

Tofu wellington (phyllo, tofu roasted and then baked with a sauce of shiitake mushrooms, horseradish mustard, vegan worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, garlic, tamari, vegetable stock and sea salt) with lentil and dulse gravy (red lentils, dulse, garlic, vegetable stock, sea salt, herbs provençal) on a bed of wilted kale and chick peas (lemon juice, sea salt, garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin).

For this dish, I thin sliced the tofu and roasted it until it browned a bit, and then I back it in the sauce until it had all thickened together. I find that, even when I marinade, large blocks of tofu don't soak up as much flavour as slicing and baking. Once the slices where done, I stacked them and rolled them up in a phyllo sheet and baked them. The gravy was straight forward (I put all of the ingredients in the pot, cooked until the lentils were done, blended, and then cooked down the to the consistency I wanted). The chick peas and black kale were a simple sauté until the greens were nicely wilted.

Grilled, currant and rosemary glazed tofu cutlets on a bed of sauteed kale and red peppers w/roasted mushrooms, onions and potatoes.

Grilled, currant and rosemary glazed tofu cutlets on a bed of sauteed kale and red peppers (sea salt, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic) w/roasted mushrooms, onions and potatoes (evoo/flax oil and sea salt).

For the currant/rosemary glaze:

1/2 cup of currants
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (preferably olive oil).
1/4 teaspoon of rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of savory
1/2 teaspoon of tarragon
Sea salt to taste
Water as necessary (1/3 to 1/2 cup, depending on how dry the currants are)
1 tablespoon of vegan worcestershire sauce (you can probably sub lemon juice or white vinegar -- just use a little less water)
1 tablespoon of horseradish mustard
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of white vinegar

Roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, pinto beans, cranberries and collards with a sundried tomato rosé

Roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, pinto beans, cranberries and collards (sea salt, vegan worchestershire sauce, nutritional yeast, evoo/flax oil) with a sundried tomato rosé (garlic, nutritional yeast, sea salt, evoo/flax oil).

Portabello vegan cheese steak with red chard and sundried tomatoes on a spelt bun w/fries

Portabello vegan cheese steak (twice-roasted portabellos, sea salt, vegan worschestershire sauce, nama shoyu, evoo) on a spelt bun (spelt flour, yeast, sea salt, canola oil) with red chard and sundried tomatoes (sea alt, evoo, lemon juice, black pepper, liquid smoke) and fries.

Vegan cheese risotto with sundried tomatoes, kale and vidalia onions

Vegan cheese risotto (short-grain brown rice, vegetable stock, white vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic, sea salt, turmeric, mustard) with sundried tomatoes, kale and vidalia onions (sea salt, lemon juice, chili paste).

Tofu cutlets with oyster mushroom gravy, fingerling potatoes and collard greens

Tofu cutlets (sea salt, black pepper, agave nectar, nama shoyu, canola oil) with oyster mushroom gravy (vegetable stock, oyster mushrooms, spelt flour, black pepper), fingerling potatoes and collard greens (lemon juice, chili paste, liquid smoke, evoo, sea salt).

White bean, coconut and oyster mushroom burger on a beer kaiser with roasted brussels sprouts

White bean, coconut and oyster mushroom burger (nama shoyu, nutritional yeast, white kidney beans, dessicated coconut, vegetable stock, sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, liquid smoke) on a beer kaiser (beer, in this case, tuborg, baking powder, evoo, sea salt) with roasted brussels sprouts (white vinegar, garlic, sea salt, liquid smoke).

Because of the coconut, the outside of the burger gets nice and crunchy. In some respects, this is more like a breaded faux chicken sandwich than a burger per se. Garnished with sundried tomatoes and arugula.

Sweet potato and vegan cheese empanada with tomato sauce and roasted asparagus

Sweet potato and vegan cheese empanada (spelt flour, yeast, sea salt; rice wine vinegar, chipotle, sea salt, cilantro, ginger, garlic, turmeric, evoo) with , tomato sauce (sea salt, chipotle, garlic) and roasted asparagus (sea salt, liquid smoke, evoo).

Black bean, jalapeno and corn chowder; walnut, acorn squash and kale empanada with mango salsa and taco salad; banana and avocado brulee

Black bean, jalapeno and corn chowder ( soup stock, white potato, sweet potato, garlic, ginger) garnished with cilantro and chili powder. Corn chowder is very common in Illinois, although it usually have other vegetables instead of black beans.

Walnut, acorn squash and kale empanada (vidalia onions, garlic, ginger, nutritional yeast, turmeric, sea salt, black pepper) with mango salsa and taco salad (I didn't make the salad or the salsa, but both were very good and went really well with the richness of the empanada). I ground the walnuts and roasted squash and then minced the kale and onions to make a sort of cheese and kale filling. With the squash added, the texture was very light and creamy (surprisingingly so).

Banana and avocado brulee (walnuts, agave syrup, vanilla, pinch of sea salt).

White bean and kale soup; spelt stromboli with roasted pear, portabello, red pepper and spinach

White bean and kale soup (cannelini beans, dinosaur kale, vegetable soup stock, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, tomatoes) garnished with nutritional yeast.

Spelt stromboli (spelt flour, sea salt, yeast, herbs de Provence) with roasted pear, portabello, red pepper and spinach (evoo/flax oil, sea salt, rice wine vinegar, nutritional yeast).

This is basic soup and sandwich combination. Stromboli is sort of like a white calzone (no red sauce) and it tends to be long like a baguette rather than a folded-over pizza (which makes it easier to eat with the hands). Typically, it's served with a side dish of, or sometimes sauced with, marinara. In this case, I added more tomato to the soup than I normally would.

Peanut butter, mango and romano bean chili and walnut cheese over brown rice

Peanut butter, mango and romano bean chili (garlic, cumin, paprika, coconut, liquid smoke, cremini mushrooms, vidalia onion, flat leaf parsley, spinach, jalapeno pepper, evoo/flax oil, tomato paste, lime juice, vegetable stock) and walnut cheese over brown rice.

Chili and cheese is a very popular combination in the midwest where I grew up. This dish had a great mouth feel and an excellent flavour. Coconut and mango add a rich undertone to anything spicy, and the walnut cheese added just the right richesse to the dish overall.

For the walnut cheese:

1/2 cup of walnuts ground until they start to get buttery
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons of plain soy yogurt
1 tablespoon of turmeric
Sea salt to taste

Vegan shells and cheese with mushrooms, spinach and a ribbon of chipotle oil sided with grilled asparagus

Vegan shells and cheese (silken tofu, cashews, paprika, turmeric, garlic, vegetable stock, nutritional yeast) with mushrooms, spinach (garlic, evoo/flax oil, olive brine, nama shoyu) and a ribbon of chipotle oil (chipotle, lime juice, evoo/flax oil) sided with grilled asparagus (sea salt, evoo/flax oil and lime juice).