Pecan Pie/Tart filling

Pecan Pie/Tart Filling 
(or if  you really cant be bothered, "ice cream" topping)

What you need: 

• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour (if gluten free I suggest cornstarch)
• 4 tablespoons nondairy milk (I use soy creamer - just don't use low/non fat)
• 2 egg substitutes
• 1/4 cup margarine (I prefer Earth Balance as it is firm!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup pecans (halves are great for pie, if you are making tarts you can always use pieces)
• 1 9" unbaked pie crust or 12 small unbaked tart shells

What you do: 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• In a large bowl mix together all ingredients, don't worry if it's liquidy - it's supposed to be.
• Pour mixture into the pie or tarts shell(s).
• Bake for 20 mins.
• Reduce temperature to 275 degrees and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.

How do I know if it's done?!

Take the pie out of the oven, using a knife test the centre of the pie/tarts, it should still be a little soft, but not liquidy, if you get some ooooze put it back it - continue to  bake for 10-15 min intervals until the centre is soft

 

 

These are super sweet and delicious, I tend to make mini tarts as they pack a lot of punch - delicious served warm with a little vegan "ice cream" on the side!

 

Acorn Squash - Apple - Ginger Soup

Acorn Squash - Apple - Ginger Soup

To be especially enjoyed on crisp Fall days.

Makes 8-10 servings
*freezes and cans well

You will need:

2 medium acorn squash
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion - diced
1 large gala apple - peeled, cored and diced
2-4 cloves of garlic - peeled and chopped
1 litre vegetable stock -peeled, cored and diced (kidding - ha!)
1tablespoon fresh grated ginger
salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

• Preheat you oven to 400° F
• Cut squash in half (see below and be careful!)
• Place on lined baking sheet cut side up and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Roast in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, checking (knife poke) at 20, 30 and 40 mins.

* you want the flesh of the squash to be easily scooped out with a spoon.

While squash is roasting...

• On medium heat pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot
• Add chopped onion, apple and garlic, saute being careful not to burn them - approx 4-5 minutes
• Remove from heat and when squash is ready (cooked 15-20 minutes) scoop out flesh, set aside any firmer bits and you can chop them smaller
• Add squash to onion, apple and garlic mixture
• Over medium heat stir squash to break up any large lumps
• Pour over vegetable stock, an add ginger.
• Increase heat and bring to a boil
• Allow to simmer 10-15 mins or until apples are easily cut with a knife on the side of the pot
• Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender or in batches with a traditional blender

Place back on medium heat and heat through until just bubbling - Enjoy!

         

Fall Muffins!

I day early, as Fall officially starts tomorrow at 10:49 am according to my co-worker...but at least you'll have time to prepare!

This is a great way to use up a few rogue pears that you have hanging around :) I think you could easily sub in walnut or pecans for butterscotch chips if you didn't have them handy.

Enjoy!

- Vegan Villager

Butterscotch - Pear Muffins

½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup brown sugar
(I used a combo of splenda brown sugar blend & coconut sugar)
1 very ripe banana mashed
(I thaw out a frozen one in the microwave - very liquidy which is good)
1 tablespoon each of the following;
Baking soda
Baking powder
Cinnamon
Ginger
Vanilla
¼ to ½ cup butterscotch chips
2 small ripe pears peeled and chopped
1 cup flour (I used Bob’s Redmill gluten free blend)

Mix the oil, sugar, powders, spices and vanilla with mashed banana
Add flour ½ cup at a time, mixing well as you go.
When all flour is incorporated mix in chips and pear pieces.
This is a rather liquidy batter, if yours is not please add a few tablespoons of milk at a time until it is.
Spoon into prepared muffin tins (no liners) bake at 350F for 15 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

More Soup...and a new blog!

Hello friends!
I have a new delicious soup recipe waiting for you, but before I post that I would like to introduce you to my newest blog - Secretly 65!
www.secretly65.blogspot.com

Check it out (maybe after you've made the soup?) - hope you follow me there as well...now on with the soup!

               Spiced Pumpkin Corn Soup

I came up with the recipe when I discovered a can of pumpkin (I will assume left over from Christmas or Thanksgiving) when I was trying to make some room in the pantry. Usually I'm not crazy about a lot of canned (unless it's home canning) food, but this is a great way to use up odds and ends around the house or alternatively a great way to make a delicious satisfying soup with ingredients that you can keep on hand at all times!

What you will need:
1 can of puréed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 can diced tomatoes (sans liquid)
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
splash of maple syrup or agave nectar
1 small onion diced finely
1/2 cup of plain soy, almond or rice milk
t1 tsp each cayenne and curry powder (add more of either if you like)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

What you will do:
In a large pot over medium heat saute onions and garlic in olive oil.
Add pumpkin and broth, mix with a whisk to work out any lumps, add tomatoes and bring to a boil, reducing heat to medium-low and adding milk and maple syrup and seasonings. Allow to simmer 20 mins, add corn and simmer until corn is cooked through (5-7 mins). Serve in generous sized bowls with fresh bread. A drizzle of olive oil on top of the soup, a dollop of "sour cream" or swirl of heavy cream would be loverly!


Enjoy - this freezes so well and is a meal in itself!

Don't forget to check out my new blog www.secretly65.blogspot.com

Stay tuned for more recipes here :)

- The Vegan Villager

There's an App for that!

Happy New Year!

I realize I have been away for awhile, but now I'm back - I resolve to post a minimum of once per week!

I had a great holiday full of family, friends & FOOD!

We hosted a New Year's Eve-Eve get together (January 30th) with some of our R3 (CBC Radio 3) friendlies. I have included below an appetizer that we partook (new word!) in...enjoy!

If you try out these recipes or have questions please post below and tell me all about it, I'm listening...

Mushroom & Spinach Cheese Wheels

Makes 24 appetizers

You Will Need:

• 1 package of vegan puff pastry (if you want to make it, knock yourself out - life is to short for this lady)  * Tenderflake brand puff pastry is vegan, it's in your grocer's freezer, next to the pre-made pie shells.    ** This product will need to be thawed before using, please read the directions before starting this recipe!
• 1 cup of cremini or portobello mushrooms chopped finely (even the most discerning mushroom detesters liked this, they said it was because the mushroom was chopped so finely)
• 2 cups raw spinach or 1 package of thawed frozen spinach (I used a raw mix of spinach and rocket/arugula that I had from a salad mix)
• 2 cloves for garlic minced or 3 tsp pre-chopped jarred garlic (do not substitute with powdered garlic)
• Daiya Mozzarella cheese shreds (optional, if you don't want cheese, leave it out, or if you are vegetarian and want to use dairy cheese you can do that too, just pick something at melts well)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• garlic powder to top cheese (not a substitute for chopped garlic)
• salt and pepper to taste
• non-stick muffin tin
• Rolling pin/wine bottle/whatever you usually use in place of a rolling pin
• Very sharp, large knife

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 350° F
• Over medium-high heat in a non-stick skillet pour olive oil, chopped mushrooms and spinach (pre-thaw and drain  your spinach if you are using frozen). 
• Sauté until mushrooms are cooked through and spinach has wilted (approximately 5-7 minutes).
• Reduce heat to medium and add chopped garlic and heat through (about 1 minute, don't burn the garlic!)
• Roll out puff pastry dough to approximately 9x11 (allow the mushroom mixture to cool while you are doing this)
• Spread mushroom mixture over rolled dough and sprinkle with daiya mozzarella shreds, sprinkle shred lightly with garlic powder.
• Roll dough into a tight log (see picture).
• "Easy" Slicing Method: We want 24 mini pinwheels shapes, this is where the very sharp knife and some patience comes in. Slice the log in half, you will notice that the end bits are mostly dough, slice those off. Then, slice each half in half again - you should now have 4 equalish sized dough logs. Ok...resharpen your knife if you are able, concentrate on one dough log at a time. You are now doing the math...you're thinking there is no way I am going to get each of these 4 sections into 6 little pins wheels. At this point are either going to be confident and have faith in yourself or your are going to cut them bigger and end up with 12, the choice is yours. If you choose to move forward with the challenge of cutting each of the four logs into 6 pieces you will use the same method as above; first halving the log, then cutting three smaller wheels from each. Be adventurous, try it...nothing ventured nothing gained. The beauty of these little beauties is they don't have to be perfect, because they taste fantastic!
• Place each slice carefully into the muffin tins.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown...yum
• If you aren't sure if they are done, pop one out with a knife, the bottoms will brown much quicker than the top.
• These are just fine at room temperature and are great warm.
• If you plan on freezing them for later use, do so as soon as they are cool and reheat after thawed for 10 minutes in a 350° F oven.

Merry Christmas to All!
-The Vegan Villager

Bake Sale/Soup for Sponsorship Bonanza!

Holiday Greetings Friends!

I am painfully aware that I have not posted in nearly a month!
But never fear, the recipes are here!

The past few weeks have been extremely busy ones in my world of vegan baking and cooking!

For those of you who don't know me personally, I work in the field of Social Services. Each year I lead fundraising initiatives to help sponsor individuals and families who may be experiencing particularly tough times, or who could use a boost of holiday cheer at Christmastime. What better way to raise the funds needed than with FOOD! These past few weeks marked the 3rd Annual Sponsorship Bake Sale and the Annual "Soup's on for Sponsorship" soup lunch in our office - both bring out the generosity in everyone! Lot's of people contributed to the bake sale and even more folks purchased baking and soup - making it a huge success!

This money goes a very long way to help a lot of adults and children have a happier holiday. We take a lot of things for granted, and it really puts into perspective how fortunate many of us are when you see with your own eyes that selling some cookies and fudge will allow a child to have presents to open on Christmas morning. So...now that my rant about the virtues of giving (not just at the holidays mind you...) is complete, let us move on to some of the recipes that make it happen. I say some, because there are so ma ny people involved in both the bake sale and soup,I could never do it on my own, and if any of them are reading, you know who you are and THANK YOU!... On with the vegan recipes!

Easy Peasy Lemon Cookies
These are quick and easy, perfect for a bake sale, they freeze really well too!

You will need:
1 box of vegan lemon cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon extract
1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (to roll the dough balls in)

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350° F
In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, water, oil and lemon extract.
Stir together until well blended, dough should be moist enough to roll into balls.
Roll dough into 1" balls and set aside.
In a shallow lidded dish pour granulated sugar, in small batches (6-10, depending on the size of your dish) roll dough balls in sugar. I throw a few in, close the lid and shake to coat.
Place sugar coated dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet approximately 1" apart, do not press with fork, leave as balls.
Bake 9-11 minutes, edges should be barely golden.
The cookies will puff up slightly in the oven, do no press them down, they will fall and crack as they cool.
You can make these cookies smaller or larger depending on your needs, you can also roll them in coloured sugar depending on the occasion.

Broccoli Soup
This recipe is a go-to Fall and Winter favourite at our house!

You will need:
1 medium to large head of broccoli (if you aren't sure if it's large enough, always go bigger!)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
4 + cloves of garlic
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups soy milk
1/4 cup margarine
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp dry sage
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Chop onion and garlic, place in a large tall sided cooking pot with olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic being careful not to burn them, approximately 4-5 minutes.
Chop broccoli and place in pot with onion and garlic, cover contents with stock and simmer on low for 15 minutes or until broccoli is very tender.
In a blender (I have to do this in two batches) place contents of the pot; onion, garlic, broccoli and stock, puree and set aside.
In the empty pot melt margarine, add flour to melted margarine to create a roux.
Slowly add soy milk to the roux and whisk to break any lumps.
When the milk mixture is smooth and lump-free add the pureed broccoli mixture.
Bring soup to a full boil and reduce to simmer.
Heat through and serve with fresh whole wheat rolls or crackers.
*This is a very easy recipe to keep at the ready - all you'll need is broccoli. I keep a tetra pack (looks like a big drinking box) of stock and the same size of soy milk on hand, the rest of the ingredients are standard staples around here.

Sweet and Spicy Nuts
A quick and delicious way to use up the almonds I had in my freezer - yum!

You will need:
2 cups unblanched almonds (means the skins are still on them)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion salt

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

What to do:

Preheat oven to 250° F

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to coat almonds. Spread almonds on a non-stick cookie sheet in a single layer (you may need to bake in two batches), bake for 30 minutes, turning or shaking the almonds on the sheet half way through. Allow the almonds to cool about 10 - 15 minutes, this allows the coating to set. Seal in an airtight container or fills cello bags for easy and delicious gift giving!

So, there we have it, three recipes for the weeks I've missed on here. I hope to have time this week to post a few more recipes for vegan holiday goodies!

Happy Holidays!

The Vegan Villager