Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Creamy Jackfruit Casserole


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My cousin,  Debbie,  makes a chicken casserole that is the talk of our family. Every reunion, party, get together, or potluck, she brings this casserole and it is cleaned out before it hits the table. The casserole is so good, she has named it “marriage proposal casserole”  because she had 2 men propose to her after eating the casserole! Before going vegetarian, and now vegan, I would make this dish to take to my husband’s family or for potlucks and I had the same reaction. It was a real family tradition.

 I find it hard to take dishes that have so much tradition and “veganize” them. The main reason is that I know it will be held to the standard of the original dish, no matter how I try to tell everyone to “taste it for the first time” or try it with an open mind. If it’s not exactly like that dish, it will rejected on the spot. Family dishes are “sacred” and must not be touched unless you know you have got it right.

This was a crazy idea I had floating in my head for a little while now, but I was always afraid to try it… I was even afraid to tell my husband I wanted to try and “veganize” my cousin’s famous recipe. I knew the reaction would be “no”. Yesterday I decided I can figure it out and I would make it work.

My husband called me while I was cooking dinner yesterday and asked “what’s for dinner?”. I just replied “I’m making something with jackfruit and steamed cabbage”. That was the safe answer. I was, in fact, making a jackfruit casserole and steamed cabbage. I wanted to surprise him, but I would make pulled jack fruit sandwiches quick if it turned out to be a disappointment. Luckily, it was a HIT! Everyone loved it last night. I had a completely empty dish and my husband ate 3 helpings!!! I hope this casserole will bring you a proposal, or at least, a happy family!


Creamy Jackfruit & Poppy Seed Casserole:

*Jackfruit filling:

4 (17 oz.) cans of jackfruit, drained and shredded
Olive oil
½ cup carrots, diced small
½ cup celery, diced small
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
½ tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. parsley  
Salt & pepper to taste

*Creamy “chick’n” sauce:

4 Tbsp. vegan butter
4 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
3 cups plant milk
2 chick’n bouillon cubes
¾ cup vegan sour cream

*Buttery Ritz & Poppy Seed Topping:

2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
½ cup vegan butter, melted
2 tsp. poppy seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Sautee all ingredients for the jackfruit filling in a deep skillet over medium high heat until tender , this will take about 10-12 minutes. ( jackfruit should no longer look “transparent”.)



Add jackfruit to a large mixing bowl and set aside while you prepare the sauce.

Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk to prevent lumps. Cook about 2 minutes, but don’t allow it to “brown”. You want a blonde roux for this sauce.

Add plant milk, salt and bouillon cubes and allow to come to a boil. Boil about 5 minutes, until thickened. Continue to whisk often to prevent lumps.

Add sauce and vegan sour cream to your jackfruit and mix well.

Pour into a greased 11x13 casserole dish.

In another mixing bowl, mix crushed Ritz crackers, melted vegan butter and poppy seeds together.

Pour cracker mixture over jackfruit evenly.

Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool 5- 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 people.






Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Pineapple Upside Down Cake


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I'm really proud of how lovely this recipe turned out! This was a request from my husband. He used to love Pineapple upside down cake and wanted me to recreate the recipe for him tonight. I'm NOT a baker (as you have probably noticed), but I can "doctor" up recipes pretty well at this point. Give me a cake mix and a little time and I will make it happen. This recipe is so simple. It looks impressive, it tastes amazing and no one will ever know it's vegan! 

*Bonus* If you like Martinis, I have been making a super EASY Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini for years. It is simply equal parts vanilla vodka, caramel vodka and pineapple juice, garnished with a cherry and pineapple wedge!


Pineapple Upside Down Cake:

1/2 cup vegan butter
1 packed cup of brown sugar
1(20 oz) can of pineapple slices
Maraschino cherries
1 box pineapple cake mix (vanilla will work if you can't find pineapple )
10 oz. Pineapple soda

Preheat oven to 350°.

Over medium heat, melt brown sugar and butter together.

Spray non stick spray into a spring form pan (a regular cake dish will work too, but you will have to adjust cooking times).

Pour brown sugar into the spring form pan.

Place pineapple slices into brown sugar. Add a maraschino cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice.

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix and soda. Whisk until smooth.

Pour cake batter over pineapples.

Bake 40-45 minutes until knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow cake to rest for 30 minutes before inverting onto your serving platter.

Serves 8- 10.

Friday, March 11, 2016

Maple Pancake & Sausage Bites





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Want something easy for breakfast that you can cook the night before? I have the recipe for you! These are easy and they can even be frozen & reheated if you like to "batch cook" ( which I LOVE to do!). The picture is a bit misleading, these are mini muffin sized, perfect for dipping into warm maple syrup and getting your fingers all sticky...that's important to my kids. Fun breakfast meals are always a plus at our house because it helps to wake the "sleepy heads" up before school in the morning. Hope you will enjoy this easy and convenient with your favorite breakfast buddies. 



Maple Pancake & Sausage Bites:

2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup plant milk
3 Tbsp. Maple syrup 

5 Tbsp. Aquafaba (or egg replacer to equal 2 eggs )
2 cups cooked vegan crumbled sausage (works great with vegan bacon or a combination of the two also)

Preheat oven to 350°

Grease mini muffin pan.

Mix Bisquick, milk, maple syrup and aquafaba together until smooth.


Add sausage to Bisquick mixture and stir to combine.

Pour batter into muffin pan.

Cook 12-15 mins until lightly brown.

Serve with maple syrup to dip.


Makes 24 mini muffins

Friday, March 4, 2016

BBQ Tempeh & SouthWestern Cauliflower "Rice"


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This recipe is fun to get the kids involved in cooking. My kids enjoyed pushing the pulse button on my food processor and watching the cauliflower become "rice". They liked dipping the tempeh in BBQ sauce because it was messy. They liked helping me mix everything together and layering up their plated full of food they created. It was a very quite dinner table tonight, which is rare. My kids cleaned their plates and didn't even stop to speak! My husband was in a "food trance" too, completely quite. ( Which is weird because he usually eats the tempeh, but he doesn't like it). After we were finished eating, everyone asked me to please make this again and post it on the blog! so, here it is, for you all to enjoy in silence! 

Looking for more great Vegan recipes for your family?  Try my Cheezy Butternut Macaroni , Cabbage and Bean SoupKale Stuffed Eggplant Parm"Beefless" Hand Pies, & Mediterranean Hummus Pizza *don't for get desert!! Try Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes


Recipe :

1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets 

2 Tbsp vegan butter (or veggie broth if you don't use oils)
1 /2 tsp turmeric (optional, but it makes your "rice" a beautiful yellow color & adds nutrition )
1/2 tsp of paprika 
1/2 tsp. Cumin 
1 (15 oz )can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup of corn 
1 fresh jalapeno, diced (optional )
1 medium onion, diced 
1 mediumred pepper, diced
1 bunch of kale, steamed & chopped  (or spinach )
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 (8 oz) packs of tempeh, sliced into 1/4" pieces 
BBQ sauce of your choice 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°

Grease a large baking sheet  

Dip tempeh in BBQ sauce and place on baking sheet. 

Bake 10 - 12 minutes.

Place cauliflower into a food processor. Pulse until cauliflower is rice consistency. 

Cook cauliflower in a deep skillet over medium heat with butter, turmeric, paprika, cumin ,salt and pepper for about 6 minutes (until tender ).

Pour hot rice into a mixing bowl.

You can use the same pan you used for the rice to char your veggies. Just turn your heat to high.

Add jalapeƱo, red pepper, onion, and corn to your pan. Cook about 4 minutes, until charred slightly.

Add hot veggie mixture and black beans to the mixing bowl with the "rice".  Stir to mix well.

Remove browned tempeh from oven.

Layer tempeh on top of cauliflower "rice" before serving. Top with extra BBQ sauce if needed.

Serves 4-6.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes


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These super simple cupcakes have been a family favorite for years. My daughter used to make them and sale them to friends when she was only 11. She started getting orders for the cupcakes and made a little money on the side just from baking these easy cupcakes. This recipe is VERSATILE! You can use any flavor cake mix, any flavor of soda and any flavor of gelatin mix...the possiblities are truly endless!! Tonight I baked these for my Granddaddy's 81st birthday because orange is his favorite flavor and he has loved these simple cupcakes for years. The orange candy on top is also vegan- yes, orange slices are vegan (Yay!!). So, have fun with this recipe and let me know if you come up with a new flavor combination that is amazing.



Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes:

1 box vanilla cake mix
1 can orange soda
1 tub coconut whipped cream
1/2 package Jel orange gelatin*
Orange slices to garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix whipped cream and gelatin mix together and place in refrigerator until cupcakes are cooled.

Mix cake mix and soda together.

Pour into cupcake liners evenly (Should make about 14 cupcakes.

Bake 18-20 minutes until set.

Allow to cool completely before icing.

Garnish with an orange slice!

Makes 14 cupcakes.

*JEL is a vegan gelatin mix that's easily found in stores and online. Any vegan gelatin will work if you don't have it. This ingredients can be left out without effecting the recipe. It just adds a little extra orange flavor.