Blueberry Rhubarb Pie and Vegan Mashed Potatoes

My final two cooking projects for Thanksgiving were dessert and another side, both vegan!

I did an informal poll of my friends on Facebook to see what pie I should make for Thanksgiving.  My friend Matt suggested blueberry rhubarb, and I thought that sounded great.  I found this Cooks.com recipe to serve as my guide.

For the crust, I used the vegan Buttery Double Crust recipe from the November 2011 issue of Yoga Journal, which comes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Vegan Pie in the Sky.  The recipe isn't currently online, but it calls for flour, salt, sugar, vegan margarine, vegan shortening and cider vinegar.  I used Earth Balance buttery sticks and vegetable shortening.  Both of them contain soy, but I'm hoping that the small amount of pie I'll have won't knock me over allergy wise.  I used my food processor to make the dough for the crust, rather than cutting in the "butter" and shortening by hand.  I did cut the "butter" & shortening into small cubes first, and then put those cubes in the freezer for a bit to firm them back up.

For the filling, I essentially followed the recipe above, except I used the converted amount of truvia, rather than sugar.  I used fresh blueberries, but rhubarb is completely out of season, so I used frozen rhubarb from Stahlbush Island Farms.  I've used their frozen rhubarb before and it turns out quite well.  I also omitted the butter dotting on the filling - I was planning to use Earth Balance, but I completely forgot to add it in before I put the crust on top.

As usual, I had issues getting the crust to roll out properly.  I used the pastry board my parents  got me, and put waxed paper over the dough, but it still took me two tries to get it not to stick.  I'm sure someone has a suggestion they would be happy to share with me (hint hint!).  And, as also usual, I had to piece together the bottom and top crusts after the dough broke.  Thus, I refer to this pie as "Franken-Pie," due to the repair job I did on the top.

I did manage to do cut outs on top of the crust.  I have some small leaf cookie cutters that work well for this purpose.  I then used a knife to score the dough pieces to make them more leaf like.  Finally, I brushed the pie with almond milk to help the pie brown.  I used  my pie shield for the first 35 minutes of baking, and then removed it for the final 15 minutes.

Fluffier than they look - they're crammed in this bowl!

For the vegan mashed potatoes, I took 3.7 pounds (yes, a weird number  - that just happens to be what they weighed out to) of red potatoes, quartered them, and boiled them in our giant seven quart pot for 25 minutes.  In the past, when I've made a huge amount of mashed potatoes, I had to use multiple pots, so it was nice to only have to do them in one.  Once the potatoes were done, I used my yoga cultivated upper body strength to drain the potatoes, and then I mashed them with soy-free Earth Balance, plain almond milk and generous shakes of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Mom tasted them and said the almond milk added a touch of sweetness that she liked, and that they weren't as heavy as mashed potatoes made with a ton of dairy products.  I think I may need to re-season them when I reheat them tomorrow, but I'll play it by ear.

So, that's all of my Thanksgiving cooking!  We'll see what the verdict is when our family gets to taste everything tomorrow.  Until then, have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!!!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce and Roasted Vegetables

I decided to attempt homemade cranberry sauce this year.  The canned stuff scares me a little bit, frankly, and fresh cranberries are everywhere, so it seemed like a good time to give it a try.

Since I had never made it before, I did some googling, and saw a number of recipes, such as this one, that included pears and ginger.  I also saw a number that included cardamom and orange zest, so I decided to incorporate both of those flavors as well.

Orange zest and I go way back - I love to include it in both savory and sweet dishes.  But, I wasn't as familiar with ginger (beyond the fact that my grandfather loved candied ginger and always kept a container next to his other favorite treat, scotch, as well as knowing that ginger ale helps with an upset stomach) or cardamom.

So, in case you too are unfamiliar with these flavors, here's a quick background.  Ginger is the root of a plant that has roots (ha - unintentional pun) in Southeast Asia.  It's purported to have medical purposes, from helping with arthritis to curing nausea (hence ginger ale).  It can lend a little spicy zing to baked goods like gingersnaps and ginger bread, and it's also found in savory soups and dishes.

Cardamom is a member of the ginger family, and is native to India and Bhutan.  You can get it in the spice section in pod form or ground.  It's most commonly found in Indian cooking, but some Scandinavian dishes also incorporate it.

Most of the cranberry sauce recipes called for sugar, which makes sense given that cranberries have a natural tartness.  I decided this might be a great time to try Truvia, which is a sweetener made from the Stevia plant.  It's naturally sweeter than sugar, but doesn't have the caloric impact.  Also, you can use it in cooking and baking.  I'm a big Splenda user, but a friend who had consulted with an Ayurveda practictioner had great things to stay about stevia, so I'm working on making the switch.   If you are swapping Truvia for sugar, you need substantially less than the recipe calls for.  Truvia provides a handy conversion chart on their website.

Anyhow, here's the resulting recipe for my cranberry sauce:

Two packages of fresh cranberries, rinsed
Four pears, peeled and diced (I used bartletts, but other recipes suggest bosc or anjou - take your pick!)
Four tablespoons of grated fresh ginger root (a microplane is helpful here)
Zest of one large orange
2/3 cup of Truvia
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
2 cups of water

Mix all ingredients in a large saucepan.  Heat on medium until cranberries pop and mixture looks sauce-like (I was just over the 20 minute mark).  Set aside until cooled and chill overnight.





I've also made my roasted squash with corn and cranberries, as well as roasted brussels sprouts with shallots.  Since I've made both of these dishes before, I won't provide extensive details, but you do get to see a picture before they went in the oven:

Brussels sprouts weren't on my original list of things to make today, but I remembered that I have missed having a green vegetable at Thanksgiving these past few years, so I took matters into my own hands.  ;)  I did omit the parmesan cheese I usually stir in as I'm making everything vegan this year.

What I'll Be Making for Thanksgiving

I love our family's Thanksgiving.   About four years or so, when my husband and I had been dating for a year, my parents and I were first included in my husband's family's Thanksgiving celebration, which includes both his side of the family and our sister-in-law's family.  It's 20 people, lots of kids, and all of our family culinary traditions coming together pot luck style - the traditional American Thanksgiving fare,  Jewish dishes and Vietnamese dishes.

Since I'm the lone vegetarian among omnivores, I am all about the sides.  So, my contributions this year will be as follows:

• Cranberry and pear relish
• Roasted Butternut Squash with Corn and Cranberries
• Red bliss mashed potatoes
• Blueberry & rhubarb pie

I always make everything from scratch.  This year, I am going to attempt to make everything vegan, including the mashed potatoes and the pie crust.  I'll post throughout the day with pictures and photos of progress!

Farm Sanctuary's Adopt a Turkey Campaign and the Spirit of Thanks and Giving

Meet our turkey, Antoinette!

Happy almost Thanksgiving, everyone!  I have been making lists of all the ingredients I need for vegetarian delectables I plan to make for this year's family Thanksgiving extravaganza, and will be posting blogs about each dish.

I obviously won't be eating turkey this Thanksgiving, but I decided to celebrate Thanks and Giving by sponsoring a rescued turkey at Farm Sanctuary. The funds I donated will help with care for 25 sick and injured baby turkeys that were dropped off at the Southern California shelter on November 4.

My husband and I perused all the turkeys, and decided to sponsor Antoinette, whose tagline is "Let them eat squash!"  This is appropriate, as we love a good squash dish.

Farm Santcuary is a terrific organization.  I was lucky enough to hear Gene Baur speak a few months ago, as well as read his book.  This organization works so hard to make sure animals found in the most dire of circumstances are able to receive medical treatment, recover and live out the rest of their time as nature intended.

Me on the left, rocking the hairnet at Everything But the Turkey!

I'll also be celebrating the spirit of Thanks and Giving by volunteering at the Washington DC JCC's Everything But the Turkey event on Monday, November 21.  Monday's volunteer slots are all filled, but you can sign up for Wednesday, make a donation or purchase kitchen tools for the J to use for their Hunger Action Program.   Any way you can support the program will help DC Central Kitchen provide hundreds of meals for over 100 social service agencies in the Washington area.

I'm especially thankful for the DCJCC's community service programs, because, as many of you know, that's how my husband and I met more than four and a half years ago!

What are you thankful for this season?  How do you plan to engage in the spirit of giving?

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

Before I decided to swear off large amounts of dairy for awhile, I signed up to make a pumpkin cheesecake for the office potluck.  In the future, I may experiment with making some soy-free, dairy-free "cheesecake," but in the sake of making sure I had something I knew was tried and true to feed my co-workers, I went with this AllRecipes marbled pumpkin cheesecake, which I've made a few times to positive reviews.

The crust is made of gingersnaps, pecans and melted butter, and is pre-baked for 10 minutes and cooled prior to filling.  The recipe calls for canned pumpkin - not pumpkin pie mix - so read labels carefully.  The marbling effect is achieved by removing 1 cup of the plain batter before adding the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Corn & Cranberries

A few years ago, when I was still eating meat, I used to go to Nando's Peri Peri, which specializes in Portguese roast chicken.  They also have a number of sides, including a roasted butternut squash dish I enjoyed so much that I learned to replicate it myself.  While I no longer eat chicken, I still love this squash combo.  I now make it regularly for Thanksgiving and fall family meals, as well as for my office's annual Thanksgiving Potluck, which will take place this Tuesday.

The health benefits of butternut squash are numerous.  It's a great source of fiber, Vitamin A, B-complex vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc.  Now that it's fall, you'll likely see whole butternut squash everywhere.  If you do decide to go with whole squash, make sure you have a very, very good knife, as I once wrecked an entire set of cheap knives trying to deconstruct one.  Here's a handy tutorial on how to peel and chop the butternut.

I, however, opt to use fresh-cut squash chunks, which saves me a lot of prep time (and sanity).  The chunks are still fairly large, so I do chop them in smaller pieces.  For a large crowd like my 20+ person office potluck, I used two packages.

Corn zipper in action.

I also prefer to use fresh corn - my local market still has ears available.  If you don't have access to fresh corn, frozen is an ok substitute, but defrost it first. Try to avoid using canned - the texture will be too soft.  If you're using fresh corn, using a corn-zipper is a safe and quick way to get the kernels off.  As I've mentioned before, it's a great investment for your kitchen!  For this amount, I used two ears.

I then finely chopped a medium red onion and added it in, along with a generous handful or two of dried sweetened cranberries and a handful of chopped fresh cilantro.  Make sure to use the fresh herbs here - dried won't work.

I then combine everything in a large mixing bowl and stir in a generous amount of olive oil, and season it with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Put it in glass baking dishes on a single layer (making enough for 20 meant two dishes) and let it roast for 30 minutes at 400, stirring occasionally.