I grew up eating, and loving, Hamburger Helper Stroganoff.  Both my desire for nutritious food and for ethically produced food have long since separated me from this childhood favorite.  Last week, I finally created a vegan mushroom stroganoff that completely fills that comfort food sized hole Hamburger Helper had left behind.  Bonus: it is totally good for you.

This is such a convincing stroganoff that MacGyver actually asked if it had meat in it, even though he obviously knows better.

As a personal triumph, this is possibly the first recipe I have created entirely from scratch.  Most of my recipes are either amalgamations of a few other recipes or veganizations of my mom’s recipes.  It all started with one very important realization:  porcini mushrooms are the key to a good stroganoff.

The recipe feeds four – including one voracious breastfeeding mama (me) and one pre-teen in a constant state of growth-spurt (Punky).  There were no leftovers.

Ingredients
SAUTE
1 onion, diced
1 c (or more!) chopped mushrooms (I used a wild mushroom mix, but almost any mushrooms, including regular button, will do)
1-2 tbsp minced or chopped garlic
1/3 c dry white wine (optional)

SAUCE
1/2 oz (or more!) dried porcini mushrooms + 1 1/2 c water
1/2 c raw cashews, soaked
1/2 lb silken tofu (half a standard package)
1/3 c nutritional yeast
1 tsp thyme and/or oregano (dried)
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
vegetable broth, water, or unsweetened plant milk (like almond milk) as needed to obtain desired texture.
optional: truffle salt to taste

SERVE
1/2 lb wilted greens or vegetable of your choice (I used 1/2 a bag frozen kale) – Because, as Punky will be the first to tell you, I have to put green vegetables in everything.
Pasta of your choice, prepared – I’d love to have this over some high quality pappardelle noodles, but this kids chose penne this time around (whole wheat, of course).

Directions
1.  Soak cashews while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  If possible, soak for an hour.

2.  Dice onion and set aside to maximize nutritional value.

3.  Place a minimum of 1/2 oz of dried porcinis, broken up into small pieces, into 1 1/2 – 2 cups of water and bring to a boil (I just did this in the microwave).  Let sit at least 5 minutes.

4.  In a large pan, sauté the onion, garlic, and chopped mushrooms in white wine (or vegetable broth or water or a little oil) until the onions start to become translucent, the mushrooms brown, and the wine evaporates.

5. While that is going, combine all the sauce ingredients, including the water the porchinis simmered in, in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add vegetable broth, water, or almond milk (or similar) as needed to achieve the desired consistency.

6.  Add the sauce from the blender to the pan with the mushrooms and onions.  Mix and heat through.

Top your noodles with the greens followed by the sauce.  You can also mix it all together in one pot before serving.  Or keep the sautéed mushrooms and onions separate to top the sauce (noodles, greens, sauce, mushrooms and onions).  Sprinkle with just a dash of truffle salt if desired.

The post Perfect Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff appeared first on Urban Earthworm.

      This recipe made enough for one dinner for our family of four (with Punky taking three big helpings and a tiny third), with enough leftovers for at least 3 lunches.  Also perfect for canning or freezing to have on hand for a quick meal instead of canned soup or something processed from a box.

Ingredients:
The ingredients for chili are quite flexible, which is one of the beauties of this recipe.  Feel free to experiment!

– 2 cups dried beans (This time I used a mixture of dark kidney beans, black beans, and colored butter beans)
– 2 small onions (or one large) – or more!
– 3 bell peppers of various colors (at least one green)
– 28oz can (big can) organic diced tomatoes (or 2 – 3 cups fresh diced toms!)
– 2 cups diced mushrooms (I used a combo of shiitake, oyster, and button)
– 2 tbsp chili powder
– 1 tbsp cumin
– 2 tsp paprika
– 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or the equivalent of garlic powder)
– 2 tsp black pepper
– 1 or 2 bay leaves, whole (remove before serving)
– 1/4 cup organic ketchup (it is important to use organic, no high fructose corn syrup, low sugar ketchup)
– 2 tbsp yellow mustard (use less if using mustard powder)
– minced jalapeno peppers or cayenne powder to taste.

      Throw in any other veggies you have or want!  Zucchini and summer squash are great in chili, along with all kinds of peppers, celery, carrots, even broccoli and cauliflower!  Corn is always a great touch to chili.  Adding greens can really kick up the nutritional value.  For a sweeter chili with a really unique touch, add either mashed or cubed sweet potato, acorn or butternut squash.  I even threw in some leftover spaghetti sauce that we had (chili is a great “dumping ground” for leftovers and odds and ends).

You can also add some vegan crumbles like those from Gardien (MorningStar Farms are NOT cruelty free), but I try to avoid it because the crumbles, while WAY better than animal flesh, are still processed.  And honestly, this chili doesn’t need it. 

Directions:

BEANS
Individual pressure cookers may vary, so check your manual. 

1.  Rinse your beans.
2.  Put in pressure cooker with 3X as much water (2 cups of beans and 6 cups of water, roughly) – or whatever your pressure cooker manual calls for.
3.  My pressure cooker recommends adding a tablespoon of oil to prevent over-foaming.  I used a tbsp of chili pepper infused extra virgin olive oil that we made when our pepper plants went NUTS last year.
4.  Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes (or according to your machine’s directions).
5.  Drain your beans, leaving them in or returning them to the pressure cooker, and start throwing in your veggie ingredients:

CHILI
1.  While the beans are cooking, dice your onion and mince your garlic first and set aside to rest.  Allowing these to rest increases their nutrient value.
2.  Chop up the rest of your ingredients.
3.  Once the beans are ready, throw in all the rest of your ingredients, including the juice from the tomatoes.  Don’t add any extra water.

4.  Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
5.  Serve and enjoy!

There is an optional thickening step, depending on how you like your chili.  My batch was just a little more watery than I like it, probably because of the leftover spaghetti sauce I added, so I made a roux by mixing 1 – 2 tablespoons of Teff flour with just enough water to make it pourable, like a batter. (you can use any flour or cornstarch; I just love Teff because it is SO much more nutritious than even whole wheat flour – it is also gluten free).  Slowly stir the roux, a little at a time,  into the chili as soon as you’re able to open the pressure cooker.  Mix thoroughly.  The teff did a beautiful job of making my chili the perfect texture I was after.

As always, let me know if you try it!  Small steps make a huge difference!

The post Easy Vegan Chili appeared first on Urban Earthworm.

These Falafel patties are a great flexible option. You can make them work with a variety of sides just by adjusting the side dishes.

Baked Falafel Patties
INGREDIENTS
– 1 16 oz jar chickpeas/garbanzo beans (same thing)*
– 1 medium onion
– 2 tbsp teff flour (or any flour of your choice)
– Oil appropriate for cooking (high heat) like grapeseed
– Spices**:
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1 tbsp cumin
– 1 tbsp cilantro
– 1 tsp tumeric
– 1 tsp fenugeek
OR whatever spices you prefer/have handy

*I find that it’s a big money saver to buy dried beans in bulk and reconstitute a whole bunch in the pressure cooker (or slow cooker) then can and/or freeze them. Also saves us from worrying about BPA lined cans, but canned chickpeas will work just as well.
** Since I knew I was making gravy, I went with more “American” spices, to a degree.  For a traditional mediteranean flavor use lots of cilantro and parsley, preferrably fresh, numeric, and coriander.

DIRECTIONS
1  Dice up the onions and mince the garlic. Let both sit for at least 5 minutes to maximize nutritional value.

2.  Preheat the oven to 450 (or save a little power and don’t preheat).

3.  Blend everything but the flour and oil in a food processor. It should be a rough paste.

4.  Stir in the flour.

5.  Coat the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of the oil.

6.  Form the paste into patties roughly the size of small hamburgers and place them in the dish.

7. Mist, sprinkle, or brush the tops of the patties with oil.

8.  Bake until the patties are just starting to brown on top. Flip them over (they should be browned on the bottom).  Bake 10 more minutes.

9.  Enjoy!

This recipe calls for boiling the potatoes because of the way things played out when I made it, but making it with roasted potatoes and a little rosemary takes it up to an unbelievable flavor – perfect for Thanksgiving.

Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes
INGREDIENTS
All amounts are flexible based on amount you want to make/have on hand
– small red potatoes (the smaller the better)
– garlic powder
– 1/4 c (or less) almond milk (unsweetened)
– 1/4 c (or more) Nutritional Yeast

DIRECTIONS
1 Wash your potatoes, but don’t peel them – there are tons of vitamins and minerals in the skin. Chop the potatoes into 11 inch chunks (or whatever, the smaller the chunks, the faster the boiling time).

2. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender (no need to bring the water to a boil before adding the potatoes).

3. Drain the soft potatoes, sprinkle generously with garlic powder and nutritional yeast.

4. Mash with a potato masher (or your chosen mashing instrument), adding almond milk as needed to reach desired consistency.

5. Serve!

Sauteed Kale
INGREDIENTS
Amounts are flexible based on taste and how much you want to serve.
– 1 bunch fresh Kale (collards, mustard, turnip, or similar greens work, too), chopped to bites size.
– 1/2 a medium onion, diced and allowed to sit at room temp 5 minutes
– 2/3 cup roughly chopped mushrooms (I prefer shitake, but almost any mushrooms will do).
– garlic powder to taste
– 1 or 2 tbsp grapeseed or other high heat oil OR vegetable broth for sauteeing

DIRECTIONS
1 Sautee the onions and mushrooms in only as much oil* or vegetable broth* as is necessary to keep them from sticking until the onions begin to grow translucent.
2. When the onions start to become translucent, add the Kale to the pan.
3. Stir everything together in the pan, adding a few drops of oil* or broth* as necessary. I also like to add a splash of water to help wilt the kale.
4. Sprinkle garlic powder and pepper to taste.
5. As soon as all of the kale has wilted, the dish is ready to serve! Don’t overcook, this is a fast dish!

* For lower fat, sautee in vegetable broth instead!

The post Baked Falafel Patties, Kale, and Vegetable Gravy appeared first on Urban Earthworm.