New Year's Eve Spent up North + an Intermediate Butternut Squash Mac 'N Cheese

New Year’s Eve is the worst, isn’t it? All of that pressure to find awesome plans, paying out the nose for tickets to everything, crowds so large you find yourself spending the evening shoulder to shoulder with strangers and of course, not a cab in sight when you are ready to go home.

This year (in a moment of sheer brilliance) Jon and I decided to skip out on all of that nonsense and book a cottage up north. The beautiful northern landscape covered in snow, a roaring fire, a glass (or two) of red wine, Maizee and Zoe snoozing away, some great food and days on end spent in sweat pants. My friends, the best New Year’s Eve of your life will be spent in sweat pants, trust me.

Such a northern rendezvous called for some serious homestyle cooking, so I prepared a homemade broccoli soup with fresh bread and a beautiful butternut squash mac ‘n cheese with an almond crumble top to bring along. Both rely heavily on nutritional yeast (a vegan alternative providing that cheesy flavour) so if you are new to this ingredient, don’t be frightened – be excited. I’ll be making the broccoli soup again soon (it is a cinch) so sit tight for that recipe. Until then, I leave you with this delicious mac n cheese.

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
Coconut oil
1 tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance)
1 cup almond milk
1 cup raw cashews
7 – 8 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
5 - 6 servings gluten free pasta
6 cups greens of choice (onion, garlic, broccoli, peas, spinach, celery, etc.)

Almond Topping:
3 cups almonds, crushed or finely chopped
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon sea salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 425F. Toss cubed butternut squash in oil, salt and pepper and distribute on cookie sheet. Cook for 40 minutes, flipping once.

Meanwhile, prepare the cheese sauce by assembling all ingredients into a food processor (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, nutritional yeast, pepper, mustard, seasonings). Process until a fine crumb forms. Now add the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth. Leave the sauce in the processor and add in the butternut squash once it has finished cooking. Process into a smooth texture (add water or vegetable stock to thin if necessary).

Cook your pasta (enough for 5 servings) according to package directions, drain once cooked and set aside. At this time, also cook any greens you would like added (I sautéed 1 large onion in coconut oil with 4 cups chopped Brussels sprouts, 2 cups frozen peas and 2 cups chopped celery). Set aside.

Mix butternut squash cheese sauce, vegetables and pasta into a casserole dish and blend well.

For the Topping: In a bowl combine all ingredients (crushed almonds, ground flaxseed, olive oil, water, minced garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning and salt) until well mixed and forming slightly sticky ball forms (add more water if needed). Spread over casserole.

Bake for 15 minutes and broil on high for 6 minutes (watching closely).

And with that, wishing you all a Happy New Year!

*Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows 

Intermediate Vegan Dinner: Kale and Quinoa Minestrone Soup

I was so impressed with this recipe as I chopped up all of the veggies and admired the vibrant colours and healthy ingredients. The soup was delicious, although not as savory as I expected. Next time I make this I am going to play with the spices (maybe adding in cumin, curry powder and fenugreek) to really give it a punch of flavour.

Ingredients
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups diced, fresh zucchini
2 cups green beans, cut into 1-inch segments
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
1 tsp dried rosemary
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar (if you're going to play with the spices I listed above, make this brown sugar)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup dry quinoa
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups chopped fresh kale, thick ribs removed
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions
In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add diced onion, carrots and celery and saute about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in zucchini, green beans, red bell pepper and saute 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.

Add in vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, water, rosemary, thyme, granulated sugar, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and allow soup to gently boil, uncovered for about 20 minutes.

Add in dry quinoa then cover and cook 15 - 20 minutes longer.

Add cannellini beans, chick peas, kale and lemon juice and cook, uncovered, until kale has wilted, about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

A Bridal Shower + an Intermediate Vegan Appetizer: Six Layer Dip

This weekend was my beautiful best friend, Lindsay's wedding shower. It was an afternoon spent with over 20 women celebrating the bride-to-be and this next chapter of her life. It's all very exciting.

I have learned when notifying the host or hostess of a party that I'm vegan, to also offer to make something myself to bring along. Vegan is a pretty daunting concept for some, especially older folks who were raised on 'meat and potatoes.' For this party I decided to make a six layer dip - black beans, spinach, guacamole, 'sour cream', pico de gallo and green onions.

I've labelled this as 'intermediate,' only because it is quite labour intensive, however I can assure you it is worth it - I received many compliments and interest in the recipe and a few gluten free folks welcomed another option at the table.

Step 1: Pico de Gallo
3 large tomatoes
1 large bunch of Cilantro, thick stems removed, roughly chopped
1 large sweet onion
1 lime
1 yellow hot pepper, finely chopped
Salt, to taste

Finely chop the onion, tomatoes, and yellow pepper (you can use a jalapeno, but because I was serving this at a party, I didn't want to make it too hot). Remove thick stems of the cilantro and then roughly chop. Mix the onion, tomato, hot pepper, and cilantro in a bowl and squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Stir well and then season with kosher salt to taste.

Step 2: Easy Guacamole
4 ripe avocados
2 cup of pico de gallo
Pinch of garlic powder

Roughly chop the avocados and add the already prepared pico de gallo.

Step 3: Black Beans
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin
Salt, to taste

Using a hand blender or masher, gently blend all ingredients together to create a smooth, but still chunky texture.

Step 4: Spinach
Dice 2 cups fresh spinach.

Step 5: 'Sour Cream'
Mix together entire container of Soy Sour Cream (I used yoso Sour Dip, but I have heard great things about Tofutti Dairy Free Sour Cream) with entire package of taco seasoning (I used reduced salt).

Step 6: Assemble
I used a glass bowl to show off all of the layers and began with the black bean mixture, followed by the chopped spinach, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and finished with 1/2 cup of chopped green onions. Serve with tortillas and provide a large serving spoon so guests can reach each layer.

Intermediate Vegan Dinner: Raw Taco Salad

This recipe is fairly straight forward, but it does involve a number of steps to assemble items separately and then bring them together.

I found this recipe on Oh She Glows - a go to resource for vegans (so I've learned). I'll be posting another recipe that I've made from there soon (although that one will definitely be filed under the 'Advanced Vegan Dinner' heading; difficult, but worth it!)

This was my first time making 'fake meat' (using walnuts) and I was quite impressed. It didn't look all that convincing while it was in the preparation stages, but it came together nicely once layered on the salad and the taste was great. Most meat substitutes found at the grocery store are overly processed and leave me feeling pretty crummy afterwards so I was happy to make a substitute at home using simple, whole ingredients. I'll need more practice until I'm confident serving it to anyone other than Jon (he's such a good sport), but it hits the spot until then.

Walnut Taco Meat
1/2 cup walnuts, soaked for 2-8 hours
1 & 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
salt, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

In a food processor (or by hand), pulse (or chop) the ingredients until combined. Make sure to leave the walnuts chunky. Remove and set aside.

Cashew Cream
1 cup cashews, soaked in water for 2-8 hours
6 tbsp water
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt, to taste

Drain and rinse the soaked cashews. Add them into a processor and process. Stream in about 1/2 cup water and a couple tbsp of lemon juice. Add more water as needed to achieve your desired consistency. The nut sauce should be super smooth and not grainy. Add salt to taste.

3-Minute Guacamole
1 large ripe avocado
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 small tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
Itty bitty splash of tequila

In a medium-sized bowl, mash the avocado flesh with a fork, leaving some chunks. Stir in the chopped tomato, red onion, lime juice, and seasonings to taste.

Other salad ingredients
greens of choice
salsa
green onion
crackers or tortilla chips

To assemble (per bowl) 
Add a hefty base of greens in a large bowl followed by a heaping scoop of guacamole in the middle. Spoon on 2 tbsp of salsa over the greens followed by half of the taco meat. Drizzle with cream sauce and garnish with a chopped green onion and leftover chopped tomato and red onion. Place a few crackers into the salad before serving.