Christmas dinner 2013

Speaking of Christmas dinner... I've pulled together my list for this year and it looks so darn good I kinda wish it was Christmas tomorrow! :) Like last year, my family has agreed to a completely vegan meal so I'm excited! We'll be down four people for dinner this year (my sister's kids will be with their dad), but I'm still cooking for a group of nine so hopefully most everyone will like what I've chosen.

Here's my list...

APPETIZERS: 

• Hummus and Pita Bread
• Breaded Zucchini Sticks

MAIN COURSES:

• Lasagna with Sweet Potato and Cauliflower
• Lentil Shepard's Pie

SIDES:

• Mushroom Bread
• White Beans and Artichoke "Bliss in a Dish"
• roasted veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc)
• salad

DESSERT:

• Cranberry Orange Pecan Cake
• maybe a pie of some sort - apple cranberry?

I may also make some cookies but it just depends on how many days I have to work leading up to Christmas and how my arthritis is feeling at the time. Can't wait for dinner this year! Only 16 days away!! :)

Mushroom Bread

I had a bunch of leftover mushrooms from Thanksgiving that needed to be used up before they went bad, so I went on a search for recipes and decided to go with this one. The original wasn't vegan, but it was super easy to swap out for non dairy ingredients. This is the recipe, as I made it...

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 loaf French or Italian bread
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery spread, softened
• Daiya shredded non dairy mozzarella cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Slice bread in half horizontally.
3. Mix together mushrooms, garlic and butter. Spread the mixture on both sides of the cut bread. Place the bread, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle preferred amount of Daiya non dairy cheese over mushroom mixture. 
4. Bake in preheated oven until cheese has melted, about 10-15 minutes. Cut in wedges to serve.

My boys looked at this as I was putting it together and said, "gross, I hate mushrooms!" When it came out of the oven they both ate multiple pieces.  Apparently mushrooms aren't so bad after all. ;) Personally I loved it! I think I may even add it to my Christmas menu this year. Delish! Will make this one again for sure!

Vegetarian Kale Soup

I've never had kale before. After being vegan for about a year, and hearing SO many people raving about kale this and kale that, the health benefits, the flavor... I decided it was time to finally give a try. So a few days ago when I made my grocery store run, I picked up a bunch of kale. With no idea or plan on how I was going to prepare it. Last night, while searching for a recipe to use up my broccoli I came across this vegetarian kale soup recipe on AllRecipes. I figured, why not... and got started.

I always read the reviews before getting started on a new dish. A lot of times I find helpful tips that aren't in the original recipe but really improve the flavor. What I learned this time was that I would need to adjust things just a smidge to get a spicier soup (because my kids are big fans of the heat). So here is my slightly altered version of the above recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8-10 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch cayenne pepper
• dash red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used pink himalayan)
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 large bunch kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
• 1/2 Hungarian hot pepper, diced
• 8 cups organic vegetable broth
• 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 6 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 cans white beans (I used great northern)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot, cook the garlic until browned. Stir in the kale and cook until wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes. 
2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook over med-high heat (lid on) for approximately 1-2 hours or until potatoes are tender. 

My 14 year old and I both ate two bowls. I really liked the taste and texture of the kale, I'll definitely be making this again. Though the next time I think I'd like to add some chopped carrots, a couple more potatoes (or just larger ones, mine were pretty small) and maybe some corn. 

Corn Chowder

I've been craving corn chowder since I went to Panera for lunch earlier this summer and saw they were offering it. Unfortunately the Panera variety has dairy in it so I knew I'd need to make my own. I bookmarked a few recipes and chose this one for dinner tonight because I had pretty much everything on hand. I substituted where necessary but basically followed this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (I subbed yellow)
• 2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno (I subbed 1/2 hungarian hot pepper)
• 2 cups non dairy milk (I used coconut)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used pink himalayan)
• additional salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot bring broth, potatoes, corn, bell pepper, jalapeno and garlic to boil. Turn the heat down to low and put the lid on. Let simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. 
2. Add in the non dairy milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep cooking on low heat until warmed through. Or longer until desired soup has reached desired thickness. 

I like my soups on the thicker side so I cooked it on medium heat (lid on) for about an hour after adding the milk. Even my 16 year old (who loves spicy food) had to stop halfway through bowl #2 to blow his nose! ;) You can definitely taste the heat of that hungarian hot pepper! My lips and tongue, even the roof of my mouth, were burning when I was finished eating. Six thumbs up from the three of us who ate it. Carter mentioned he thought it tasted a lot like the Cauliflower, Carrot & Potato soup I made in December. I totally agree, though tonight's dish was definitely spicer thanks to that hungarian pepper!

Spaghetti with Broccoli, Chickpeas and Garlic

Made this last week and never posted the recipe. I found the original here, had all of the ingredients on hand so I thought, why not! I made a few very minor changes to what was written, and it was good, though it would be slightly better with a couple more changes so I'm going to post it here with those changes in case I come back later to make it again...

INGREDIENTS

• 12-15 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large bunches fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15 oz) can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 pound spaghetti noodles
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• pinch cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil over moderate heat, stirring until garlic is golden, approximately 1 minute. Add broccoli and salt and cook stirring occasionally, until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in chick peas and cook until heated through.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta. Add pasta and reserved cooking water to broccoli and chick peas and cook over moderate heat, tossing until well combined. Stir in lemon juice. Serve drizzled with additional olive oil.

We happened to have some (ick) parmesan cheese, that was left here by my dad, so the boys sprinkled some on their bowls. I didn't actually drizzle with additional olive oil at the end like it said to, but I think it needed it so next time I definitely will. When I made this I doubled everything, except for the broccoli because I only had one bunch in the fridge, but including the chickpeas. All four of us were in agreement that it was just too many chickpeas and not enough broccoli. So the version I've posted here has been adapted to reflect that. Other than that the flavor was quite tasty and it was a great way for me to use up my broccoli before it went bad. ;)

Guacamole

I recently purchased a few avocados for the first time ever in my life! (why yes, in fact I have been living in a bubble) I decided I wanted to try my hand at making guacamole so we could have an at home version of the Chipotle burrito bowl. My experiment was a huge success and I'm recording the recipe here so I can make it again (and again and again and again)!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 avocados - peeled, pitted and mashed
• 1 lime, juiced (about 2.5 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl mash together avocados, lime juice and salt. Mix in cilantro, tomatoes and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor or serve immediately. 

I found the original recipe on All Recipes and altered it just slightly based on personal tastes and the reviews I read. I also add one of the avocado pits to the finished guac, before storing in the fridge (in a sealed container), to keep it from turning brown before we can finish it. Learned that little tip on one of the many cooking shows I love to watch! ;) Though of course we did try it with tortillas chips alone, the whole reason I made it was to add to a bowl with seasoned black beans, brown rice, corn and tomatoes... with tortillas chips for scooping the whole mess up. I left my guac pretty chunky (like I like my soups) because I feel like too smooth of a texture seems way too much like baby food! ;)

Spicy Vegan Chili

This is a combination of two different recipes that I combined/tweaked according to what I had on hand. I originally did a search for veg chili recipes because I'd gotten a large amount of BEAUTIFUL fresh produce at the West Side Market in Cleveland the day before that I couldn't wait to start using! The first recipe I found was from Oh She Glows, the second one I came across was on All Recipes. Both sounded delicious so I just went for it and improvised a little. It could not have been simpler! If I'm being honest, I have a tendency to be a bit of a lazy cook, so I skipped the saute step that both original recipes called for and just tossed everything together and mixed it all up. My kids DEVOURED this, eating 3-4 bowls each! That was AFTER my youngest made faces at it as I was adding things to the pot and my 16 year old announced that he hates chili (because he's not a fan of the texture of beans). Turns out with so many veggies it wasn't too 'bean-y' at all! This made a HUGE amount and everyone has eaten multiple bowls of it reheated the next day (it's even spicer today)! My youngest son even commented that when we ran out he wanted me to make another pot!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups organic vegetable broth
• 1 (12oz) bag frozen corn
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 can (4oz) chopped green chiles
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. chop/dice/mince all of your vegetables.
2. toss ALL ingredients into large pot and stir. 
3. cook over medium heat for approximately 1 hour.
4. simmer on low for at least two hours more, adding more water or vegetable broth if needed.

When I tossed everything into the pot I also added what was left from a box of quinoa I had on hand. I have no idea how much it was since I didn't measure, but I did end up having to add some extra water while this was cooking as it started to get pretty thick. Next time I will add some carrots as well because I love them, and I think zucchini or yellow squash would be great in this! Like I said earlier, my kids LOVED it! Some of us ate this topped with Sour Supreme and/or spooned over brown rice. Definitely a new one for the regular rotation! It would also work well in the crock pot (if you have a BIG one) on days that are too hot to use the stove.