Vegan Shepard's Pie (3 stars)

For dinner tonight we made a shepard's pie. This was kind of an impromptu, what the hell are we going to eat, kind of dinner since I screwed up the timing on what we were supposed to have (more on that tomorrow). Neither of us was up to cooking anything complicated so we settled on this recipe for shepard's pie. It was better than expected, and despite the fact that neither of us is particularly fond of parsnips, the parsnip was actually quite good in this. We had a nice big salad along with it. The recipe has some errors and I made some tweaks, so I will repost it here with the changes.



Shepard's Pie
4-5 peeled, cubed yukon gold or red potatoes
4 peeled garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs vegan margarine
1/2 cup soy milk or more as needed

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1 large parsnip, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
12 oz veggie ground round crumbles (Yves or Light Life)
1 cup potato water
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup frozen green peas
salt and pepper to taste
paprika

Directions:

Prepare mashed potatoes: Cover potatoes with water and add garlic. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 min until potatoes are tender. Drain and reserve 1 cup of stock. Mash potatoes with soy milk and margarine. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add onions, carrots, and parsnips and saute for 5 minutes (or more, until the carrots and parsnips are starting to look cooked).

Add garlic and thyme saute for 2-3 minutes. Add veggie ground crumbles, potato water, soy sauce and cornstarch mixture. Simmer and stir constantly for 2 minutes until sauce thickens.

Add the peas, salt, and pepper, then transfer to a lightly oiled 1 1/2 quart baking dish.

Spoon mashed potatoes on top, drizzle with some more olive oil if desired (I left this out) and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for about 20 minutes until top is golden.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Banana Pancakes and "sausages"

This morning we needed a hearty breakfast before shoveling the 8 inches of snow topped with 2 inches of rain. We made banana pancakes and Light Life Sausage Links. We really liked the pancakes, but we split on the verdict of the sausages.



I only made minor changes to the Banana Pancakes recipe. I did not use a blender as suggested, but rather just mashed the bananas. I mashed ALL the bananas instead of adding slices to the batter. I added a couple of extra banana slices while cooking for decoration. I used 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 1/16 tsp allspice (the recipe isn't clear on this).

Go forth and make pancakes!

Connect with your food: Join a local CSA

CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture. The way a CSA generally works is that you sign up and pay the farmer for a weekly share of the crops from around June to October. Sometimes there is also a work commitment. At Stearns Farm (which I belonged to in years past), I was required to work 12 hours over the growing season. This entailed planting crops, pulling weeds, haresting, etc. I actually liked this part because it really connected me to the farm and I could walk through the farm and say "I planted that Kale and those tomatoes". This year I joined Lands Sake Farm which I don't think requires a work commitment. It is a little closer to my office and will be easier to pick up each week.

CSAs can be expensive, but you get a ton of local organic vegetables every week (most CSA farms are organic). If the rates seem high to you, you can sometimes purchase a 1/2 share or find a friend and split a share. Generally, when splitting a share, you would pick up every other week. In addition to getting great local organic vegetables, you get fresh picked, minimally transported vegetables (your car)... thus also helping the environment!

You can find a CSA near you, by checking out this web site. You will need to sign up right away as it is already getting late in the sign up season and some farms will already be sold out for the season. If you live in the MetroWest area of Boston, Lands Sake farm still has some open shares.

Roasted Squash Pasta (4 1/2 stars)

Tonight we made Roasted Squash Pasta. It was really good. I made a few minor modifications. I only used 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (this was plenty). I cooked the squash at 385 degrees. And, I added the garlic, pine nuts, and spices after the squash had been in the oven for 10 minutes so that they wouldn't burn. I stirred during this addition and again 15 minutes later. We had it with some steamed broccoli. We both called this one a keeper.



** Note - peeling butternut squash - While this looks really difficult, it is actually quite easy. You can peel a butternut squash with a regular old vegetable peeler. After peeled, slice it down the middle and scoop out the seeds and goo. Then chop it up.

A week of easy/quick vegan recipes from the web

This week I have a theme. It is recipes that I find on the web that look pretty easy and tasty. This doesn't actually mean that everything I make this week will turn out... but I'll post either way. A week doesn't necessarily mean that I will post 7 recipes, as we eat leftovers every once in a while. So, this will probably mean 4 or 5 recipes. You might get a couple of bonus breakfast recipes since it is snowing here and that makes me want to make big breakfasts.

** Note - due to a family situation, I may have to suddenly go out of town, and pick this back up when I get back... just in case I seem to fall off the Earth.

Free Candle Cafe cookbook!

I have an extra copy of the Candle Cafe cookbook (which is great) to the first person who responds to this entry and agrees to go vegan for 3 weeks! I'll even pay to ship it to you. It's easy. Just give it a try and I'll give you this wonderful cookbook.

Reply to this entry with an email address and a promise to try veganism for 3 weeks and I'll email you for your address and send you the book.

You aren't an environmentalist unless you are vegan

I know that is a strong title, but honestly it is true. Eating meat is worse for the environment than driving an SUV. So, if you are driving around in a hybrid or other gas efficient vehicle for the environment (which I think is great), you should also go vegan.

"Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars? This question was posed in a recent report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which concluded the livestock sector “generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent—18 percent—than transport.”" - Satya Magazine

Satya magazine has an article this month about how being vegan is best for the environment, and at the bottom of this article is an excellent chart entitled "Do you eat like an SUV" which compares eating habits to driving certain types of vehicles. It is an excellent way to put this in perspective. So, please, go look at the chart. The article is a Q&A with authors of a study about eating and globa warming. Here is a link to the study.

Do it for the planet. Cut out the meat!