Pumpkin Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup – A “Recipe”

So, I have no pictures of the finished dish, which is a bummer because this soup is pretty and when you swirl the coconut milk in, it’s especially gorgeous. But, I didn’t know for sure if it would come out, because I was faking it from leftover items.

Ingredients

1 large sweet onion, diced
3 large sweet potatoes, baked in foil until softening
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (I used canned, because it’s what I had – if you use fresh you may want more)
1 can coconut milk
6-8 cups vegetable broth or faux chicken broth
3 T curry powder
1-3 T of red pepper flakes, depending on the level of heat you like
3 T olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Process

Cook onions in olive oil over medium temp until soft. Skin potatoes and add. Add pumpkin. Mash with a spoon or masher. Add 3 cups broth and continue to mash and mix. Add seasoning. Now begin to use the remaining broth gradually to thin the soup to just a bit thicker than you want it. Once you get it there, let it simmer for a bit over a medium-low flame. About 5 minutes before serving, add coconut milk and mix in.

Delicious!

Hurricane Sandy Cookies!

In anticipation of being stuck in the house last weekend, I naturally needed to stock up on carbohydrates. We had already done our regular weekly grocery run (though we were only able to score 1 of our normal 3 loaves of bread due to the French toast folks). But, I hadn’t picked up anything extra for baking. So, on the way home from work on Sunday, I made a quick stop at Riteaid for some Sinutab and got a big Lindt 80% chocolate bar, and a bag of raw almonds. I wasn’t sure what, but I knew this could be worked into something with what I had in the pantry.

Later that day, when it was time to start baking, I checked out the pantry and found flour, sugar, oatmeal, peanut butter. Hmmm… Time for google! I checked out a bunch of recipes and gradually settled on this one, with some modifications (below).

They came out so yummy that they were completely gone by Wednesday morning. I’ll make these again, for sure!

Hurricane Sandy Cookies

  • 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 cup raw sugar
  • 1/3 cup soymilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup rolled oats (reqular or quick, but not instant)
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips or chocolate bar broken into small pieces
  • 1/2 cup chopped almonds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F and prepare your baking sheets.
  2. Whisk together first five ingredients until very smooth. Mix dry ingredients. Combine all ingredients and stir to combine thoroughly.
  3. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto baking sheet and then flatten down to about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thickness. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until tops develop cracks. They won’t look quite done. That’s ok. Remove sheet from oven, and wait 10 minutes before transferring cookies to plate.

I would like to have one right now. I won’t wait on another natural disaster to make them again!

Vegan Biscuits and Gravy – Good Comfort Food!

If you grew up in the middle or Southern U.S., or had family roots there, you probably ate some biscuits and gravy in your childhood. There is no sense in pretending a plate of biscuits and gravy is good for you (though I have had chickpea gravy, which is certainly better for you but less yummy), but it tastes good and it’s one of those foods that, on a fall day, feels just about right.

It took me a while as a vegan to even try making biscuits and gravy, because most soy milks seemed far too sweet. So, it wasn’t until I found some unsweetened soy milks (Silk has one, as do others), that I gave it a try. If you are hoping for a healthy recipe, go read some of my others. If you just want yummy comfort food, read on!

Vegan Soda Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c soy milk
1/2 tsp white vinegar
4 tbsp of soy butter, shortening, or oil

Combine salt, soda, and flour (my original recipe calls for sifting them  – I don’t sift, but if you do, rock on). Work in the shortening/butter/oil until mixture becomes crumbly. Add vinegar to soy milk and stir (this will “sour” the soy and create something like buttermilk). Add milk mix gradually until mixture gets to a consistency that is not sticky but is doughy. Kneed until smooth but don’t over knead; roll out, and cut. Bake 12-15 minutes at 420*  Note: these aren’t big fluffy biscuits, they are dense soda biscuits. For fluff, go with a yeast dough recipe.

Vegan Fauxsage Gravy
1/2 package of faux sausage (we like Lightlife)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 cups unsweetened soy milk
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, brown the faux sausage in a bit of olive oil, separating to small pieces as it cooks. Set that aside. Add the vegetable oil and flour to the skillet and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium/high until bubbly. Slowly add the unsweetened soy milk. After fully combining, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower heat to get gravy to a simmer and continue to stir often. Add salt and pepper and allow to simmer for 5-8 minutes, adjusting thickness if needed with extra soy milk. When finished, stir cooked sausage back in and allow to cook another minute to heat through. Serve over fresh biscuits.

YUM!